This simple Greek Revival home was built for Guy Lewis Warren, a founder of Jonesboro and agent of the Macon & Western Railroad. It served as a hospital and headquarters for the 52nd Illinois Regiment during the Battle of Jonesboro.
Jonesboro Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This house, built by Whitmill Phillips Allen (6 November 1811-January 1868), was once the center of a plantation located four miles north of Jonesboro on the Atlanta Road. Allen sold the property to Robert McCord in 1858; McCord answered the call to Confederate service not long after settling onto the property. During the Battle of Jonesboro, Union soldiers set up camp on the grounds. The house survived the Civil War and when McCord returned home, he resumed operations of the farm, selling the property in 1879. My understanding is that the next owner was John Columbus Orr. It remained in the Orr family until Emily Orr Haynie transferred it to Historical Jonesboro, Inc. In 1972 the house was moved to its present location and is operated as a museum today. Georgia architect Edward Vason Jones was responsible for the restoration and noted of Stately Oaks: The house is a simple but well-proportioned country house done in the Greek Revival style. From the provincial quality of the details, it appears to have been built, as well as designed, by a capable but untrained carpenter-builder about the year 1840…The mass of the house is pleasing and the plan basically good, being typical of the majority of the rural Greek Revival houses throughout Georgia…
Some contend that the house was the inspiration for Tara in Gone with the Wind, though this can’t be proved since Margaret Mitchell didn’t confirm it [to my knowledge]. She would have known this house, however, and it is certainly of the type she would have drawn inspiration from when writing the book.
National Register of Historic Places
St. Teresa’s was built between 1859-1860 on land donated by Nelson Tift. Work on the the small Gothic Revival chapel was halted by the Civil War, but the unfinished interior served as a makeshift hospital for injured soldiers. Work on the church resumed after the war and the structure was formally dedicated in 1882. St. Teresa’s holds the distinction of being the oldest Catholic church in Georgia that still holds services. Though the congregation has moved into a more modern facility, a Mass is still held here each Wednesday.
National Register of Historic Places
This home was built for one of Jones County’s earliest settlers, Captain John Parrish, who also served as an early county commissioner. During the the March to the Sea, the residence was briefly occupied by Union General Kirkpatrick as a temporary headquarters. The smaller structure attached to the right side of the house was built in 1821 and in 1830 served as the law office of Alfred Iverson, Sr., and Samuel Lowther. Iverson went on to serve in the Georgia legislature, the House of Representatives, and the United States Senate. His son, Alfred Iverson, Jr., served as a Brigadier General in the Confederate Army.
Old Clinton Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
One of just a handful of surviving Western and Atlantic Railroad depots, the Cartersville depot now serves as the town’s Welcome Center. That it has survived at all is a bit of a miracle, considering it was in the direct path of Sherman’s forces as they headed into Atlanta. On 20 May 1864, Confederate forces occupied the depot in an effort to protect it, knocking out sections of the wall for use as gun ports. Due to other concerns, Sherman, let the depot stand, but there were light skirmishes between the Confederate and Union forces at the site. About six months later, when Sherman returned to Cartersville, a Union soldier cut the telegraph line from the depot, isolating Cartersville from the outside world, and the March to the Sea was underway.
Cartersville Downtown Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
The oldest non-residential structure in LaGrange, this Greek Revival church was built by Benjamin H. Cameron for the local Presbyterian congregation in 1844. It served as a Confederate hospital from 1863-1865. The Reverend Dr. James Woodrow, uncle of Woodrow Wilson, was tried here by the Presbyterian Synod for teaching evolution in 1885. It later featured a steeple built by George and John King, sons of the great bridge builder, Horace King, but it was removed when the congregation relocated in 1919. The structure has subsequently served as a public library, funeral home, athletic club, and as home to another congregation.
This classic Italianate cottage was built for Nicholas Lewis. During the Civil War, it was occupied by refugees from various Southern states. A prominent local physician, Dr. Henry Hamilton Cary, purchased the home in 1869.
Elam Alexander began construction on this house on Coleman Hill in 1836, for Jerry Cowles, the financier who brought the railroad from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Macon and who served as president of the Ocmulgee Bank. The house took on its present monumental appearance with the addition of the colonnade in 1840. Financial woes led Cowles to New York during the 1840s and the house was purchased by Joseph Bond, one of Georgia’s most prominent cotton growers. Bond’s time in the house was short, however, as he was killed by a neighboring plantation owner in a dispute over a slave.
In 1865, the estate served as the headquarters of Union Brigadier General James H. Wilson during his occupation of the city. In 1879, James T. Coleman purchased the property and the surrounding area became known as Coleman Hill.
The Oriental/Moorish gazebo, built during the Victorian era, is one of Macon’s most popular photo subjects.
Beginning in 1960, the house served as the segregationist Stratford Academy for a time [now an inclusive institution located elsewhere] and was later gifted to Mercer University by the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation. It remains one of Macon’s most enduring landmarks.
Macon Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Ambrose Chapman built this transitional Federal Style house circa 1840 and less than three weeks after its completion, sold it to U. S. congressman Henry G. Lamar. In 1846, Lamar sold the house to Judge Abner Powers who owned it until 1858, when it was purchased by Dr. James Mercer Green (1815-1881), Dr. Green, who served as Surgeon at various appointments in the Confederate States, was also responsible for overseeing the care of scores of wounded Confederate soldiers at locations around Macon during the Civil War.
Macon Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
One of fourteen National Cemeteries administered by the National Park Service, Andersonville is still open for burials today. Few places will put into perspective the human cost of war more than the burial place of so many who paid the ultimate price in preserving our national interests and values.
I’ve visited here numerous times during my life and the impact is always the same. I’m awed by the beauty of the place yet saddened by the loss of so many.
The earliest burials at the site were trench graves of those who died at the adjacent prison at Camp Sumter, and these began in February 1864. In little over a year, over 13,000 men were interred here. The earliest graves are those visible when you first enter the cemetery.
After the war, the identify of the remains of many prisoners were confirmed and the deceased given proper markers.
Andersonville National Cemetery is still open for burials today, and the National Park Service tries to accommodate as many requests as possible. There are no waiting lists, so such a burial can only be arranged after a veteran’s death. Over 20,000 are interred here today.
Andersonville National Historic Site