This is the third building in Macon to bear the name Douglass Theatre. All three were owned and operated by Charles Henry Douglass (1870-1940), a son of former slaves and the most prominent and wealthiest Black businessman in early-20th-century Macon.
Charles Henry Douglass [detail], from Cyclopedia of the Colored Race, Vol. 1, 1919. Public domain.
The first Douglass Theatre opened circa 1912. It was replaced by a temporary location at 1223 Broadway in 1917, while plans for the present structure were being finalized. The New Douglass Theatre, adjacent to the Douglass Hotel, opened in 1921. Douglass operated it until his death in 1940 [thoughhe leased it to Ben Stein from 1927-1929]. His widow and sons kept it open until 1973. The venue showed first-run movies and hosted live performances. Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Duke Ellington were among some of the better known early performers.
Restoration of the Douglass was completed circa 1997 and it continues to serve as an important events venue.
Macon Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Sidewalk tiles were once commonly used to advertise businesses, especially during the 1920s and 1930s, and were often seen in Art Deco environments. I photographed this one in downtown Macon in 2009. I have no idea if the sign remains nor have I been able to locate anything about the business.
Neil Joiner shared, from an article by Ed Grisamore, that the business first opened as the Crystal Cafe, in 1892, was later Loh’s, and after that, Jeneane’s Cafe. The building was reportedly the first in Macon to have electric light.
Macon Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
I’ve found numerous prominent homes in scattered Georgia towns which are examples of architectural evolution, or put simply, houses that grew over time. The Usry House may be one of the best examples of this practical phenomenon, having originated as a one or two room cottage and expanded throughout the years to its present appearance. The suspended balcony is said to be one of the largest in Georgia.
Long before McDuffie County or Thomson existed, the land on which this house was built was part of Warren County. William Usry’s family moved to Georgia from Virginia and first appear in the Warren County Tax Digest in 1805. Per Jonathon Davila: [The house, now called The Usry-Davila House, was built in 1795. My husband and I are the current owners. The roof, walls and floor of the original 2 room cottage are still here, the large house was built around the original cottage. Even though my husband is a very distant relation to the Usrys, we are the first family to live in the house that wasn’t directly Usry. Hence, the name change]. Usry was a successful plantation owner and like all plantations of the time, its success was dependent on the labor of enslaved men, women, and children. After the war, the Usry family wisely looked beyond agriculture for income and created the Goodrich-Usry Railroad to move timber from their vast holdings along Little Briar Creek to nearby markets. They were successful entrepreneurs in various pursuits.
Members of the Usry family lived here and maintained its historical character for well over two centuries.
This was the home of Thomas E. Watson, before he built Hickory Hill nearby. According to the Historical Marker placed in 2001 by the Georgia Historical Society and the Watson-Brown Foundation: After passing the state Bar in 1876, native Thomas E. Watson returned to Thomson and lived in this house with his family from 1881 to 1900. In his first floor office Watson began his law and writing career and entered politics. He served in the Georgia House (1882), U.S. Congress (1890–92), and the U.S. Senate (1920–22). He was nominated for Vice President on the Populist Party ticket with William Jennings Bryan in 1896. Here Watson authored the two-volume Story of France and a biography of Napoleon. In a career often marked by controversy*, he was best known as the “Father of Rural Free Delivery.”
*-Thomas E. Watson was, as Carol Pierannunzi highlighted: …one of the more perplexing and controversial among Georgia politicians. In his early years he was characterized as a liberal, especially for his time. In later years he emerged as a force for white supremacy and anti-Catholic rhetoric...as [a] vice presidential candidate in 1896, he achieved national recognition for his egalitarian, agrarian agenda…He is remembered for being a voice for Populism and the disenfranchised, and later in life, as a southern demagogue and bigot.
While I am perplexed by Watson, who began his public life in such an enlightened way before turning to the darker impulses of the region, I am pleased that the Watson-Brown Foundation has done much good work for people and historical spaces of all backgrounds. This home, along with Hickory Hill and Brown’s birthplace, are maintained by the foundation and are open for tours by appointment. I was in town on a holiday weekend so didn’t get to take the tour. I hope to on my next visit.
The McNeill House is an amazing International Style house based on plans by famed architect Edward Durrell Stone in 1937. The home would have been radically modern for a town the size of Thomson during the 1930s and still has a futuristic feel.
The builder of the home, David Armstrong McNeill, Sr. (1873-1953), was the founder, with his brother, Frank J. McNeill, of the Armstrong Box Company of Chicago, a manufacturer of wooden boxes. After a fire they moved South, first to Johnson City , Tennessee, in 1920, and to Thomson, circa 1931. In addition to his work with the box company, McNeill was a successful entrepreneur in other businesses, as well. He was also a personal friend of the famed Olympian and Tarzan actor, Johnny Weismuller.
The house remained in the family for at least three generations and may still be in their ownership. It was fully restored circa 1990 and remains one of the most iconic examples of International Style domestic architecture in Georgia.
This Greek Revival landmark is the center of a large historic property near downtown Washington. The original house was built circa 1854 and has been expanded at least twice since the 1870s. Originally known as The Pines, for its sylvan location, it was built by Robert Shand Smith (1815-1887). Smith was a gentleman farmer who had about 75 acres but wasn’t dependent on agriculture for income. He was a notable presence in the Washington Methodist Church. After the deaths of Robert Shand Smith and his wife, Susan Dart Smith (1805-1880), their son, Robert Motte Smith (1849-1923) inherited the property. Their heirs sold it to Dr. Carlton W. Hearn and family in 1967. It has been beautifully maintained and is a great example of an antebellum Greek Revival house in Georgia.
The appearance of this house is more Neoclassical than Greek Revival, but it is said to have originated as a raised Greek Revival townhouse. It is associated with Jesse Mercer; an historical marker notes that the most famous Georgia Baptist of the 19th century lived here, but it would have been for a very short time, as the house dates to circa 1840 and Mercer died in 1841. This bears further research and investigation. Since I’m not clear on the Mercer connection, I’m identifying it as the Nicolas Wiley House, since Mr. Wiley was responsible for the present appearance of the structure. He added the colonnade and its custom-made Corinthian capitals which aesthetically define the house today [detail, below]. The street on which the house is located is also named for Mercer.
Later owners were Thomas Heard, in the 1880s, and Mary Callen in the 1890s. Mrs. Callen had the house lowered and modernized, adding electricity and indoor plumbing. Edwin Anderson bought the house in the 1940s or 1950s. It is presently for sale.
Washington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This home was originally located nine miles west of Washington, near Beaverdam Creek, and was moved to town in 1838. It is believed to date to the first decade of the 19th century and could be even slightly earlier than that. I will update when I learn more.
Washington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This exceptional Colonial Revival was the home of Dr. Addison Wingfield Simpson (1875-1963), who practiced medicine in Washington for 60 years. His son, Dr. Addison Wingfield Simpson, Jr. (1907-1967), himself a practicing physician for 27 years, inherited it upon his father’s death. He only outlived his father by four years.
Washington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Also known as the Ficklen-Lyndon-Johnson House, Holly Court is somewhat typical of the grander townhouses of 19th century Georgia, in that a “marriage” of structures led to its present appearance. The lot on which it’s located was owned from 1817-1830 by Bill Hoxey [born circa 1789], a free man of color from the Savannah area who was an accomplished carpenter. He was also a deacon of the Washington Baptist church, serving the Black members. It is believed that part of the original structure built on the lot by Hoxey circa 1825 has been incorporated into the house. Mr. Hoxey sold the property to William L. Harris in 1830. Laws of the day apparently prohibited even free Blacks from selling property so that was handled by Hoxey’s trustee, Lewis Brown.
Harris spent only three years at the property, selling it to Lock Weems in 1833. Improvements to the house were made by Weems before he sold it to his mother-in-law, Mary Shepherd, in 1836. Dr. Fielding Ficklen, Jr., (1801-1869) purchased it in 1837 and made further improvements. He enlarged it by moving and attaching another structure, which is now the front elevation, from his farmland about seven miles outside town. [Mrs. Jefferson Davis and her children stayed in the home in 1865, awaiting the arrival of her husband after the fall of Richmond]. Upon his father’s death in 1869, Dr. Joseph Burwell Ficklen (1830-1886) occupied the house. It is believed that his wife, Julia Weems Ficklen (1843-1925), was responsible for the fine landscaping that became a defining feature of the property.
In 1890, George Edward Lyndon (1845-1927), who later served as Washington mayor, bought the property from the Ficklen heirs. After Lyndon’s death in 1927, the house was owned by a relative, Andrew Lyndon. It sat empty for quite some time but served as the location for a mattress production project of the Works Progress Administration [W.P.A.] during the 1930s. Rochford Johnson (1897-1960) bought the house in 1939 and his wife, Elizabeth Barksdale Johnson (1897-1985) gave it the name Holly Court.
