This circa 1817 I-house was part of a much larger plantation purchased by the Nolan family in the 1850s. It was home to the Nolan family before the more substantial structure was built at the crossroads circa 1905. It is not publicly accessible but visible from the right of way in winter.
National Register of Historic Places
Built for one of Thomasville’s early settlers, the Hardy Bryan House is among the most important surviving antebellum structures in the region. When it was built, Thomasville was still quite rural and the house served as the center of a working plantation. Bryan died in 1859 and the house had several subsequent owners, including the Cater family. Today, it serves as the headquarters of Thomasville Landmarks, an organization at the forefront of local preservation since the early 1960s.
The cross pattée on the pediment has become an iconic architectural symbol of Thomasville.
National Register of Historic Places
My identification of this structure is an educated guess, considering it is surrounded by the historic Wade Plantation. It looks to date from circa 1910-1930. It’s possible it was a general store independent of the plantation but this seems unlikely. (There is a location known locally as Hill’s Store just down the road but I don’t think this is associated with it). False front structures are quite rare in rural Georgia and I can’t recall having seen a commissary of this style. The pressed tin is in amazingly good condition, though the structure has likely been neglected for many years.
This is one of Warrenton’s oldest and most historic homes. It was once the center of a large working plantation. In 1858, the owner, George Washington Hardaway (15 August 1781-3 September 1858), willed the plantation to his daughter, Frances Markham Hardaway Wellborn (Mrs. Marshall Wellborn).
Passing through rural Wheeler County from Lumber City (Telfair) to Alamo, one cannot miss this Eclectic Victorian with Carpenter Gothic details. An exquisite two-story arcade (not visible in this photograph) connects the main section of the house to a rear addition. More than one friend has commented over the years that the sight of the house stopped them in their tracks. It is a standout in South Georgia, out of place in a landscape most characterized by simple vernacular dwellings.
The McArthur family owned portions of the land around the house beginning in 1827. From the shambles of the cotton economy Walter T. McArthur (1837-1894) developed his father’s farmland into a thriving timber plantation and completed Woodland in 1877, the year of his father’s death. A Captain Renwick and Johnus Thormaholon are listed as the architects/builders. Walter was a Confederate veteran and served in the Georgia legislature from 1868-1871. His son Douglas later maintained and managed the property. It was sold in 1917 to Emory Winship (1872-1932). Winship was a career naval officer from a prominent Macon family and primarily used the house as a hunting lodge during his ownership.
The property is currently on the market.
National Register of Historic Places
Situated behind the iconic Woodland plantation house is this amazing survivor, an enclosed dogtrot thought to have been built by the first McArthur family member to settle here; their ownership of the land dates to 1827. It is possibly the oldest house in Wheeler County. After use as a storage shed for many years, it was restored in 1993.
This impressive stock barn at Woodland [it may have been used as a dairy] is one of the largest of its type in this section of South Georgia. Several other smaller barns are scattered on the property but many have been lost over the years. The other two structures depicted are the most important surviving dependencies; my identifications are educated guesses and if I’m incorrect, I’ll update.
This was likely a commissary or warehouse.
This may have been the plantation schoolhouse. Its architecture suggests that it is somewhat contemporary to the main house.
These tenant properties were part of Woodland Plantation. I believe most were demolished by 2020.
They provide an interesting example of the evolution of tenant housing in the early 20th century.
The Folk Victorian/Queen Anne example may have been an overseers house. (Interior view)
It’s a nice vernacular interpretation and features board-and-batten walls.
Intact historic farms survive only through the care of generations of families; the Mitchell J. Green plantation in Evans County is an excellent example. In 1868, after service in the Confederacy, Mr. Green built a log cabin on the property and commenced farming. The thriving operation became the center of a small community known as Green and had its own post office from 1882-1904. Mr. Green served as postmaster. A Plantation Plain farmhouse with Victorian accents, built in 1878, anchors the property. Numerous dependencies remain.
Commissaries are iconic components of Georgia’s plantations and many remained in use on larger farms until World War II. The Green Commissary appears to be in excellent condition; the shed protrusion is likely a later addition.
The stock/hay barn is the largest outbuilding on the property.
National Register of Historic Places
The land which today comprises West Hill was first acquired by William Cunningham of Pulaski County in the Land Lottery of 1827. Cunningham never occupied the property and sold it to David Harrell about 1836, when the Greek Revival main house* is thought to have been constructed. He sold the property to William West (1799-1873) in 1853. By 1860, West had 3500 acres in cultivation and 2000 acres in timberland, making him one of the largest plantation owners in Georgia. He was also a leading cotton producer, with a record of 430 bales produced around 1860. Slave labor was integral to the operation.
West deeded the property to his daughter, Annie Crooks West, in 1867. She later married James Nelson McMichael and they lived in the main house the rest of their lives. After Mrs. McMichael’s death in 1915, estate administrators operated the farm until it was purchased by her nephew, L. M. Moye, Sr., in 1929. His descendants continue to own the property. I’m most grateful to Mac Moye for a generous tour of the grounds. The property is inhabited and private.
*-Mac Moye notes the similarity of the main house to the Bedingfield Inn in Lumpkin, suggesting they were likely designed by the same builder. This must be considered more than coincidental, considering the rural nature of Stewart County in the 1830s.
West Hill Dependencies
The historical importance of West Hill is most evident in the surviving dependencies that were the hallmark of self-sustaining plantation life. That the West descendants have maintained these structures in such authentic condition for more than a century-and-a-half seems nothing short of miraculous. Other than the absence of the original wooden shingles, the outbuildings are true to their original condition.
Perhaps the most significant of the remaining dependencies at West Hill is the plantation schoolhouse.
One of the first schools ever built in Stewart County, its use by neighboring children was strongly encouraged by William West, who even brought a tutor from New York to teach his children here.
The joinery, though crude by today’s standards, has survived for over a century and a half.
This structure did double duty as the plantation commissary and meat storage facility.
Kitchens were always built away from the main house, and this was even true for much smaller properties. The threat of fire and the ability to control it led to this convention.
Among the domestic staff, no one was more important than the cook; it was common on large plantations for one or two members of the kitchen staff to have their own separate dwelling.
Another person essential to the continued success of a large working farm or plantation was a blacksmith, as much of what was needed for repair and production weren’t locally available, and tools and implements needed to be forged on site.
The essential privy…in this case, a five-seater.
West Hill Dependencies- Slave Dwellings of “The Grove”
Few properties in Georgia retain the dwelling places of enslaved persons, so the survival of these three at West Hill is extraordinary. All of the slave dwellings are believed to be contemporary to the construction of the main house, dating them to circa 1836. Though they have been maintained by the family for their historical value, they are the most endangered, and arguably the most important structures on the property. Located bout a quarter mile from the main house in an area referred to as “The Grove”, these single-pen houses were used as tenant homes long after emancipation. As a result of their later use, two were slightly modified. One has an extra room and shed room, while another has a shed room. Like the dependencies at the periphery of the main house, these structures were of log construction with siding and would have originally featured wooden shingles.
National Register of Historic Places