This superb Craftsman cottage is made even more interesting with its Ludowici Tile roof and shingle siding. It’s a two-story version of the more common single-story bungalow that is synonymous with the Craftsman style. There are some great homes in Barnesville’s historic residential area but I haven’t had much luck identifying any of them. Nonetheless, if you ever need a break from the traffic on I-75, this small town best known for its history of buggy manufacturing is definitely worth a drive-through or walk-around.
Thomaston Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This grand Shingle Style Victorian is one of the highlights of the historic residential section of Barnesville and an exemplar of the form. The style is relatively uncommon in Georgia and is usually found in larger urban settings. Often called cottages, most houses of this type were built between 1876-1910. If you’ve visited Jekyll Island, you have likely seen a few in the National Historic Landmark District, owned as vacation homes by some of America’s wealthiest families of the time.
Thomaston Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
The name of this Victorian home, Morocco Swing, is a bit of a mystery to me, but the best kind of mystery. The house doesn’t appear to have any Moroccan elements, but apparently it has meaning. It’s a nice example of a plain style Victorian, and it dates to circa 1863. This means construction of the house was taking place during the Civil War, which was a difficult time for such an endeavor.
Thomaston Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
From what I’ve located via online sources, including the National Register of Historic Places, I believe this was the home of William Frederick Johnston (1857-1925), son of pioneer settler John Banks Johnston (1804-1880). It’s a fascinating example of the evolutionary process of a rural house. It originated as a log house and was later improved and expanded into a gabled-ell. If the house were built when William was about 20 years old, it would date to circa 1877, but I believe the size of the log boards may indicate an earlier construction, perhaps prior to the Civil War, by John Johnston. Either way, it’s a very important surviving vernacular house.
John Johnston of South Carolina was the original settler of this area, in 1821. Johnstonville was the first seat of government of Monroe County, which at the time of settlement extended from Houston County in the south to Fayette County in the north and included all the land in that context between the Flint and Ocmulgee Rivers.
The National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Johnstonville-Goggins Historic District notes: It is thought that the very earliest settlers of Johnstonville came to the areas of Land Lots 254 and 255. This area was near the Towaliga River and possibly an old Indian settlement. Most of the early settlers had large acreage and some of them had slave labor in the early 1800s. The village was growing into a bustling community around a crossroads area. The crossroads as on a leg of the Old Alabama Road Trail and the Pony Express delivered mail to Johnstonville, Goggins, and other communities in the district.
Johnstonville-Goggins Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This unusual hip-roof farmhouse is located east of Johnstonville, near the Monroe County line. It’s a style I’ve seen a few times, but one I would consider very uncommon. Two large trees have recently fallen on the property but luckily the house was spared.
Though a photograph of this house is not included in the National Register nomination for the Johnstonville-Goggins Historic District, another smaller tenant house very close to this location is documented.
Johnstonville-Goggins Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Neighborhoods of nearly identical shotgun houses were once common sights in Georgia towns and cities where a textile or cotton mill was present. The utilitarian housing was provided as a benefit of employment. Most have vanished in the past thirty years.
This appears to be one of the most endangered commercial blocks in downtown Barnesville. It’s a typical commercial Victorian. Most historic buildings in Barnesville are in good condition.
Barnesville Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Barnesville was among the earliest towns in Georgia with a railroad presence, beginning with the Macon and Monroe Railroad [later the Macon and Western, one of Georgia’s three oldest railroads] in 1841. It thrived as an important transportation crossroads before the growth of Atlanta and a depot was built in Barnesville by 1852. The Central of Georgia later acquired the Macon and Western line and in 1912, the old depot was razed and this one built on the site. It opened sometime in 1913.
On 11 August 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt stopped here on his way to dedicate the Lamar Electric Cooperative in front of 50,000 people at the nearby Gordon Military College stadium. The Rural Electrification Administration was one of FDR’s most progressive programs and literally brought rural America out of the dark ages. It’s believed that this was the only such cooperative he dedicated personally.
The depot served until 1971, when the passenger train the Nancy Hanks made her last stop here. When the Southern Railway, successor to the Central of Georgia, planned to raze the depot in 1973, locals successfully lobbied to save it.
Vanishing Georgia: Photographs by Brian Brown 