It’s sad to see an old house like this barely standing but I hope the beautiful grove of oaks which surround it can be saved.
Gable Front House, Long County
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Tag Archives: Georgia Vernacular Architecture
Pyramidal Cottage, Griffin
I’ve always documented Georgia’s finest homes alongside its more common dwellings, and this is a great example of the latter. I maintain that the living spaces of the working classes are more important in a broader historical sense than the “grand old ladies” that have always gotten the most coverage from historians and photographers, because they represent the familiar. The simplicity of this pyramidal cottage is what I admire most about it. It probably dates from the 1920s-1940s.
Bishop House, 1880s, Emanuel County
This historic farmhouse was built circa 1889. It’s located near Summertown in northern Emanuel County. Architecturally, it’s a good example of an I-house, sometimes known as Plantation Plain. This type house was popular from at least the 1770s in Georgia. A central hallway form, it’s known as an I-house for its rectangular footprint. Plantation Plain is descriptive, as houses of this type before the Civil War were usually the dwellings of plantation owners. Most examples of that era are a bit wider and “shorter” while post-war examples are more compact and therefore just a bit taller. Though not always the case, it’s sometimes helpful to know when trying to date these workhorses of rural Georgia. The room at the rear is a later addition.
Charles T. Elliott, Jr., notes that his grandmother was born in this house and says it was owned by the Bishop family for whom nearby Bishop’s Chapel church was named.
Mt. Zion A. M. E. Church, 1923, Emanuel County
Mt. Zion A. M. E. Church was established in 1860. That date would suggest a plantation-based congregation; if just after the Civil War and the 1860 date is a bit off, it was a Freedmen church. Either way, it’s one of the most historic African-American churches in Emanuel County. A cornerstone placed on 20 May 1923 leads me to believe that 1923 was the date the present structure was erected. Rev. W. M. Kelley was the pastor at the time. Trustees were: S. W. Wadkins; J. F. Williams; and J. O. Oglesby. Stewards were: J. M. Ross; E. D. Oglesby; C. L. Oglesby; S. A. Ross; Rosa Pierce; and D. R. Williams. The Auxiliary were: J. E. Pierce; C. L. Clark; and and N. A. Blunt.
A newer cornerstone indicates that a renovation was completed in 2003. It’s a beautiful church and churchyard with an adjacent cemetery. The old oak out front is a landmark itself.
Caldwell Farm, Emanuel County
Earlier today I published a photo of this structure, which was mysterious because of its lack of windows; I thought it may have been a long-forgotten church or schoolhouse. This led to a conversation with Ron Weatherford, who explained that this was originally a farmhouse but was converted to use as a barn after the owners built a newer house across the dirt road. He also noted that the property had been clearcut recently.
Ron wrote that about 600 acres here was owned by the Hutchesons but they never lived here. However, their daughter, who married a Caldwell, did. It was known as the Caldwell place thereafter. The Caldwells lived here for decades.
There was something familiar about the house and I realized I’d photographed it, I believe on a barn hunting trip with Cal Avery and Mike McCall in 2014. I published it as “Board-and-Batten Farmhouse, Emanuel County” on 11 February 2014. The property was very overgrown at the time but I was able to point my camera inside and document the beautiful walls in the old place. Ron Weatherford wrote at the time that this room was the Caldwell’s bedroom. He said that when they moved to a more modern house on the property, a farmhand moved in. After it was abandoned, vandals ransacked the place and stole porcelain doorknobs and other relics.
I wasn’t able to get a good shot of the front of the house, which was probably built in the 1920s, but took photos from other perspectives. An old cedar tree, probably planted as a seedling by the Caldwells, heavily shades the front porch.
Dellwood United Methodist Church, 1890s, Emanuel County
This classic rural Georgia church was built during the 1890s and for most of its history was home to the Dellwood M. E. and later Dellwood United Methodist Church. In recent years, it was home to the Son Light Inn congregation but appears to be empty at this time. The boxed returns on the front gable, as well as the narrow two over two windows are the distinguishing architectural features of the building.
When I encounter a place like this, I think of all the families who spent time here over the years and of how difficult it must have been to abandon the place when there weren’t enough people to keep it open. It’s perhaps the most significant historic structure remaining the Dellwood community and I hope it will be preserved.
Brinson Rock Baptist Church, Circa 1915, Emanuel County
I’m not sure when this congregation was established, but this historic structure dates to circa 1915. The enclosed vestibule and rear hall were added circa 1965. The vinyl siding is obviously quite recent.
I don’t know if Brinson Rock is a religious reference or honors some nearby geologic feature. Historically, sandstone and clay outcrops were notable enough in the area to be documented by geologists, so the second option is a possibility.
Green Grove Church, Circa 1920, Emanuel County
I’ve really only been able to locate a name and approximate date for this vernacular church. The Green Grove Church building was originally sided with clapboard, then covered with false brick siding [tar paper]. The present veneer was probably added in the past 20 or 30 years. Though it’s slightly larger than the praise houses of the coast and low country, it is very similar. It may also be a Freedmen church.
Mt. Sinai Holiness Church, Circa 1945, Emanuel County
This is a nice example of the two-steeple [or two-tower] church form widely associated with rural African-American congregations. Though other churches use this form, it has come to symbolize Freedmen churches and other Black congregations.
This has been identified as Mt. Sinai Holiness Church or Mt. Sinai Holiness Church of God. Though it was built circa 1945, the congregation may be older than that date. It was apparently in use as late as the early 2010s but has been abandoned for some time.
Many churches of this type have been modernized in the past 20-30 years and that has often resulted in the loss of their towers. Often, when a newer church is built, these great old buildings are left to the elements. I’ve been documenting them for fifteen years and still look for them everywhere I go.
Saint Paul-Noah’s Ark A. M. E. Church, Summertown
This structure was built circa 1900 and has been home for many years to Saint Paul A. M. E. Church and is now also home to the surviving congregation of Noah’s Ark A. M. E. [I’ll share a photo of the amazing Noah’s Ark church soon.] I haven’t been able to identify any other church associated with this building, but the style is not very consistent with other A. M. E. churches I’ve documented and wonder if it may have originally been home to a white congregation. Most A. M. E. churches of this era featured steeples at the front of the building.
According to a “Church of the Week” feature in the Crossroads Chronicle, an online local news source for Emanuel County: Donald Jenkins at Saint Paul/Noah’s Ark AME Church…[stated] Saint Paul was established in 1874. Some of its earliest members were Edmond Williams, Jerry Wiggs, and Andrew Brown, to name a few.