The Franklin-Powell house is a good example of late Queen Anne architecture so common in Georgia’s smallest towns and largest cities.
South Metter Residential Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This house is typical of the eclecticism of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Victorian frill was eschewed but elements, such the numerous gables in this example, remained. It was the home of Andrew Jackson Bird, Sr., (1886-1970) and Georgia Rebecca Turner Bird (1890-1970). Their only child, Andrew Jackson Bird, Jr. (1909-1955), was a colonel in the Air Force. He may have died during the Korean War.
South Metter Residential Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Anne Williams Patrick Sanders writes: “I’m so happy to see this lovely picture of the house my great grandfather, Malachi Mercer, built in 1898. My mother, Christine Williams Patrick, was born in this house and I have visited it many times. Her parents were Maude Mercer Williams and George Leroy Williams. My grandmother, Maude, was the second oldest daughter of Malachi and Nan Bird Mercer, There were seven children in the family including the last one who died as an infant. They lived on their farm until Malachi decided to build a house in town. He was a farmer and a merchant and wanted to support the town The house is beautiful inside and out and I always loved going there. Two unusual things about the house that I remember as a child were the back porch with the water pump on it. Another was the parlor on the front that could be entered only from the front porch. It was very cold in the parlor in the winter. Later my Aunt Mary Lou had a door made from the dining room so that one could enter the parlor from inside the house. She also had heat installed and I’m not sure about air conditioning.“
“With the passing of my cousin, James Comer Trapnell, Jr. (Jim), earlier this month, my sister, Jane Patrick Brawley and I are the only living great-grandchildren on the Mercer side. This past weekend my son, his wife and two sons visited Metter and the Mercer-Trapnell house. Their visit is what stirred our interest once again.“
The house is a classic example of a Queen Anne cottage and has been well-maintained.
South Metter Residential Historic District, National Register of Historic Places