History Worth Saving in Douglas County
The preservation of Douglas County’s history is not considered a priority with the advent of continuous growth and infrastructure problems being ever more prevalent. Certainly there have been successes in the past to ensure the longevity of historical sites like New Manchester Mill at Sweetwater Creek State Park and the architecture of downtown Douglasville, however recommendations in two historical resource surveys have yet to see light.
Earlier this month Losing Georgia plotted over 700 of the historical resources in Google Earth that were originally recorded in Douglas County between 1999 and 2000. Since that time only the John Thomas Carnes Family Log House and the 1956 Douglas County Courthouse have been listed on the National Register of Historical Places. Oddly enough both sites were not part of the recommendations made by the survey.
The County portion of the survey conducted in 1999 lists a possible eligibility of 22 separate structures for the National Register, with 5 being in Lithia Springs and 17 in unincorporated areas of the county. Included are popularly known places like Beulah Baptist Church, Stockmar Goldmine, Ezekial Banks House and Fouts’ Mill.
Of the 22 resources, a priority list of seven were recommended to be listed on the National Register, yet none have been and are likely to remain unlisted based on inactions of the past eight years. This article takes a brief look at the seven priority historical resources for preservation.
Stagecoach Inn
Abraham Owl Cabin
Flint Hill Methodist Church
Lithia Springs Historic District
The city that once was Lithia Springs, a thriving 19th century resort town that attracted the likes of professors and Presidents from far and wide. Attracted by the miracle of lithium spring water, people flocked to the area abroad the Georgia Pacific Railroad in attempt to seek a cure or relieve stress through divine relaxation.
Visitors could stay at the Sweetwater Hotel and ride “Little Anna”, a short line train that would take passengers to the Bowden Lithia Springs Water Company. Others came to study at the Piedmont Chautauqua while loathing in the summer cottages. Today most of these structures are absent by the affects of fire and the Great Depression, but the residential homes that resonate from days gone by could effectively become a historical district.
Some houses were once cottages for the Piedmont Chautauqua and the Sweetwater Park Hotel, while other homes were custom built for frequent travelers and local businessmen. One infamous house is dubbed “Frogmore”, named after a castle in England where the family came from to visit Lithia Springs during the summer.
Stagecoach Inn
A rickety old house on Liberty Road that stands upon a hill may be an eyesore to many drivers, but the structure remains as an historical artifact of Campbell County history. The survey suggests that the house “appears to be a rare, early 19th century, hall-parlor I-house built of mortoise and tenon construction. The building may be even more unique in that it appears to have been a dogtrot type house originally.”
Dogtrot houses originated in the Application Mountains with the center of the house being wide open, allowing cool air into adjoining rooms. Local history claims that the house served as a stagecoach inn where settlers could stay for the evening during their travels.
Summerlin-Bowden House
Described as “the most important resource in Lithia Springs,” the Summerlin-Bowden House has been a resource of multiple purposes. From acting like a stagecoach inn during the frontier period to the Salt Springs Post Office on the Atlanta-Birmingham Road, the home is in continual danger of commercial encroachment.
John C. Bowden lived in the house and was the owner of the Bowden Lithia Springs Water Company. Today there is little geographical evidence of what made the area historic.
Prays-Phillips House/Abraham Owl Cabin
Ephraim Pray has been notarized as being one of the most significant settlers and founding fathers of Douglas County. When Pray decided to settle near Trout Creek, which is now referred to as Dog River, he discovered that Native American Abraham Owl was living on the property in a cabin
The two men shortly became friends and Pray allowed Owl to continue living on the land, however they collectively decided to move the cabin to higher ground. Pray and Owl would live together until better living quarters could be built. Today the cabin is considered to be a rare late 18th century hewn timber cabin.
The families of Ephraim Pray and Joseph Phillips constructed “a 1 ½ story, double pen type house” in the late 1830s with resources abound from the local area. Today the house is still standing in an exclusive forested area on Highway 5.
Smith Hall Plantation
Built in 1855 by local businessman Moses M. Smith, the Smith Hall Plantation was one of the many river plantations on the Chattahoochee River near the community of Rivertown. All the bricks for the house were handmade on site and represent a “well preserved example of antebellum Greek Revival architecture.”
By 1864 Union General Sherman moved south from Kennesaw Mountain to invade the city of Atlanta. As General Sherman’s armies were fanning out to the west in a flanking maneuver, General McCook was searching for a place to cross the Chattahoochee River when he discovered Smith’s Ferry.
The Smith Hall Plantation would survive the American Civil War and would remain preserved for years to come.
Flint Hill Methodist Church
In the heart of the McWhorter community stands the white two-story Flint Hill Methodist Church, a symbol of the 19th century in southwestern Douglas County. The first church was a log cabin and may have been built in 1869. As the congregation and community grew, a new church was devised on April 4, 1874.
The bottom floor was designated for the Methodists to worship, while the second floor was a hall reserved for the local Masons, Grangers, Sons of Temperance and also used as a Literary School. The church began in 1874 under the guidance of preacher Mr. Harvey McWhorter, whose last name would honor the community on many maps. The origin for the Flint Hill name is relatively simple: flint rock was found in the cemetery and the church sat on a hill.
There are several Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery behind the church, including two unknown soldiers who served with the Army of Tennessee and died on October 2-3, 1864.
Chattahoochee River Rural Historic/Conservation District
At the time of the survey there was the possible designation that Highway 166 in Douglas County would become a scenic highway, much like Highway 70 and Highway 154 in south Fulton County. The creation of the district would help preserve many river plantations and help conserve natural forestry from new residential development.
Since that time there have been many new subdivisions along the highway, including in the Dog River basin. In recent years there has been no support for the designation of a scenic highway.
Update
September 1st, 2007 at 3:46 pmAdded a Google Maps to article showing the recommended sites that could have been listed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1999. Excluded is the New Manchester Mill, which was listed 1977.
never heard of any of these. Honestly, every other town in the country prob has crap like this too. Who cares.
September 3rd, 2007 at 6:40 am