This home has an overall Victorian appearance and displays the eclecticism common at the turn of the last century. Like most houses I’ve found dates for in Palmetto, the given date of 1920 seems a bit late for the style.
This house is dated to 1918 in the only architectural survey I’ve been able to locate, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it dated to the late 19th century. It’s an eclectic example of the vernacular I-House, or Plantation Plain, style which was very common in 19th-century Georgia. The Queen Anne gable gives the house a Folk Victorian appearance.
Update: Blake Wilbanks, the current steward and owner of this home, writes: “The book Palmetto: a town and its people tells the story of Bud Holly who was born in the house in 1903. His parents married in 1900. The theory is that the house was built for their wedding.“
Note: This replaces a post originally published in 2017, necessitated by formatting changes.
This is an example of a house which is somewhere between a Victorian and a Folk Victorian and hard to “identify” in that context. While it features two Victorian gables, the overall feel of the house is more vernacular, hence my identification as a Folk Victorian.
This is a nice example of the Folk Victorian style that can be found throughout Georgia.
This nearly forgotten Folk Victorian house was recently exposed when land was cleared across from the old Ashton School. I expect it will soon be razed, as the back section has already begun to collapse. It likely dates to circa 1900-1910.
Farise Taylor writes: I played on the porch of this old house when Mr. J. T. McMillan and wife Ruby lived there with their children, John Earl, Ronald, and their sister. Before the McMillans lived there Mr. Artis O. Williams (1893-1973) and his wife Nellie Lowman Williams (1892-1967), along with their five sons lived there. The boys were D., Artis, George, Frank, and Boyette, all of whom served in combat in World War II. In 1951, Mrs. Williams, an English teacher at Ashton School, wrote a book of poetry, Songs in the Night.
In her book was a poem entitled “One Five Star Mother to Another”. This poem was a tribute to another mother, Mrs. Sullivan, who lost all five of her sons in World War II. The text follows, below.
I saw your picture in the news one day,
So full of courage, Mrs. Sullivan;
Upon your desk there stood five portraits gay;
From each frame smiled a stalwart sailor-son.
Two sisters underneath the skin we are,
Five stalwart service-sons, also, had I;
They, too, went boldly forth to global war,
And crossed the deep to conquer or to die.
Alike, we say, and yet–so different!
The ship, your sons, your very heart, went down.
My sons came back, as hale as when they went;
They changed my cross into a glorious crown!
Still, I keep thinking, Oh, and could it be,
Your precious five sent five back to me!
I have a signed copy of this book somewhere, and as soon as I can locate, will scan a photo of Mrs. Williams. I don’t know if Mrs. Williams ever shared the poem with Mrs. Sullivan, but I imagine she did. It’s hard to conceive the loss suffered by many families in the wake of the war.
Note: As of early 2025, the house has been razed.
The earliest known owner of this Ashton landmark was Reuben Walker, and like the Troupe House, it’s believed to date to the 1890s. I’m not sure it was built the way it presently appears, or it was a central hallway cottage with the gabled second floor added soon thereafter. It’s a vernacular interpretation of the Queen Anne style. The Aycock family are more recent owners.
Madison Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Alapaha’s iconic Brunswick and Western Railroad Depot, built in 1890, has been an important community landmark since its construction, but like many small down depots, had fallen into disuse in recent years. Concerned citizens, led by Mayor Ben Davis, accomplished the beautiful restoration you see in these photographs in an amazingly short time. From 2021 until the dedication of the new facility in December 2022, volunteers and skilled carpenters alike came together to spruce up this symbol of early Alapaha.
Congratulations to Mayor Davis and the people of Alapaha for a job well done, and a lesson to all that historic buildings are worth saving and can be saved when a community comes together.
I made this photograph on my first photo trip to Wrens with my friend Cindy Griffin, in 2009. I haven’t been able to identify the house but hope to soon.
Even though the chimney has been reduced, this house is an important example of a Folk Victorian, inspired by the Queen Anne style.