Category Archives: Milledgeville GA

Memory Hill Cemetery, Milledgeville

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Jordan Family Plot

Opened for burials in 1804, Memory Hill is among the most historic cemeteries in Georgia, though not quite as extensive as Savannah’s Bonaventure, Macon’s Rose Hill, or Atlanta’s Oakland. Some of the more famous “residents” here include architect John Marlor, Flannery O’Connor, magician/vaudevillian star Dixie Haygood (known as Annie Abbott, the Georgia Magnet), Representative Carl Vinson, Bill Miner (one of the last Western outlaws), Charles Holmes Herty (UGA’s first football coach), as well as numerous slaves, Civil War veterans, politicians and inmates of the Georgia Lunatic Asylum. An extensive guide to Memory Hill can be found here.

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

 

The Cedars, Circa 1822, Milledgeville

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Now in use as a sorority house, this is an exemplar of the Milledgeville Federal Style. The Cedars originally fronted Clarke Street and a cedar-lined circular drive marked its entrance, hence the name. Charles W. Howard was the first owner and Daniel Pratt is thought to have been the architect. Formal gardens at the original location were designed by Irish landscape gardener Patrick Crane. Other owners have included the Jarrett, Scott, Prosser, Moran, Tigner, Smith, and Garrard families, among others.

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

 

Gordon-Cline-O’Connor House, Circa 1820, Milledgeville

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During my first year at Georgia College, I lived in the then-derelict Ennis Hall, directly behind this enigmatic literary landmark. Flannery O’Connor’s mother, Regina Cline O’Connor (1896-1995), well into her nineties, still lived here then. The house was in a much worse state of repair at the time. Apparently, it was built by a General Gordon around 1820. During the mid-1830s it was rented to the State of Georgia for use as a temporary Governor’s Mansion, and was later owned by Flannery O’Connor’s matriarchal ancestors, the Clines. At some point in its early history it was the victim of a fire, though I’m unsure about the chronology.

In his seminal work Architecture of Middle Georgia: The Oconee Area, John Linley states: The house is not one that can be judged architecturally. No doubt it was finer and more stately before the fire and subsequent changes…

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

 

General W. A. Sanford House, Circa 1825 & 1900, Milledgeville

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Though rebuilt in 1900, the house retained its original fourteen columns wrapping around three porches. Other owners have also been Dr. T. O. Powell and his daughter, Mrs. Richard Binion, among others. It remains one of the more imposing houses in the historic district.

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Isaac Newell House, Circa 1825, Milledgeville

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This landmark was built for Connecticut native Isaac Newell Sr. (1797-1866). The columns and pediment are thought to be later additions to what appears to have begun as a Federal Style house. After over a century-and-a-half of ownership by Isaac Newell’s descendants, it’s now the Office of Admissions of Georgia College & State University.

Unfortunately, the house is surrounded by heavy utility wires. The extent of my rant would be to say that in one of Georgia’s architectural showplaces such as Milledgeville, an urban plan to bury these wires would be something to seriously consider.

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Wooten-Bone House, 1903, Milledgeville

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Though it was built by H. Stewart Wooten, the owner/operator of a very successful early 20th-century stationery and book store in downtown Milledgeville, this house is now known almost exclusively as the Bone House. It houses the International Education Center of Georgia College & State University. It mimics in spirit the Milledgeville-Federal style houses prominent throughout this part of the city. It was purchased in 1972 by Frank Bone, owner of the Bone Brick Company, and given to the college in honor of his wife. According to the newsletter of the International Education Center Terra Nostra [Spring 2012]: [the Bones] were ahead of their time. Mr. Bone expressed pleasure that the school was showing interest in the racial questions and problems of the day. In 1935 he and his wife joined former President Guy Herbert Wells and his wife in providing transportation for leaders of the student Young Women’s Christian Association to Fort Valley Normal & Industrial School, the black college nearest Milledgeville, where the visit provoked Mrs. J. E. Andrews, head of the Women’s National Association for the Preservation of the White Race, and nearly brought the removal of President Wells.

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

 

Old Governor’s Mansion, 1839, Milledgeville

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Designed by Charles Clusky, who was already known for building the first light house on St. Simons Island in 1810, the Governor’s Mansion in Milledgeville is considered one of the finest extant examples of High Greek Revival architecture in America. General William T. Sherman occupied the building on 23 November 1864. After the capital was moved to Atlanta after the Civil War, the mansion fell into disrepair but was given to the Georgia Normal & Industrial College (now Georgia College) in 1889 and is now the most treasured building on the campus. An extensive restoration was undertaken in the early 2000s and today the home of Georgia’s governors from 1839-1868 is one of the finest residential museums in the state.

National Historic Landmark + National Register of Historic Places

Hines-Bone House, 1958, Milledgeville

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Though so well-conceived it appears to be of an earlier construction, this house was built by the Atlanta architectural firm of Bodin and Sambertson for Mrs. T. M. Hines in 1958. It was subsequently illustrated in a feature on architecture in Fortune magazine as one of the best houses of its style in the nation. John Linley labeled it Classic Re-Revival.

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Washington & Jefferson Street Parkways Marker, Milledgeville

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“In recognition of Milledgeville’s two historic parkways as true historic sites. Laid out in 1804 on the city’s original plot as integral parts of two streets leading up to the statehouse. Washington, named for the nation’s first president, and Jefferson, named for the incumbent. Planned as embellishments to the city founded to be Georgia’s capital, threatened with destruction through the years, saved by public outcry, preserved and landscaped by the Milledgeville Garden Club with the help of city officials and local contributors, treasured as tangible reminders of Milledgeville’s historic past.”

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Old Methodist Parsonage, Circa 1822, Milledgeville

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Built by the Methodists for use as a parsonage, this house is another Milledgeville landmark I strive to see every time I’m in the area. Also sometimes referred to as the “Old Parsonage”, later owners of the home have included the Thrweatt, Trippe, Bell, Speir, and Flake families.

It’s very difficult to photograph, but this perspective shot should give you an idea of the general layout of the house.

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places