This home was the center of a small historic farm, on which a couple of outbuildings survived when I photographed it in 2017. It’s similar to the farmhouse my father and his siblings grew up in, though theirs was a bit larger and was later sided with brick and somewhat modernized. I mention this only because it was such a common house type on small farms throughout Georgia and many examples survive in various states of renovation and neglect.
This historic farmstead is located near the Broad Level community of northern Long County, an area that was once a center of turpentine production and timber cultivation. There are several surviving barns and outbuildings, including one roofed with Ludowici Tile. I’m not sure about its history, but chances are it was connected in some way to the turpentine industry. It has been relatively well preserved, a great example of a “middle class” working farm from the early years of the 20th century.
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.
This house is adjacent to a nice old pecan orchard and there were once many outbuildings [dependencies] around it. A tenant house still stands in the orchard. It’s located near the Cross and Green community. Charles Elliot, Jr., says it was originally associated with the E. B. Lamb property. While the structures are abandoned and in serious decline, the farm is obviously still productive. The house has probably been empty for many years.
In style, the house is eclectic, with predominately Victorian details. The front bay is Queen Anne but the brick columns represent a more “modern” addition. There was once a porte cochere to the right but I believe it has collapsed or been removed.
This Plantation Plain House is the anchor of an historic farm property that appears to have been abandoned for some time. It may be associated with the Arnsdorff family but that’s just a guess. It looks like it was maintained until somewhat recently, or at least an effort was made to make cosmetic improvements, such as the paint around the doorway.
A large barn is just around the driveway from the house.
Six over six windows are visible from the side of the house and look to be original. Boxed returns on the gables are another design element. Surveys date the house to the 1870s. Photographs before the vegetation got out of hand suggest an attached wing at the rear. The narrowness of the main section could indicate an earlier date.
When I was photographing the Mars Theatre before its restoration, about ten years ago, some of the nice folks with the City of Springfield suggested I photograph this property, as it’s considered the most historic farmstead in the county. I believe the referrer was a relative of the family. It’s not a public property but I was lucky to find the road to the farm open. As the sign says, this land was first surveyed in May 1800.
The land was first owned by David Reiser (1765-1836), a descendant of one of the early Salzburger families who came to Effingham County from Austria in 1736. Reiser received a grant of 450 acres from the State of Georgia in 1802. The farm, which grew into plantation with the addition of 150 acres, was inherited by David’s son, Christopher F. Reiser (1813-1884). Christopher and his wife had two sons and thirteen daughters.
One of Christopher’s sons, Virgil Herbert Reiser (1852-1918) purchased 100 acres of the family plantation in 1874 and developed his own farm, which became the present-day Reiser-Zoller Farm. After his marriage to Ella Gnann in 1879, they began living on the property. The small house behind the two-story house was their home originally, and all of their children were born here. The principal crop of the farm was corn but Virgil also raised cattle and hogs, which were floated on timber rafts and sold downriver in Savannah. As more crops were raised and timber cleared, the farm concurrently included a turpentine operation.
In 1900, Virgil’s relative, Pierce Edwards, was hired to build the larger farmhouse, needed to accommodate his growing family and farm. Upon Virgil’s death, his son Herbert (1880-1970) inherited the property. He added pecan and grapes, as well as tobacco, and more livestock, to the operation. It continued to grow under his stewardship. Herbert never married, and a nephew, Walter Zoller, became the next owner, and the fifth generation of the family to own the land.
Such an intact historical farm is rare anywhere and the family’s commitment to its preservation is inspiring. It is of statewide importance as a landmark of agricultural heritage.
National Register of Historic Places
The Maynard-Cheeves-Childs House is among the oldest in Monroe County. According to Jeunesse Millwood has been under resoration by the D. R. Millwood family since they purchased it in 1991. The wings were added in the 1920s, I believe. Jeunesse notes that her mother and late father have done a lot of research and meticulous restoration in what has turned into a long ongoing project. She says they have learned that the house either began or was completed in 1832. Originally by Thomas Maynard. His consort Sabrina died after giving birth to a daughter Susan and the baby a month later. Their graves remain on the property. Among other things it was used as a hospital during the Civil War as well as, we’ve been told, a hideout for escaping slaves. This would make sense as under the front foyer, there is a very large hole about 6ft x 6 ft. There was a trap door that once opened in the foyer but sadly, all the foyer flooring had to be replaced after the floods of 94 due to water damage. I believe the house eventually went to his son, Elijah, and then his daughter, Elizabeth Maynard Cheeves. Mrs. Flora or Florrie Childs, was a later owner. I’ll update when I learn more about the history.
This view from the west side is more akin to what the house would have originally looked like, even with the shed room at the back. With the Federal influence, there would not have been a porch of this configuration, either .
Though obscured by overgrowth today, the outline of the this early I-House, or Plantation Plain, is discernible. It’s one of the oldest houses in Monroe County and is also known as the Moore-Wright House. It was the center of a large working plantation and farm at one time. A shed portico with square columns was added to the facade in the 1950s but has collapsed, returning the house to its original appearance.
Jimmy Troupe tells me that his great-grandfather, Joshua Troupe, built this house in the 1890s, and it was subsequently home to his grandfather, H. A. Troupe, Sr., and his father, H. A. “Sonny Boy” Troupe, Jr. Jimmy grew up in the house and still owns it today. It’s likely the house was expanded at some point to its present layout. He also told me his grandmother said the family name was originally Troup but the “e” was added later, and that just up the road, toward Fitzgerald, there was a Troupe Schoolhouse in the early 1900s. The family was well-represented in the area.
I turned down an old dirt road, just inside Warren County, and in getting back to the highway passed this amazing survivor. I presume it was a commissary as it appeared to be part of what was an historic farm site, near Little Brier Creek. It likely dates to the 1920s or 1930s.