Platt Street is located on the west side of the courthouse square and is a good example of small town revitalization. Oglethorpe Fresh (on the right) is a sustainable, local farmers market that encourages artists, musicians, historians and other creative types to come together and share ideas.
Lexington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Designed by L. B. Wheeler, W. H. Parkins, and H. I. Kimball, Lexington’s Richardsonian Romanesque courthouse is one of my favorites in Georgia.
Lexington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This jail was in use until 2002 and is now owned by Historic Oglethorpe.
Lexington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
The last survivor of the houses that once surrounded the courthouse square, the Knox house largely retains its original appearance. The thin columns are rarely found on I-Houses in Georgia, and their raised granite bases are even more unusual. They’re apparently later additions, as they’re not visible an image of the house made by Frances Benjamin Johnston for he Historic American Buildings Survey in 1939.
Lexington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Surrounded by a stacked granite wall on expansive grounds, this is one of the most imposing properties in Lexington. Photographs of the gardens were included in the landmark Garden History of Georgia (1933). Though the one-story portico seen here is now the entrance, it was once the rear of the house. Otherwise, the house is in relatively original form. Amazingly, another of Upson’s Georgia homes survives largely intact in Athens, now used as bank offices.
Connecticut native Stephen Upson (1785-24 August 1824), who was called the “wisest man in Georgia” during his lifetime, came to Lexington via Virginia to study law under William Harris Crawford. He married Hannah Cummins after establishing a practice in Lexington and was a member of the Georgia legislature from 1820 until his death. He also served as the head of the Georgia bar. Shortly after his death, the legislature created and named Upson County in his memory.
Paul D. Hicks writes: Ben Dooley is correct that it was his son, Stephen (Cummins) Upson, who owned the “Upson” House in Athens. SCU was born in Lexington just months before the death of SU. His mother remarried and he lived many years in New York State. In 1885, he returned to GA and bought the Athens house, which had been built in 1847 for Dr. Marcus Franklin. Francis Upson, the older son of SU, returned to Lexington after graduating from Yale Law School in 1835, was a judge for many years, and died there in 1894. It is possible he lived in the SU house.
Lexington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Built as an I-House, like the neighboring Baldwin-Cox-Chedell and Platt-Smith-Brooks houses, this was expanded to include the portico and columns in the mid-19th century. The granite column bases are an interesting feature.
Lexington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Like many of Lexington’s historic homes, this Greek Revival landmark was built as an I-House (Plantation Plain) by William Baldwin and evolved with the needs of its subsequent owners. The columns and portico were added just before the Civil War, by Swepson Cox; the hip roof is thought to have been added at that time, as well. Dr. Bernard Chedell was a longtime resident, as was the Hugh Callaway family. [Variant names include the Cox-Chedell-Johnston House & the Chedell-Broach-Titus House].The Johnston, Broach and Titus families have also called this beautiful house home over the years. Linda Titus Parish, the present owner, has done a great job of maintaining the historical integrity of the property.
L. D. Andrew photographed the home and a dovecote on the property in May 1936, for the Historic American Buildings Survey. I assumed it was gone, but owner Linda Titus Parrish notes: “When we purchased the property in 1976, the original dovecote/carriage house had been turned into a one car garage with storage and a manger added behind it. It still exists, without the dovecote, and is now used as storage and a workshop area with a new tin roof“. Photographs Courtesy Library of Congress.
Lexington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This Federal Style landmark was built as an I-House with later owners expanding it to its present appearance. The columns and portico were added in the mid-19th century and the first floor, originally a basement, was expanded into a full floor in the 1890s.
L. D. Andrew photographed the house for the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1936.
Lexington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This was built as a double-pen house in the early 19th century and has been modified several times.
Lexington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Construction on this iconic house began in 1798. The I-House [Plantation Plain] with rear kitchen seen today is a later antebellum expansion of a pioneer log cabin. The kitchen and dining room are later additions, as well. The loss of houses like this is the loss not just of architecture but of the memories of the men who built them and those who went about their lives in them. These places are our monuments. They define us, for better and worse.
The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation notes of the structure: The cabin, originally a 425 square foot structure built over a basement, was expanded over the years and is now an approximately 2,500 square foot nine-room house with three bedrooms and one bathroom. The house’s porch retains decorative carved brackets, and historic interior elements include wide pine board floors, chair rails, wainscoting, hand planed board walls, horsehair plaster, and Federal period mantels.
The house is presently being restored by Blair Dorminey.
Lexington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places