Valdosta’s most famous home, The Crescent serves as the headquarters of several local garden clubs. The grounds feature beautiful formal gardens and outbuildings, and the property has played host to countless weddings and formal functions over the years. It’s open to the public Wednesday through Friday from 1 PM to 4 PM, but closed during major holidays and private events.
Damon Olson, who spent five years in college at Valdosta State, reminded me that a photo of the Crescent was used for many years on the box of Winn-Dixie’s “Georgia Crackers” brand.
If you’re ever in Valdosta, stop by and walk around the grounds.
Better known today as the Wisenbaker-Wells-Roberts House, or more commonly the Roberts House, this grand Victorian was nearly lost to fire in 2011. But thanks to an expert restoration led by the Valdosta Heritage Foundation and architect J. Glenn Gregory, it rose from the ashes.
In 1840, twenty years before Valdosta’s establishment, William E. Wisenbaker settled in Lowndes County and built this house. It was a country home then, but when a railroad first came to the area in the late 1850s and bypassed the nearby county seat of Troupville, a decision was made to move the county seat to be near the rail line. In 1859, Wisenbaker sold 125 acres to the Lowndes County Commission that would become the city of Valdosta in 1860.
In 1863, Wisenbaker sold the house to J. W. Wells, an early Valdosta mayor. In 1891, John Taylor Roberts, purchased the home. He was a long-serving mayor of the city, as well. His family lived here for over a century and in the 1990s, his descendants donated the property to the Heritage Foundation.
Fairview Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Designed in 1908 by Savannah City Hall architect Hyman Wallace Witcover, this iconic and unique Georgia courthouse was recently restored. It is among the best examples of the so-called Jeffersonian style in the state, and the only courthouse of this form. A newer, more modern courthouse was constructed across the street to accommodate Effingham County’s population boom. [Thanks to Tracy for allowing access to the courtroom].
A portrait of John Adam Treutlen (1733-1782) by George Mandus hangs behind the judge’s bench. Treutlen, the son of an indentured servant who went on to become the wealthiest plantation owner in present-day Effingham County, was early associated with the Ebenezer community as a student of John Martin Boltzius. He was the first governor of Georgia elected after the state adopted its 1777 constitution. He was brutally murdered by Tories, or perhaps a jilted lover, at the end of the Revolutionary War, near Orangeburg, South Carolina. His final resting place is unknown at this time. The portrait is on loan from the Georgia Capitol Museum.
John Adam Treutlen by George Mandus (detail), Georgia Capitol Museum
Effingham County should be commended for their excellent restoration of this unique historic courthouse.
Though this property was long associated with the Kirkland family, it was originally the home of Dr. John Luther McLean (1856-1912), who was a native of Coffee County, Georgia. After studies at Emory University School of Medicine and the Atlanta Medical College, he settled in Tattnall County in 1893 and established a medical practice. He was identified as an allopath. He married Minnie Stubbs McLean (1875-1960), and they had two children. The first, an unnamed infant daughter, was born in 1896 and lived only one day. Their son, Raleigh H. McLean (1902-1946), was active in the Elks Lodge and served in World War II.
Dennis Odom writes: “I live about 2 miles from the house and am much interested in local history. My dad used to refer to the house as the “Dr. McLean Place” After some research I have found that this was Dr. John Luther McLean…”
Dr. McLean’s house, front view
“Our community is called Birdford, which at one time was a small village located about a half mile West of the McLean house. Dr. McLean was also a Georgia State Senator in 1902-03. He is buried at the nearby Beards Creek Church Cemetery. I don’t know what happened to his family after his death.“
Dr. McLean’s office (purported)
According to local tradition, this was Dr. McLean’s medical office. It is critically endangered and if it has been correctly identified, is a rare example of a rural doctor’s office in its original location.
Tobacco barn
This tobacco barn is one of several outbuildings in various states of repair that remain on the property. It was likely built during the Kirkland ownership.
Bill Ricks writes: This is called the Neil Gillis House on GA 86 at US 221. “Old Man” Neil is the “father of Treutlen County”, as his leadership in the General Assembly led to the creation of the county from Montgomery and Emanuel Counties. His son, “Mr. Jim” Gillis was responsible for the initial paving of most of the roads in Georgia, as he was on the highway board from the 1930s most of the years leading up to the early 70s when Jimmy Carter became governor. I-16, down the hill from this house is named the Jim Gillis Highway.
Founder in 1868 of the Georgia Land and Lumber Company, William Pitt Eastman (1813-1888) settled the town bearing his name in 1870. He was also instrumental in the founding of Dodge County. He built this Italianate Victorian, designed by J. H. Russell (who also built Dodge County’s first courthouse) in 1872 and his daughter sold it to Judge James Bishop, Sr., in 1896. It is the oldest house in Eastman. James Bishop and Cary Bullock inherited it in 1926. It now serves as headquarters of the Dodge Historical Society.
Owned by Jimmy Carter’s father Earl, from 1928 until 1941, the former president spent his formative years here, from the age of four until he left Sumter County for college. Though located in what is considered Plains today, this was originally a separate rural village known as Archery. The Jimmy Carter Boyhood Farm is maintained today as part of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site. I attended the dedication of the site a few years ago and it was one of the coldest, wettest November days I can recall. Thousands turned out to hear President Carter reminisce about his youth here. It was a wonderful day, despite the weather.
One of the oldest houses and greatest landmarks in Fort Gaines, the home of General John Dill has been expanded and altered over the years. Dill came to Georgia in 1817, as an aide to General Edmund P. Gaines. He was given command of Fort Gaines, a frontier garrison on the Chattahoochee River. Upon the cession of Indian lands in 1826, General Dill retired and became one of the first merchants in Fort Gaines. A successful businessman, General Dill also served Early County as Justice of the Inferior Court, Brigadier General of the Georgia Militia and as an aide to Governor Lumpkin. The house was purchased by Mrs. S. R. Raymur in the 1890s and remodeled to its present Victorian appearance.
Georgia Ashbaugh writes: I never saw this house painted when my great grandmother, Beulah, was alive. It was gray wood and had a rusty iron fence. My great aunt Ruth would rake the sand yard of the falling moss every day. There were always rake marks in the front yard. There were remnants of train tracks to the left of the house. I’m told it was a train stop for fishermen. My mom said that the lunch buffet would have all kinds of salads, but none with lettuce. My mom had the great fortune of going home from school mid day for lunch at the fabulous hotel buffet. The upper porch was in such bad shape in the 60’s, that I was not allowed to step out on it. But, so, of course, I did. Because it was a working hotel, it had these long wooden boxes in the wide upper hallways that held linens for the beds. I was pretty sure the boxes were coffins. Beulah was 96 when I would visit her in the back room to the right. She sewed my dolls for me when I was very young. The first rag doll was white and blue eyed. She had blonde pigtails and a pinafore. Then granny made a bunch of monkey dolls. They were all gray patterned sock dolls with big red lips. She would play the piano, and stand up from the bench and dance a jig. She liked a little nip right up into her 90’s. People said she once had a pet monkey trained to go into the fisherman’s rooms and steal their booze. I believed this because my mom said that monkeys bite. There must have been a monkey.
