In Cornerstone and Grove: A Portrait in Architecture and Landscape of Emory’s Birthplace in Oxford, Georgia, Erik Blackburn Oliver notes: The original part of this plain-style Greek Revival house is thought to have been built in the mid- to late 1840s; however, “there are records of a dwelling on these grounds in 1850 owned by the widow of Professor George W. Lane.” Lane, a clergyman, had been the classics teacher of the Manual Labor School, served as secretary to the board of trustees, and became the first professor of ancient languages of Emory College, so if indeed this was his first home in Oxford, it might date to the late 1830s.
It was later the home of Isaac Stiles Hopkins, hence the name. Hopkins was a professor and later the ninth president of Oxford (1884-1889).
Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This was built as a plain-style Greek Revival cottage by the first president of Emory College, Ignatius Few, and has been home to most of the school’s chief executives. The two projecting front wings were added during the presidency of Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, and the Victorian details during the late 1800s. Longstreet’s daughter Virginia married Emory graduate Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar in the home. Lamar would go on to serve as a congressman, senator, Secretary of the Interior in the first Cleveland administration, and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was also the namesake of Lamar County, in central Georgia.
Young L. G. Harris [namesake of Young Harris College] purchased the home in 1899 and presented it to the Emory trustees for use as a home for the school’s presidents, which it remains today.
Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Built by a Mrs. Williams in the mid-1840s, this Greek Revival townhouse was purchased by the Branham family in 1855. They owned it for 130 years, willing it to Emory University in the 1980s. The home was purchased by Claude and Eva Sitton in 1990 and they have extensively restored it.
Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Edward Lloyd Thomas, who surveyed the town site of Oxford, was paid with four lots by the trustees of Emory College. Thomas built this house, circa 1837-1838. He sold it to George W. W. Stone, Sr., in 1851. Stone was a member of the first graduating class at Emory, and members of his family remained in the house for much of the 20th century. Jack and Jane Atkinson restored it in the 1970s, importantly removing a wider Victorian porch and replacing it with the architecturally correct pedimented entry seen today. The Eady family are the current owners and not only have strong ties to Oxford College, but to the Stone family, as well.
Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
William H. Mell is believed to be the first owner of this home, more commonly known today as the Capers Dickson House, for the next owner, William Glen Capers “Judge” Dickson (1845-1914). Dickson was a private in Company 1, Cobb’s Legion, Infantry Batallion. Dickson served as a city judge in the courts of Newton County and was a law professor at Emory College.
The facade of the house is very reminiscent of the Milledgeville Federal style, though the overall floor plan is L-shaped.
Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This antebellum cottage was built by Dr. Henry Gaither but is most associated with a young woman purported to be a spy for the Confederacy, Izora “Zora” Fair, and is even referred to as the Zora Fair Cottage based upon this history. The history itself may be apocryphal or embellished, however. It posits that while Zora was a refugee from war-ravaged South Carolina, she disguised herself as a mulatto with crushed walnut hulls, sneaked into General Sherman’s headquarters, and overheard his plans for the March to Sea. When she tried to pass this information to Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston, it was intercepted by Union soldiers, and she hid out in the attic of this house.
Considering that the most recent sources for this information were published in the 1910s, they must be held to some scrutiny, especially since they were published by partisan historians. There must be something to the story; perhaps a more objective modern researcher can put it all together.
Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This house, first known as High Point and originally located at the western edge of Covington, was built for John Pace Carr in the Federal style and is attributed to Collin Rogers. He and his brother Henry built many houses in Georgia in the 1830s, always aided by their enslaved laborers. The home transitioned to its more formal Greek Revival appearance in the 1840s, as was the fashion of the day. The owner, John Pace Carr (1797-1875), was a native of Halifax County, North Carolina. In 1863, Carr sold the house to his daughter Amanda and her husband, Madison Derrell Cody (1824-1875), who was a second cousin of William F. Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill.
After years of decline, High Point was saved and moved to Oxford by Jim Waterson in 1975. Mr. Waterson’s story of the move is nearly as fascinating as the history of the house itself. After numerous hurdles, the home finally reached Oxford. It was placed on the site of Bishop James Osgood Andrew’s home, Chestnut Grove, which was lost to fire in 1910. The Carr-Cody-Waterson House, as some identify it, was given a more lyrical name by Jim Waterson: “High Point at Chestnut Grove”.
Rust Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church was established by Freedmen soon after the Civil War, in 1867. In 1869, a charity of the northern Methodist Episcopal Church known as the Freedmen’s Aid Society established a school and church, named Rust Chapel for Rev. Richard S. Rust, who served as secretary of the society.
The old day chapel which had been used on the Emory College campus was donated to Rust Chapel and moved to this location. After it burned in the early 1900s, the present structure was built. Rust Chapel continued to operate a school, essential in the Jim Crow South, until the construction of a Rosenwald school.
I’m unsure if the church was included in the National Register Historic District when it was created in 1975, but it certainly should be. It’s physically part of the district and of equal importance to other public buildings, so I’m including it for reference.
Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This historic commercial block, locally known as the “Rock Store”, was constructed of local stone and was originally a combination general store and post office. More recently, it has been known as the McGiboney Building. Today it houses a private residence upstairs and retail/office space on the lower floor. As best I can tell, it’s the only surviving commercial structure from 19th-century Oxford.
Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Christened “Orna Villa” in 1820 by Dr. Alexander Means, Jr. (1801-1883), this is the oldest house in Oxford, and if the log house from which it was expanded is considered, likely has origins in the 1790s.
In her highly-readable history of the house, current owner Lisa Dorward has done more research than anyone else, it seems. She writes: A Virginian by the name of Richard Keenon Dearing had come to Georgia in 1793 and purchased 2,000 acres of land on which he built a four-room plantation house of hand-hewn logs. Dr. Means bought the house from Dearing around 1820 and set about expanding and remodeling it into the grand Greek Revival house it is today. Among Dr. Means’s many interests was ornithology, so he named his home that stood among the trees, Orna Villa, meaning “Bird House.”
Alexander Means, Jr., was a renaissance man who, as the Oxford Historical Society notes, served as a physician, school teacher, scientist, college professor, poet, college president, statesman, and as the first state chemist in the United States. Born to an Irish immigrant father and Scots-Irish mother in Statesville, North Carolina, Means settled circa 1820 in what would eventually become the town of Oxford. He married Sarah A. E. Winston in 1827 and they had 11 children. He helped establish the Newton County Female Seminary, served as president of the Georgia Conference Manual Labor School, and taught natural sciences at the newly established Emory College, among other academic endeavors. He entertained President Millard Fillmore at Orna Villa, and delivered the funeral oration for President Zachary Taylor. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Medicine degree from the Medical College of Georgia, where he taught during winter sessions. He retired from Emory in 1855, after briefly serving as president. Though he traveled and lectured in many locations, he remained at Orna Villa throughout his life.
As accomplished as he was and as varied his interests, Means, was also man of his time Research by Dr. Gary Hauk and Dr. Sally Wolff King suggests that between 20-28 men, women, and children were enslaved at Orna Villa. Ironically perhaps, Dr. Means was initially opposed to secession, but soon became a vocal supporter of the Confederacy.
Orna Villa stands today as one of the most tangible symbols of Oxford and Newton County’s early history. There are quite a few “ghost stories” related to the house, as well, especially those concerning Toby Means, but you’ll have to read Lisa Doward’s articles to learn more about them.
