This is another fine example of the Greek Revival cottage style so popular in antebellum Columbus. Like its neighbor, in the previous post, it has been expanded over time and has had decorative elements added, but to no detrimental effect.
Columbus Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This cottage has been expanded at the rear section, but retains its historic integrity. It’s one of my favorite houses in Columbus, though I have been unable to locate any history beyond an approximate date of construction. The ornamentation is a stylistic addition, likely done 20-40 years after the house was built.
Columbus Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Richard Rose Goetchius (1814-1875) came to Columbus from New York in 1834 and quickly established himself as a prominent builder and architect. He built this grand Greek Revival cottage as a gift for his wife, Mary Ann Bennett Goetchius (1819-1878), upon their marriage in 1839. It originally stood at 11th Street and 2nd Avenue but was moved circa 1970 to save it from commercial development.
All six of the Goetchius children, five sons and a daughter, were born in the house. The two eldest sons died in the Civil War. Another son died in early childhood. One son became a Columbus lawyer and another a Presbyterian minister. Their daughter, Mary Goetchius McKinley, died in childbirth, and her daughter Mary McKinley Wellborn, eventually inherited the house. It remained in the family until 1969.
It has been completely restored by its new owners, who have transformed it into a popular gourmet restaurant.
National Register of Historic Places
Columbus Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This house was located at the corner of Front Avenue and 8th Street, overlooking the Chattahoochee River, until 1969, when it was moved to its present site by the Historic Columbus Foundation. Little of the early history of the house is known; it was purchased by saloon keeper Francis Marion Bagley (1845-1903) around the turn of the 20th century.
Columbus Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This Greek Revival cottage is thought to have been built for John Spencer Roberts, the founder of Georgia Webbing & Tape, an early Columbus industrial concern, though further information on Mr. Roberts or his company has not been easy to locate. By 1896, it was home to Joseph Hecht (1844-1917) and Adele Kober Hecht (1859-1920). The Hechts were Austrian Jews who came to Columbus in the 1860s and later established Hecht’s Candy Company, a successful wholesaler.
It’s been home to Charles E. Huff’s International Funeral Home for many years.
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 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
The Illges House, now an event venue known as the Illges-Woodruff House, is one of the most imposing works of residential architecture in Columbus. It was built by James A. Chapman (c. 1809-1869) circa 1850. Chapman, a native of Warren County, came to Columbus about 1840 and was one of the largest planters in the area, dependent on the labor of over 140 slaves. The Civil War ended his prosperity and with it went the ownership of this house. When Abraham Illges (1830-1915) purchased the home from interim owner William H. Woods in 1877, he added the elaborate doorway, pedimented windows, iron roof trim, paired eave brackets, and an iron fence. The house remained in the family until being sold in 1946. It returned to the family in 1956 when purchased by James Waldo Woodruff for his wife, Ethel, a daughter of Abraham Illges.
Illges, a native of Pennsylvania, worked for the Confederacy as an intelligence agent behind enemy lines, as he did not want to fight against his brothers who remained in Pennsylvania. His Columbus businesses included groceries, mills, manufacturing companies, and banks.
High Uptown Historic District, National Register of Historic Places