Category Archives: –McDUFFIE COUNTY GA–

Thomas E. Watson House, 1880, Thomson

1 Reply

This was the home of Thomas E. Watson, before he built Hickory Hill nearby. According to the Historical Marker placed in 2001 by the Georgia Historical Society and the Watson-Brown Foundation: After passing the state Bar in 1876, native Thomas E. Watson returned to Thomson and lived in this house with his family from 1881 to 1900. In his first floor office Watson began his law and writing career and entered politics. He served in the Georgia House (1882), U.S. Congress (1890–92), and the U.S. Senate (1920–22). He was nominated for Vice President on the Populist Party ticket with William Jennings Bryan in 1896. Here Watson authored the two-volume Story of France and a biography of Napoleon. In a career often marked by controversy*, he was best known as the “Father of Rural Free Delivery.”

*-Thomas E. Watson was, as Carol Pierannunzi highlighted: …one of the more perplexing and controversial among Georgia politicians. In his early years he was characterized as a liberal, especially for his time. In later years he emerged as a force for white supremacy and anti-Catholic rhetoric...as [a] vice presidential candidate in 1896, he achieved national recognition for his egalitarian, agrarian agenda…He is remembered for being a voice for Populism and the disenfranchised, and later in life, as a southern demagogue and bigot.

While I am perplexed by Watson, who began his public life in such an enlightened way before turning to the darker impulses of the region, I am pleased that the Watson-Brown Foundation has done much good work for people and historical spaces of all backgrounds. This home, along with Hickory Hill and Brown’s birthplace, are maintained by the foundation and are open for tours by appointment. I was in town on a holiday weekend so didn’t get to take the tour. I hope to on my next visit.

Queen Anne House, 1901, Thomson

2 Replies

This classic Queen Anne now houses real estate offices and is very nicely maintained. It may be a “Barber House”, i.e. built from one of the pattern books of prolific Victorian architect George Franklin Barber.

Federal Style House, Circa 1859, Thomson

1 Reply

This house is a good example of the evolution of the Federal style that continued throughout the 19th century. The portico itself is not very “Federal” but the overall massing of the house is definitely influenced by it. I hope to learn more about this house.

McNeill House, 1937, Thomson

6 Replies

The McNeill House is an amazing International Style house based on plans by famed architect Edward Durrell Stone in 1937. The home would have been radically modern for a town the size of Thomson during the 1930s and still has a futuristic feel.

The builder of the home, David Armstrong McNeill, Sr. (1873-1953), was the founder, with his brother, Frank J. McNeill, of the Armstrong Box Company of Chicago, a manufacturer of wooden boxes. After a fire they moved South, first to Johnson City , Tennessee, in 1920, and to Thomson, circa 1931. In addition to his work with the box company, McNeill was a successful entrepreneur in other businesses, as well. He was also a personal friend of the famed Olympian and Tarzan actor, Johnny Weismuller.

The house remained in the family for at least three generations and may still be in their ownership. It was fully restored circa 1990 and remains one of the most iconic examples of International Style domestic architecture in Georgia.

National Register of Historic Places

Hall and Parlor Farmhouse, McDuffie County

Leave a reply

I photographed this abandoned house in 2016. It may well be gone by now. It was located somewhere near the Rock House or the Bowdre-Rees-Knox House. It doesn’t look like a typical hall and parlor design but that was the best I could discern by the placement of the door [barely visible]. It is possible that it is a single-pen. The chimney is in an unusual location, as well, but the layout of these early vernacular house types depended more on the ingenuity of the carpenter than any proscribed standards.

Clarks Hill Lake, McDuffie County

2 Replies

This man-made lake, now officially known as Lake Strom Thurmond, retains its original designation as Clarks Hill Lake in Georgia. Its creation was made possible by the construction of the Clarks Hill Dam near the confluence of the Savannah River and the Little River in 1952. It is the third largest man-made lake east of the Mississippi River and provides abundant recreation and fishing opportunities for residents and tourists alike.

This view was made on a western section of the lake, near the old town of Raysville. The lake is bordered by McCormick County, South Carolina, and Lincoln, Columbia, McDuffie, and Wilkes counties in Georgia.

Old Post Office, Boneville

2 Replies

This is the only publicly visible commercial structure remaining in Boneville and appears to date to the early 20th century. Jeremy Ansley notes that it was the post office. The framework of the historic Boneville/Camelia Mill (1880) survives, but is not accessible. The circa 1840 Clyde Hunt House-Dixie Inn, which was located just down the road, was lost to fire in 2013.

Boneville was a popular recreation spot from the late 19th century until the 1920s, when the Georgia Railroad closed the depot.

Boneville School, 1920, McDuffie County

4 Replies

Frankye Crawford writes: My twin Aunts Ruby and Ruth Johnson taught school here and piano lessons in the 1920’s. Later it became The Home Demonstration Club and after that it was used for the church children’s Sunday School Classes. I attended this Church for a long time. Boneville will always be home to me.