Wildwood Court was the first multi-family apartment complex built in Columbus, begun in 1926 and completed in 1927. Nearly a century later, it is still in use. The garden-style apartments consist of two buildings, arranged in a U-shape around a central court. Several other complexes followed in the district, many of which are also still in use.
Hillcrest-Wildwood Circle Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This Craftsman bungalow was the Columbus home of renowned novelist and playwright Carson McCullers (1917-1967), famous for her novels The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Reflections in a Golden Eye, The Member of the Wedding, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, and Clock Without Hands. It is typical of the Craftsman architecture that characterizes the neighborhood. To further the legacy of its celebrated resident, the Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians is today a house museum and artist residency space owned and operated by Columbus State University.
Lula Carson Smith was born in Columbus, Georgia, on 19 February 1917 to Lamar (1889-1944) and Vera Marguerite Waters Smith (1890-1955). Lamar was a jeweler and watchmaker. Upon graduation from Columbus High School in 1934, Carson moved to New York City, where she began to write, publishing her first work in Story magazine in 1936. Even as she began to have success as a writer, McCullers’s life was rife with difficulty. A misdiagnosed and untreated case of rheumatic fever in childhood caused a series of cerebral strokes as she aged. By her mid-20s, Carson was partially paralyzed on her left side. She made regular visits back to Columbus at this time. In 1937 she wed Reeves McCullers (1913-1953), in what has been described as a lavender marriage.
When Lamar died at his jewelry shop in 1944, Marguerite sold the Columbus house and moved to Nyack, New York, and purchased a Victorian now known as the Carson McCullers House, also owned by Columbus State University. Carson lived in the Nyack house with her mother and sister, and after World War II, with her husband, who committed suicide in 1953. Later, Carson bought the house from her mother and lived there until her death. A final massive stroke in 1967 ended her life at age 50.
Hillcrest-Wildwood Circle Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
I haven’t been able to locate the name of the builder or the architect, but this English Vernacular Revival Cottage is representative of the early-20th-centural revivals common in the stylish Wildwood Circle subdivision. Many of the homes were the work of prominent local architects, including T. Firth Lockwood.
Hillcrest-Wildwood Circle Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This fine Greek Revival cottage is also known as the Bedell-Starke or Bedell-Browne House. It is the oldest extant house in what would come to be known as the Wildwood Circle subdivision. When the neighborhood was being platted for the subdivision between 1911-1917, it was moved across the street to accommodate a new road. A renovation by local architect T. Firth Lockwood in 1926-1927 added Colonial Revival elements to reflect the popular style of the era, though its Greek Revival origins remain evident.
The first owner, William A. Bedell (1818-1903) was an early settler of Columbus, involved in real estate, warehouses, groceries, and most significantly, cotton brokerage. His obituary in the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, dated 24 September 1903, noted: “William Augustus Bedell was one of the oldest cotton buyers in the state of Georgia. He was born in Jones County. The family moved to Harris County, and when he was a lad of 15, he persuaded his mother to let him come to Columbus for a visit. He arrived in Columbus in November, 1833. Mr. Bedell did his first work in Columbus as a clerk for Ridgeway and Bowden, located at what is now known as Needham’s Corner….”
Numerous owners followed, including Hugh Dawson (1861-1867); John M.* & Mary E. Grier Starke (1867-1884); H. H. Epping (1884-1885); Mary Welch Reynolds (1885-1889); Columbus, later Flournoy, Real Estate Company (1889-1917); J. Rhodes** and Nina Young Brown (1917-c. 1946?). *-The house is located on Stark Avenue, which was likely named for the Starke family. Presumably, the “e” was dropped at some point. | **- J. Rhodes Brown was involved in banking and insurance and served as a mayor of Columbus and on the Muscogee County Board of Commissioners.
Hillcrest-Wildwood Circle Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
The antebellum Greek Revival plantation home of John Woolfolk (1781-1861) in Wynnton is one of the most significant surviving houses of early Columbus. Woolfolk and William L. Wynn were the first settlers of the Wynnton area. Woolfolk, a native of Virginia, first came to Augusta before he began acquiring land in Muscogee County in the 1820s. He owned large acreage on the north side of Wynnton Road and purchased the land on which he built this house in 1832, the same year he was elected to the Georgia legislature. The house is important in terms of architectural history, but also African-American history, as it is estimated that approximately 180 enslaved people were held here before Emancipation, according to historian Calvin Schermerhorn’s The Business of Slavery and the Rise of American Capitalism 1815-1860. With his nephew, Austin Woolfolk he was a slave trader, who enslaved nearly 700 people in total. This gave rise to an urban legend suggesting the one of Woolfolk’s sons hunted down and killed slaves and buried them on the grounds or in the walls of the house, known in the legend as the House of a Thousand Cadavers. Of course, considering the value of the enslaved as property, this is highly unlikely. Perhaps the Woolfolk son was just particularly cruel.
Woolfolk’s daughters inherited his estate, which was already being subdivided to accommodate the growth of Wynnton, when he died in 1861. The property later passed to Judge William A. Little and was for a time known as the Little Place. In 1925, it was owned by Minnie J. Flournoy, who transformed it into the Colonial Apartments. She removed the original side porticoes, which have since been replaced, and added one-story wings to the house. This configuration (above) was documented in Howard Major’s seminal work Domestic Architecture of the Early American Republic: The Greek Revival (Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott, 1926).
National Register of Historic Places
This Neoclassical Revival mansion is located next door to the John R. Dawson House and is presently home to a law firm. I have had trouble locating a history. One survey dates it to circa 1900 but it is more commonly dated on tax forms to 1913. Also, it is identified by address in a Columbus State University archive as the Feimster Mansion, though addresses have changed and since the Feimsters were also later owners of the Dawson House, this could be outdated information. I will update when I know more.
Wynn’s Hill-Overlook-Oak Circle Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
By the late 19th century, the idyllic large estates of Wynnton were being subdivided into neighborhoods. One of particular note was known as Little’s Survey, for Judge William Little. This fine Folk Victorian cottage, representative of the Little’s Survey subdivision, was built in the 1890s on what had been part of the Woolfolk property, likely by Columbus builder(s) Rufus Jones and/or M. J. C. Pollard.
Wynnton Village Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This historic Greek Revival home, built by John R. Dawson (1810-1852) when the Wynnton area was first being settled and long known as the Old Dawson Place, is most commonly known as Gordonido today. A fire on 7 October 2023 did serious damage to the structure, especially to the roof and upper floor, as is visible in this photograph.
Dawson was a pioneer settler of Columbus, whose family relocated to the area from Maryland. He was a partner in the firm of Hill and Dawson, a successful planters supply company. Wynnton in 1837 was not part of the city of Columbus and the Dawson home was one of just a few country estates in the area. Originally situated on six acres, the property has been reduced to two acres over its nearly 200 year history.
After Dawson’s death in 1852, his heirs remained on the property until it was sold to Sallie L. Gilbert circa 1878-1880. A warranty deed identifies J. T. Willis as the next owner, in 1885. Frederick Barrett Gordon, president of the Columbus Manufacturing Company, purchased the Old Dawson Place in 1913 and his wife, Rosa Crook Martin Gordon, a founding member of the Woman’s Club of Columbus, oversaw significant improvements to the property. It was rechristened Gordonido, and was modernized while retaining its historical appearance. When the Gordons’ daughter, Margaret Gordon Richards inherited the home in 1949, further renovations, meant to return the house to its original appearance, were entrusted to local architect James J. W. Biggers.
A brochure published by the Historic Columbus Foundation in the 1970s noted: “Gordonido is exquisitely kept and one of the city’s most beautiful homes. It is recognized as one of Columbus’ most valued antebellum structures.“
I’m unsure as to any plans for stabilization or restoration at this time, but it would be a shame to lose this landmark.
National Register of Historic Places
In a place that has long proclaimed itself the Fountain City, the Lenora Myers Starling Fountain stands out as perhaps its most beloved. The Classically-inspired figure of a maiden rising from the waves peers to the skies from a bowl elevated by dolphins. It anchors a small, beautifully maintained triangular park at the intersection of Buena Vista Road and Wynnton Road. Dedicated in December 1929, it was commissioned by Mrs. Starling’s niece, Eleanor Moore King Hatcher. I believe Mrs. Hatcher was the mother of Claud A. Hatcher, the inventor of Chero-RC Cola.
Information on the Carrara marble fountain’s namesake is a bit scarce. According to all local references (with the exception of a National Register of Historic Places nomination) I’ve encountered, her name was Lenora Starling, not Leonora Sarling as carved into the bowl of the fountain.* According to a contemporary account in the Columbus Ledger, Mrs. Starling “moved to Columbus with her husband and became a “leader in civic, social and religious circles here. She was a pioneer in the Christian Science faith in Columbus and was active in numerous charitable endeavors.” She was also known as a leader in the local women’s suffrage movement in the early 1900s and was a founding member of the Columbus Confederated Women’s Club. Her loss in an automobile accident was described as a “tragic death while engaged in an errand of mercy.”
Ornamental fountains of Classical influence were a staple in the Victorian era, and the aesthetic remained popular for decades. Locals have dubbed the unnamed figure adorning the Starling fountain “Mrs. Columbus”. The ageless icon has kept watch over the Wynnton neighborhood for nearly a century and her visage is so connected to the city that she now commands a four-story presence on a mural at Heritage Tower.
A contemporary account described her as “the majestic figure of a woman poised in the attitude of soaring through space. One hand shields her eyes, as she gazes into the future.” This was particularly poignant in 1929, the year the nation entered the Great Depression, but remains timeless in its optimism.
*- If I can confirm that Mrs. Starling was indeed Mrs. Sarling, I will gladly update.
Wynn’s Hill-Overlook-Oak Circle Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
One of the more modest houses in the High Uptown Historic District, the Hawkes House is nonetheless a fine example of 19th-century architecture. The nomination for the National Register includes two dates for the house. The 1880 date presumably indicates a remodel to the present appearance, including the mansard roof, dormers, and porch. Presumably, it originated as a simpler form. Like others in the district, the Hawkes House was moved a short distance to save it from demolition.
High Uptown Historic District, National Register of Historic Places