Built for Dr. Henry Holtzclaw, the second president of the Houston Female College, this Eclectic Victorian house was purchased in 1925 by the Penn-Dixie Cement Company for use as its employee clubhouse. It later served as the Penn-Dixie superintendent’s house and is today home to Century 21 Real Estate.
This Carpenter Italianate house is thought to have been built around 1855 for Judge Henry M. Holtzclaw, though there is some disagreement as to the date of construction. George Riley purchased the house in 1925 and sold it to the Gayle family in 1961. It is presently used as a food pantry.
Also known as the Swift-Tolleson House, this antebellum Greek Revival townhouse was built for Judge William Tyre Swift, most likely with the labor of enslaved men. The street on which it is located is named for Judge Swift. In 1879, legend relates that the world-famous SSS Tonic was invented in the backyard by Judge Swift’s descendant, Charles Thomas Swift. The tonic was one of the best-selling American patent medicines of its time and is still in production today, albeit a different formula. J. Meade Tolleson purchased the home in 1929 and it remained in the Tolleson family another forty years.
The New Perry Hotel was established in 1894 as Cox’s Inn and underwent several renovations and changes of ownership in its history. The 1925 redesign was the brainchild of owner Rochelle Cheeves Skellie, a rare female entrepreneur of the time. A longtime icon with travelers and diners alike, it recently [as of 2016] ceased operation.
Update: As of 2024, the City of Perry is poised to issue a demolition permit for the property. It was demolished in July 2024.
Perhaps Perry’s most historic structure, this church was begun at the outset of the Civil War. The congregation dates to 1826 and at least two buildings served as home to the Methodist church prior to the construction of this one. The architect of the present church, D. P. Flandreau, of Chester, New York, was so taken with the South that he left Perry to serve with the Confederacy as a member of the Southern Rights Guard. Legend suggests that an enslaved man named Pete, belonging to W. M. Davis, was sent by his enslaver to learn architecture in the North, was granted his freedom after building such a fine home for Davis. It is suggested that with the help of other slaves they completed this church while their enslavers were away at war.
Chartered in 1844, Houston Lodge met in various locations until moving into the present structure in downtown Perry in 1850.