Tag Archives: Georgia Architecture

Eclectic Cottage, Circa 1910, Columbus

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A blue two-story house with white columns and hanging plants, featuring an American flag on the front porch and surrounded by a green lawn and a white picket fence.

This eclectic home, featuring elements of Craftsman, Colonial Revival, and Neoclassical Revival styles, is located near the Secondary Industrial School in the Waverly Terrace neighborhood. Typical of early-20th-century planned communities, Waverly Terrace features numerous architectural styles.

Waverly Terrace was a streetcar suburb which grew out of G. Gunby Jordan’s (1846-1929) Waverly Farm, a large property he owned on the outskirts of downtown Columbus. Jordan was president of the board of education and his influence brought the Secondary Industrial School to the neighborhood, not only as an incentive for development but also for the vocational training it provided to potential future employees of his many business concerns. This was a stabilizing factor in the growth of Waverly Terrace.

Waverly Terrace Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Secondary Industrial School, 1905, Columbus

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The historic Columbus Industrial High School building featuring red brick architecture and tall columns, surrounded by greenery and grass under a clear blue sky.

Columbus has a large number of historic schools still standing, many of which serve various purposes. The Secondary Industrial School, in the Waverly Terrace neighborhood, was one of the first co-ed institutions in the nation to combine academics and vocational training. When it opened in 1906, it offered millinery, dressmaking, and business training for girls, and carpentry, pattern-making, machinist and business training, as well as cotton mill work. The school’s name changed to Columbus Industrial High School in 1912, and became Columbus Junior High School in 1939.

The monumental structure was one of the final works of J. W. Golucke, an architect primarily known for his courthouse designs.

National Register of Historic Places

The Cedars, 1837, Columbus

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Historic home known as 'The Cedars' with columns and a gable roof, surrounded by greenery.

The Cedars was built for Col. John Banks (1797-1870) in 1837. It got its name from the cedar trees which lined the long driveway that led to the house from the old Wynnton Road. The floor plan consisted of eight rooms with a hall running the length of the house. A dirt-floored basement, entered from the outside, was used as the slave quarters. The main house was built of handmade deep rose colored bricks covered with stucco. This was marked off in large rectangles to resemble blocks of stone. The four Ionic columns on the front portico are stuccoed brick. The roofline was changed in 1885, elevating a much flatter original configuration.

A prominent attorney, John Banks was a native of Elbert County and a pioneer settler of Columbus. His obituary in the 24 September 1870 edition of the Atlanta Constitution noted: “For a while he was a grocery merchant in Augusta, the firm name being Banks & Baird. He has resided near Columbus over thirty-five years, and was engaged in various business in this city – grocery, banking, manufacturing, besides farming extensively – and accumulated a large property, much of which escaped the casualties of war.”

According to the nomination form of this property to the National Register of Historic Places, Banks was involved in the Indian Wars and first visited Columbus at the behest of Governor Troup to accompany General LaFayette on his trip from Milledgeville to Alabama. He was a founder of the Planters and Mechanics Bank of Columbus and a co-owner, with John E. Dawson, of the Howard Cotton Mill. He and his wife Sarah A. Watkins Banks (1803-1881) had 12 children. Four of their sons died in Confederate service.

National Register of Historic Places

Wildwood Court Apartments, 1927, Columbus

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View of Wildwood Court, a historic garden-style apartment complex in Columbus, featuring two U-shaped buildings surrounding a lush green courtyard.

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.

Exterior view of the Wildwood Court apartment complex, showcasing two U-shaped buildings with balconies, columns, and green landscaping.

Hillcrest-Wildwood Circle Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

English Vernacular Revival Cottage, 1937, Columbus

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A charming two-story house with a brick exterior and a sloped roof, surrounded by greenery and a large tree in front. Leaves are gathered in a pile on the lawn.

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.

English Vernacular Revival Cottage with a brick facade and a steeply pitched roof, featuring multiple windows and a wooden front door surrounded by greenery.

Hillcrest-Wildwood Circle Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Neoclassical Revival House, 1913, Columbus

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Historic house with white columns and black shutters, featuring a porch and landscaped yard in the Wynn's Hill-Overlook-Oak Circle Historic District.

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

Hawkes House, Circa 1850 + 1880, Columbus

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Historic house with mansard roof and pressed tin details, located in the High Uptown Historic District.

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

Rankin House, Circa 1860, Columbus

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Historic brick Italianate house with ornate ironwork and a balcony, surrounded by greenery.

This exquisite Italianate townhouse was built for James A. Rankin (1806-1880), a Scottish immigrant who found success as a planter by enslaving at least 30 men, women, and children. He was also the owner of the Rankin Hotel in Columbus. Construction commenced before the Civil War but wasn’t completed until after the end of the conflict. Lawrence Wimberley Wall was the architect. An 1898 newspaper article proclaimed the Rankin House the finest in Columbus and valued it at $18,500, a fortune at the time.

It is now home to a museum and the Historic Columbus Foundation. Restoration was done by local architect Edward W. Neal.

High Uptown Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Henry Lindsay Woodruff House, 1908, Columbus

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Historic Richardsonian Romanesque-style home featuring a red brick exterior, multiple columns, and distinctive architectural details, located in the High Uptown Historic District.


This Richardsonian Romanesque-inspired home was built for Henry Lindsay Woodruff (1851-1921), next door to his brother Ernest Woodruff’s former home. It is one of two homes in the High Uptown Historic District associated with Mr. Woodruff. Henry was a prominent businessman in his own right, serving as the president and general manager of Empire Mills for thirty-three years. One of his sons, George Cecil “Kid” Woodruff, Sr. (1888-1968), was the coach for the University of Georgia football team from 1923-1927 and was considered instrumental in bringing the program to national prominence.

High Uptown Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Hineshaw Rosenwald School, 1931, Hinesville

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Exterior view of the abandoned Hinesville Shaw Rosenwald School, featuring brick walls, boarded windows, and a damaged roof, surrounded by grass and trees.

Construction of the Hinesville Shaw Rosenwald School, as it was originally known, began in 1930 and was completed in 1931, fulfilling the goal of the Rosenwald Fund to provide state-of-the-art schools to black children in the segregated Jim Crow South who otherwise would not have had access to quality education. The Trustees of the Hinesville Colored Schools (Alonzo Simpson, J. H. Gause, and Robert Duggan) helped secure the local funding required to match the gift of the Rosenwald Fund.

Sign on the brick wall of Hineshaw Elementary School, displaying the school's name in weathered metal letters.

The Rosenwald School was originally a comprehensive facility housing grades 1-11. I’m unsure when it became an elementary school, but the addition of a wing to the original Rosenwald structure, and a later separate building, were likely constructed during the era of Equalization Schools (1950s). It has long been known as the Hineshaw School/Hineshaw Elementary School. Neighborhood resident and businesswoman Rebecca Hargrove Shipman sold property adjacent to the school for the nominal fee of $1 to ensure street access to the campus. Two of those streets bear her name today, Rebecca Street and Shipman Avenue. Trustee J. H. Gause was also honored with a street bearing his name.

Abandoned Hinesville Shaw Rosenwald School building, surrounded by overgrown vegetation and tall trees, showcasing its deteriorating condition.

The campus remained in use in one form or another until the early 2000s but has been abandoned for many years. Neglect and storm damage have endangered the building and immediate stabilization is needed. It has recently been announced that Hinesville Downtown Development Authority is planning to restore the Rosenwald School.