The Historic Walking tour travels the residential and commercial section of the Eatonton National Register Historic District. This district boasts beautiful examples of Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Folk Victorian, Italianate, Gothic Revival, Craftsman, Mission Style, and Neo-Classical homes.
Located in the heart of Eatonton, the courthouse was originally constructed by J.W. Golucke of Atlanta for $30,000 in the Neo-Classical Revival Style. It was renovated in 1995 for $1.5 million. The east and west wings were added in 2005.
This Federal Style building was purchased by the Eatonton-Putnam Historical Society in 1975 and moved to its present location. The original beaded siding, floors, doors, and mantels make the building a rare treasure.
This Greek Revival cottage was built by Dr. Robert Adams, who incorporated elements of a smaller house previously located on the property in 1848. This home was owned by members of the Adams family for over 150 years. The entrance, doors, and windows are massive and much of the interior of the house is original.
A Greek Revival building that was originally used as a Temperance Hall. It was extensively renovated on the inside in the early 2000s by the Putnam Development Authority.
The oldest building in Downtown Eatonton. The downstairs was originally a stagecoach stop, while the upstairs was used as an all-male secret society. Original pine floors, doors, and mantels are still present in this Federal Style building.
This block of buildings originally housed the Masonic Rising Star Lodge #5, the old City Hall, the Hunt-Rainey Building, Fuller’s General Store, and the Adele Theater. The buildings contain many of their original features, including the first non-electric elevator in Eatonton.
In 1922, Farmers and Merchants Bank purchased the Beaux-Arts building and remained there until 1962 when the business moved across the street.
This Greek-style building, designed by Charles Jenkins, is the third built by the congregation on this lot and was constructed in 1891.
Now home to the Eatonton-Putnam Historical Society, this Greek Revival home was originally a Piedmont Plain house and served as a tavern, but was renovated between 1846-1852. In his childhood, Joel Chandler Harris and his mother lived in a small cottage behind this house.
This home was one of the first built on N Madison Ave. It was originally constructed as a four-room, single-story home. It has been added onto many times over its life.
This home, complete with a steamboat Victorian front, served as a boarding house for many years of its existence.
The appearance of this home has not changed since it was built. As seen in the detailed cornice, the architecture mimics the Italianate Victorian style. The graceful curving staircase creates a classical departure from the more angular staircases of the Queen Anne and the Victorian era.
This Victorian home was built by William Turner. All the original structure remains, including the mantels, staircase, beadboard, and hardware. Recent owners lovingly named the home “Morning Glory.”
Built by Daniel Slade, this is the only known brick Greek Revival home in the area. It has been rated of national importance by experts in the archeology field. It has 4 over 4 rooms, 40-foot-long hallways, and a garden containing over 400 boxwood plants.
Built by Evan Ezell, a prominent merchant, banker, and planter, this Queen Anne Victorian home has been both a boarding house and a bed and breakfast. Beautiful, formal, English gardens have been added to the back of the property.
Originally built as a more ornamented Queen Anne Victorian, the present house was completed in 1898 in the Classic Revival Style. The porch is decorated with Corinthian capitals, dentil cornice, and garland decoration in the gables.
The Ionic columns on this Greek Revival structure were replaced by the present Corinthian columns, along with the addition of stained-glass windows in 1900. An arson fire in 1979 destroyed much of the original interior structure, but the pews were saved and are original.
Located in a renovated elementary/high school building, the Plaza houses a theater and a museum, and is a Mission Revival Style building. Visitors can take a stroll through time by visiting the Old School History Museum.
Lewis P. Harwell is claimed to have built this Classic Revival home with Italianate Cornices, which includes many period architectural details such as wide floorboards, tall ceilings, and spacious rooms. It was remodeled in 1914 by the Nisbet family and has been owned by the Methodist church since 1952.
This Queen Anne Victorian church was dedicated on April 25th of 1897. Twenty-four granite steps from the Old Union Church served as the coping in front of the present church. The Old Union Church bell still peals from the tower.
The library was opened in January of 2016 and was made possible by a gift from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation. It is one of the original Carnegie Libraries and was built in a Classic Revival style. It has been added onto and remodeled extensively. The first sighting of Sylvia the ghost was from the front windows of this library.
Doric columns and pilasters line the front of this Greek Revival home. It is said that in the late 1800s, a woman flung herself off the balcony of this home after learning of her fiancé’s death in the Civil War. Rumor has it, Sylvia the ghost still dwells here, only showing herself to those she believes to be her social equals.
Built for Capt. Sydney Reid, this Gothic Victorian home has four bedrooms, six fireplaces with original mantels, six porches, and mahogany trim throughout.
This Classic Revival style home is enhanced through the use of beveled glass and oversized windows in every room. Original chandeliers and detailed mantels also make this home unique.
This Prairie Craftsman Style home features Italianate cornices. The street this house sits on was once called “The Avenue.” The Avenue was the driveway leading to the original Jenkins House (see #30). In approximately 1908, the Jenkins family sold parcels of land for the community to build townhouses.
Originally built by part of the Jenkins family, this Edwardian (Colonial Revival) home was also part of the Jenkins estate at the foot of “The Avenue.” It underwent a major restoration in 2003.
Built for Emma and T.C. Spivey, this house had carriage entrances from Jefferson Ave connecting with the east side of this home.
Built by P.W. Walton, the most notable features of this Craftsman home are the 15 Doric columns set on paired bases on the front porch and the deep bracket work of the eves on the portico. More recently, this house has undergone major renovations and is decorated with beautiful gardens.
In 1910, Leila Jenkins deeded this Neo-Classic Revival home to Georgia Smith in trust for her daughter Henriette S. Turner. Shortly thereafter, the property was sold to the Adams, where it remained in the family until 1969.
Built as a Federal Cottage at the intersection of N Madison Ave and Carriage Way, this home was moved in 1909 by Judge W.F. Jenkins. In 1828, it was enlarged to be suitable for a lawyer, and in 1848, Greek Revival additions were made. Mrs. Julia Jenkins, the last of the Jenkins family to live in the house, died in 2004. This is the oldest house on Madison Ave.
Known as the “Jones Sisters House,” this Classic Revival one-story cottage was built by Mrs. Susan Jones for her and her daughters. The daughters, who were well-known for their love of botany, added the second story in 1905. Specimens of exotic plants can still be found on the property. The house contains seven bedrooms and eleven fireplaces.
Tunis Tunison built this Greek Revival home on land purchased from the Ainsworth-Gatewood estate. In 1858, the Italian Villa addition was built. In 1869, Judge Thomas Lawson acquired the property and planted the boxwood garden. It was later purchased and operated as a dairy farm by the Mell-Sammons family
This typical 4 over 4 Greek Revival home has two stairways and eight fireplaces. It was reportedly built by the architect that built Eatonton’s courthouse. It was turned around to face the new road to Madison in 1868. It has been used as a school, a clubhouse for the racetrack at Magnolia Hill, and a parsonage.
This Greek Revival-style cottage still contains original mantels, doors, and window facings with distinctive eared or Egyptian-style designs. Mr. Strange reportedly wanted to turn his house around to face the new road to Madison (as referenced in #33) but was overruled by his wife.
Documents refer to this beautifully restored Eastlake-Italianate Victorian as being the Old Hutchinson homeplace. The house is known as one of Eatonton’s best examples of a “painted lady”.
This Greek Revival cottage was originally the home of Jefferson Adams. The Hearn family occupied the house for 75 years. A complete home renovation, including the carriage house, was completed in the early 2000s. The cornice and portico is unequaled in Eatonton.
This site was a cotton field when John Collinsworth bought it in 1886. Today, this Victorian cottage boasts delicately turned decorative columns, banisters, and latticework on its front porch. The home also features floor-to-ceiling windows and finely detailed wainscoting and screens.
This Victorian cottage is known as the “Park House” since it was the boyhood home of Hugh Park, columnist for the Atlanta Journal, famous for his “street scenes”. It was extensively restored in 1972.
This Classic Revival Style home contains beautiful leaded and stained-glass windows. It underwent extensive renovations in the early 2000s.
Built by the Williams Family, this Edwardian home, with Classic Revival Style influences, was expanded to be 2 stories with Victorian attributes in 1890. This home has a wrap-around porch and currently houses William’s Funeral Home.
This home has four Victorian fireplaces and has been completely restored.
Built as a one-story Victorian by John and Ella Adams, this home has seven fireplaces and remains in the Adams family. The second story was added in 1904.
This Southern Colonial Revival house was built on over six acres by Bruce & Everett of Atlanta for Mr. Henry Branham Hearn Sr., who personally oversaw every detail of its construction.
In 1866, a group of African American citizens decided to build their own church. The result was a plain structured church that also served as a school. The current Queen Ann Victorian building was built in 1886 when a larger facility was needed. It was expanded and renovated again in the early 2000s.
This Spanish Eclectic building was built by the federal government to be used as a post office. The city purchased it in 1992.
Purchased by Professor Wright in the 1920s on the courthouse square, this Folk Victorian building was once used as a rooming house. In 1995, the house was condemned and sold to the Logans who restored it, retaining much of the home’s original character.
This English Tudor-style home was designed by its first owner, Dr. Spence Tucker, and is surrounded by an iron picket fence, which was the last fence made by Stewart Iron Works of Cincinnati before WWII. The house remains in the Tucker family.
This is one of many Folk Victorian-style cottages in town. This one has more decorative ornamentation on the porch trim than most. It contains four fireplaces, coffered ceilings, and a built-in china cabinet.
A Folk Victorian-style home that features three fireplaces, a butler’s pantry, and wide central halls.
Three Putnam County slave cabins that were once located on the courthouse square now make the Uncle Remus Museum located in Turner Park, the home place of Joseph Sidney Turner, the “little boy” in the Uncle Remus stories. The museum has continued to expand, now containing an old-fashioned chicken coop and blacksmith shop.
The original house dates to the first owner of this site, Stephen W. Harris. This Greek Revival home boasts perhaps Eatonton’s first “white columns.” The house was purchased and completely restored after a fire in the 1990s by the Haband Company.
This Neo-Classical Revival building was used as a jail until 1987. The sheriff and his family lived downstairs, while prisoners were kept on the second floor. The area to the west of this structure has been converted into Veterans Memorial Park and is dedicated to Putnam County citizens who served in the military.
The size of the house, paneling, doors, and mantels indicate that this is one of the finest houses built in this period. The Greek Revival wing was added circa 1857. The house was moved from the northwest corner of Madison Ave to its current location between 1881-1887. It has been extensively restored.
This house was purchased in 1927 by the Imperial Mill, a subsidiary of Cannon Mills, for the resident superintendent. Originally a Piedmont Plain house, it was remodeled as a Gothic Revival circa 1895. In 1927, a two-story porch with square columns was added. They were replaced with round Corinthian columns in the 1990s.
This 3-story Greek Revival home reportedly took seven years to build. It is noted for its preserved plaster medallions, wood graining, marbleizing, and hand-carved Corinthian capitols. The garden includes ponds, fountains, and a rose arbor.
Built for David Myrick at 205 N LaFayette St in the Federal Style, this house was moved to its present location in 1854. The original two-story portico with a balcony was replaced by the Victorian porch in 1886. The two-room addition at the back was the first Eatonton Male Academy building, moved to the site in 1886.
This is the second oldest cemetery owned by the city. Many graves date back to before the Civil War.
Built by Albert Mosely for his bride, this home is the epitome of classic symmetry, elegance, and simplicity of Greek Revival architecture. It includes a pedimented gable, a large entry portico with four Doric columns, bold cornices, frieze, pilasters, moldings, and beveled glass transom windows.
This Plantation Plain style architecture home with Federal detailing in the interior was built on 23 acres. Owner James Shackleford gave away the land that became Church St, the Old Union Church, and Old Union Church Cemetery. It has been completely restored.