St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 1870, Webster County

3 Replies

When Ernie Culpepper relocated and restored this historic church from Sumter County to Webster County in 2010, he saved more than just a building. The very existence of a Lutheran congregation in this part of Georgia was unusual. Most Georgians, being of English and Scots Irish descent, were Methodists and Baptists. According to our friends at Historic Rural Churches of Georgia (HRCGA), “St. Marks Lutheran was organized in the late 1860s by German immigrants who moved in from South Carolina...[they] were all from the Dutchforks area of South Carolina, located around what is now Newberry and Lexington counties.

The church was established in the late 1860s in the Bot(t)sford community, southwest of Plains in Sumter County.

First Lady Rosalynn Carter’s ancestors were members of St. Mark’s and the Carter family maintained a connection with the church for many years. Jimmy Carter even visited the church with Walter Mondale after securing the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 1976.

Photos of the church made by our friend Steve Robinson before it was moved and restored show sheet rock walls of a lime green color and floors and trim in a very worn condition (posted on HRCGA) .

The sanctuary is a beauty to behold today and the work and commitment to its restoration by Ernie Culpepper is nothing short of a wonder. It really proves that, where preservation is concerned, that when there’s a will, there is always a way.

Rural Hill United Methodist Church, Webster County

2 Replies

This church is located south of Centerpoint. It’s a typical front gable church, with three bays. I’m identifying it as a church because structures like this are usually churches. It has obviously been abandoned for a long time.

Susan Hogan writes: Rural Hill United Methodist Church… a part of the Preston Charge along with Weston and Preston churches. The pastors were often students at Emory University coming from Atlanta to the Preston parsonage on weekends. “Preaching” took place at Preston church on 1st and 3rd Sundays at 11:00 a.m. Sunday school every Sunday. Services at Weston church at 9 a.m. (?) then Rural Hill at 11 a.m. Not sure when services stopped.. probably the 1980s-90s.

Leslie Baptist Church, Sumter County

Leave a reply

No history of this church is to be easily found online, but I would be grateful to learn more. The congregation has probably been around as long as the community.

Queen Anne Cottage, Leslie

Leave a reply

This is a refined but unusually massed Queen Anne cottage. The three gables on the side and the timber framing on the front gable are the most interesting features.

Winged Gable Cottage, Circa 1910, Leslie

1 Reply

One of the most common house types of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Georgia, the winged gable cottage was a utilitarian form that was often expanded as the need dictated. This example has two rear wings, or ells, and is larger than the facade would indicate. The Folk Victorian porch posts are also a common element of such houses.

Queen Anne Cottage, Leslie

1 Reply

This is one of several homes in Leslie that have been dated to 1910. As is often the case, I suspect this to be a “recorded” rather than actual date. Though I don’t have more information, and nothing more than an educated guess, I would expect this more likely to date to the late 1800s. It’s a textbook example of the Queen Anne cottage style so popular in Georgia at that time.

George Franklin Webb House, 1901, Sumter

3 Replies

Sumter was a small crossroads community in Sumter County, just north of Smithville; it had a post office from 1884-1954. [It may have also been known as Sumter City]. It could just as well have been known as Webb, as the Webb family was in the area by circa 1825 and John Ronaldson Webb (1822-1881) was farming 125 acres east of Muckaloochee Creek by the 1850s. He and Amanda Melvinia Williams Webb had at least thirteen children. They eventually owned and cultivated 900 acres. According to the National Register of Historic Places, Amanda divided the land between her seven living sons in 1900. They all built homes along Highway 19 and farmed them separately.

This is one of the numerous farmhouses built by the Webb brothers. I believe three are extant, including the William A., and Emory C. Webb houses. This eclectic Queen Anne was owned by George Franklin Webb (1861-1936) and Ida Varina Goynes Webb (1875-1956). Together, these resources make up the historic Webb Family Farms.

The houses and historic farmland, along with the adjacent Liberty Primtive Baptist Church, are also significant as surviving structures of the nearly forgotten Sumter community.

National Register of Historic Places

Guerry-Mitchell House, Circa 1840, Americus

Leave a reply

This superb Greek Revival cottage was built by James Peter Guerry (1803-1878) between 1836-1840, and is one of the oldest documented houses in Americus. Guerry was born in South Carolina and with two of his brothers came to Americus in the 1830s. They were among the earliest settlers of the city. Guerry served as a state representative and judge. After his sons returned to Americus after their service in the Civil War, Guerry turned the house over to one of them, John C. Guerry, and retired to his plantation near Plains. John C. Guerry sold the house to Beverly C. Mitchell (1818-1889) in 1878 and the Mitchell family remained there until the 1940s.

National Register of Historic Places

Lustron House, 1949, Americus

4 Replies

This early prefabricated cottage was one of just 22 Lustron houses built in Georgia. Lustron, which was patented by Roy Strandlund, was the name for the enameled steel panels used in the construction of these houses. It was promoted for durability and ease of maintenance, and since it was essentially a kit home, consistent pricing was an important factor, as well. The prototype for the houses was known as the “Esquire” model and designed by architects Roy Blass and Morris Beckman for the Chicago Vitreous Corporation.

The Americus Lustron was built by the Hav-A-Home Lustron franchise in nearby Albany. It’s an example of the 1085-square-foot Westchester Deluxe two-bedroom model and was designed by Roy Blass.

According to the National Register of Historic Places, “The interior of the house features a living room/dining room area, a kitchen, utility room, a bathroom, two bedrooms, and closet space…Exterior and interior wall corners are rounded and contribute to the clean, streamlined look of the Lustron home. Design features include built-in steel wall furniture and closet space with sliding doors. The built-in unit between the living room and front bedroom contains a mirrored bookcase on one side and a mirrored vanity and counter top with drawers and doors for closet space on the other side…Between the dining area and kitchen is a buffet with shelves and drawers on one side and kitchen cabinets with shelves and drawers on the other side, all finished in porcelain enameled steel. To assist in food serving, a counter pass-through is placed in this unit…The kitchen features the original enameled-steel cabinets, however, the combination dishwasher/clothes washer was removed.”

National Register of Historic Places

Huntington, Georgia

1 Reply

As best I can tell, Huntington was a railroad village. Located southeast of Americus, it had a post office from 1889-1934. It was likely named for Charles Allen Huntington Sr., (1828-1896), a New York-born businessman who served in the Confederacy and became a prominent businessman in the area. He served as president of the Sheffield-Huntington Company and was active in numerous civic pursuits in late-19th-century Sumter County.

This brick shotgun form building, which appears to have had some sort of commercial use, along with a fine Victorian home next door, are the only historic buildings remaining in the area.