Preservation posts: the online journal of the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Mar. 2012

In this issue:
-Message from the Director -March is Women's History Month - Girl Scouts of the USA turns 100 -HPD's Public Outreach Events in February -Announcing the First Runner-Up in the Mid-20th-Century Housing Pageant: the Split-Level House -Hall County's Hulsey Cemetery -Palmetto Depot Renovations -Historic Places of Incarceration: Georgia's County Jails
Message from the Director
By Dr. David Crass, Division Director & State Archaeologist
It is Day 40 in the legislative calendar as this issue of Preservation Posts goes "to press." At the end of the day (probably around midnight), the cry "sine die" will be heard, and the session will be concluded. The last few months have not been without their challenges. However, there have been some pluses as well.
Just this week I was asked by the House Natural Resources Committee Chairwoman Lynn Smith (R-Newnan) to give a briefing on HPD so that the committee could become more informed about our economic development and community stabilization functions. That meeting was extremely positive. In particular, during the question period that followed, several representatives were very complementary of the interactions their constituents have had with HPD's staff. I anticipate that there will be follow-up conversations over the summer months. In sum, the relationships that we began building with the committee members will serve historic preservation well in the future.
As part of a departmental realignment, the Cultural Resources Unit (CRU) in the Parks, Recreation, and Historic Sites Division (PRHSD) will be moved into HPD in April. CRU's primary duties involve curation, conservation and interpretation in the PRHSD system. I anticipate that by integrating CRU into HPD, we will be able to achieve significant efficiencies in our stewardship of historic resources managed by DNR. HPD will also absorb the Sustainability Program (helmed by Lauren Travis) in July. The Sustainability Program focuses on helping businesses reduce their waste stream. We are currently working with the Sustainability Program to identify intersections between our historic preservation activities and their areas of expertise. As you may remember, HPD also now has an engineer (Roy Edwards) on our staff who will focus specifically on bringing sustainable practices to our technical assistance functions. We will launch Roy's program within the next month.
Finally, in the near future Dr. Bryan Tucker, who has served ably as Archaeology Section Chief for nearly two years, will be promoted to State Archaeologist (SA). I have served as SA since 1998 under four Commissioners and can honestly say that, gray hairs aside, it has been a tremendously rewarding experience. There are many moments that stand out as I think back over these years - helping relocate the lost Spring Place God's Acre (burial ground) down the road from the Chief Vann House and rededicating that ground with the leadership of the Cherokee Nation and the Eastern Band of Cherokee as they sang "Amazing Grace" in their native tongue, evenings on Ossabaw Island swapping stories with Dan Elliott after excavations on the tabbies at North End, my first (and only!) black water dive on the CSS Rattlesnake in the Ogeechee River, when I finally realized (doh!) why it's called "black water." Bryan has brought new vigor to the Archaeology Section, reengineering our survey program, strengthening our sponsored research program, making our environmental review system more efficient, and starting a new public archaeology program with the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area among many other things. In short, I have high confidence in Bryan's capabilities, and look forward to what the future will bring for HPD.
March is Women's History Month - Girl Scouts of the USA turns 100
By Lynn Speno, National Register Specialist
Wayne-Gordon House/Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace (Courtesy of the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace)
While most of us know something about the Girl Scouts and their cookie fundraising sales, you may not know that Georgia has two properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places that are associated with Girl Scout founder, Juliette Gordon Low.
The first is the Juliette Gordon Low Historic District, a National Historic Landmark in Savannah. The district is comprised of the Wayne Gordon House/Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace, the Andrew Low House, and the Low Carriage House. The houses are located within blocks of each other in Savannah's National Historic Landmark District and all are listed in the National Register of Historic Places as well.
Juliette Gordon (also known as Daisy) was born on October 31, 1860 into a prominent Savannah family. Her father was a Savannah cotton merchant and also served in the Georgia House of Representatives. The childhood home on Oglethorpe Avenue in Savannah where she lived with her grandmother, parents, and five siblings, was built between 1818 and 1821 for James M. Wayne, a Savannah politician. Wayne sold the house in 1831 to his niece, Sarah Stites Anderson, and her husband, William W. Gordon I, who would become Juliette's grandparents.
Low's privileged upbringing included extensive travel, both in this country and abroad. Her 1886 marriage to William Mackay Low, son of a wealthy English merchant family and business associate of her father, meant extensive English social connections, as well as a Savannah residence on Abercorn Street (known as the Andrew Low House, completed in 1849). Following her husband's death in 1905, Low divided her time between Savannah and travel elsewhere. A chance meeting with Sir Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts in England, and his sister, Agnes, leader of the English Girl Guides, led to Low's development of the idea for a similar program for American girls. On March 12, 1912, after an initial meeting in her parents' home, she organized the first Girl Guide troop in the United States at the Andrew Low House. Shortly thereafter, she refurbished the carriage house/servants' quarters behind the Low house to serve as a meeting place for the girls.
In 1913 Low established a national headquarters in Washington D.C., and changed the group's name to Girl Scouts. Her extensive social connections and numerous speaking engagements on behalf of the fledgling group paid off, and by 1915, the Girl Scouts were formally incorporated. Initial administrative and travel costs for the new organization were born by Low. At the time of her death in 1927, the organization she had initially founded with 18 girls had a national membership of over 148,000.
The Wayne-Gordon House/Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace was vacant at the time it was converted to apartments during World War II. In 1953 the Girl Scouts removed the apartment alterations and returned the house to its 1880s appearance. The Girl Scouts of the USA operate the house as a public museum today. The Carriage House on the Andrew Low property, given by Juliette Gordon Low to the Girl Scouts of Savannah in 1916, is owned by the Savannah Council of Girl Scouts, which operates a history center there. The Andrew Low House was sold in 1928 to the National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the State of Georgia. In 1975 they opened the house to the public as a house museum. These three buildings make up the Juliette Gordon Low Historic District in Savannah. It is a National Historic Landmark (NHL), one of the first listings in Savannah and one of the first NHLs in Georgia. It was also one of the first National Register of Historic Places listings in Georgia. The birthplace was listed in 1966, the first year of the National Register of Historic Places program, which was authorized by Congress in 1966 under the National Historic Preservation Act.
National Historic Landmarks are historic places of national significance designated by the Secretary of the Interior because of their exceptional importance in illustrating the heritage of this country. Today, fewer than 2,500 historic places bear this national distinction, with 48 of those located in Georgia. More information about the NHL program is available on their website.
The second property associated with Juliette Gordon Low in Georgia is Camp Juliette Low in Chattooga County. The camp was listed in the National Register in 1987 in the areas of architecture, landscape architecture, recreation history, social/humanitarian history, and women's history, one of the earliest Georgia nominations to highlight women's history as an area of significance. The camp's first official name was "Girl Scout Training School at Cloudland Park Club, Georgia" and its major initiative was leader training. Low discovered the property in 1921 while searching for a location to establish a Girl Scout leader-training center in the Southern wilderness. The owners of the property agreed to donate the 10-acre site to her. The camp opened the following July (1922). Low visited the camp three times after her initial founding visits. Then in 1926, Low transferred ownership of the camp to Camp Juliette Low, Inc., a nonprofit organization. The camp ran continuously until 1934 when it closed for one year during the Great Depression. In 1940 a reorganization led to the complete ownership and management of the camp by Camp Juliette Low, Inc. While no longer affiliated with the Girl Scouts, today the camp offers a traditional summer camp experience for girls.
HPD's Public Outreach Events in February
By Helen Talley-McRae, Public Affairs Coordinator
Tax Incentives & Rehabilitation Guidance Program Manager William Hover answers a question at the Decatur Old House Fair.
February was a busy month that saw HPD take our public outreach displays and materials to events in Atlanta, Decatur, and Athens.
On February 15, HPD cosponsored Heritage & State Parks Day at the James "Sloppy" Floyd Building state office buildings in Atlanta with our sister division, Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites. Many of the visitors to our display were state employees interested in learning about our division's programs and services. Several people were especially interested in seeing if their family farms qualified for a Georgia Centennial Farm Award. We also had several questions about African American resources and cemeteries. We had originally planned to also hold a similar event the day before at the State Capitol to reach legislators and other decision-makers. However, the legislature's schedule was changed and they were not in session, so the event was cancelled. Hopefully we'll have better luck next year.
Later that week on Saturday, February 18, we took a smaller-scale display to the Decatur Old House Fair. As a co-sponsor, we had a prime spot to reach attendees as they came in and left the event and its many educational sessions. Since this audience primarily consisted of homeowners from Decatur and DeKalb County, we took more specialized materials, including fact sheets outlining the basics of tax incentives programs, information explaining the differences between local and National Register historic districts, and maps showing boundaries and contributing properties in nearby National Register historic districts. The 4th annual Decatur Old House Fair was a big success with over 300 people attending.
The next Saturday, February 25, Richard Cloues took a tabletop display and brochures to the Preservation South Conference in Athens. Richard set up the display in a common area at the conference while he presented information about Georgia's Historic Ranch House Initiative during a session. This new regional conference was planned and organized by the University of Georgia Student Historic Preservation Organization. Richard said the display attracted the attention of numerous students who also complimented HPD's new website.
Getting out of the office with our displays and information materials is one of the best ways to educate different constituent groups about our programs and services. Be sure to stop by our display at the 2012 Georgia Statewide Preservation Conference in Roswell, April 1920.
Announcing the First Runner-Up in the Mid-20th-Century Housing Pageant: the Split-Level House
By Richard Cloues, Deputy SHPO and Historic Resources Section Chief
A "signature" plain-style red-brick Split-Level House from the late 1950s in DeKalb County.
Split-Level Houses are a common sight in many mid-20th-century Georgia neighborhoods. Never as numerous as their Ranch House counterparts, they were nonetheless a popular alternative. Characterized by their unique form three staggered half-floor levels they clearly distinguished themselves from the more prevalent one-story Ranch Houses and the occasional full-two-story houses. Yet they wore the same architectural styles -- including the "plain" or "red-brick" style -- and they were designed by many of the same designers and built by many of the same builders.
The heyday of the Split-Level House in Georgia was from the mid-1950s through the 1960s (and on into the 1970s we'll be getting to those in a few years). From being a somewhat quirky alternative to the one-story Ranch House in the early years, by the 1960s the Split-Level House had turned into a strong economical contender due to rising costs of land, smaller subdivision lots, and increasing foundation construction costs all of which made Ranch Houses more expensive to build and the Split-Level House a "better buy" in its latter years.
HPD has just posted two presentations about Split-Level Houses on our website. One reviews the broad national history of the Split-Level House; the other goes into more depth on the Split-Level House in Georgia. Within these contexts, Split-Level Houses can be documented using the same field and research techniques recommended for the mid-20thcentury Ranch House (see "The Ranch House in Georgia: Guidelines for Evaluation," available for download or view on our website). Please direct any comments you might have about this material to Richard Cloues (richard.cloues@dnr.state.ga.us).
Both presentations can be viewed or downloaded from the housing section of our website.
Hall County's Hulsey Cemetery
By Rachel Black, Review Archaeologist
A soapstone marker at Hulsey Cemtery.
On March 15, Jennifer Bedell and Rachel Black, archaeologists with HPD, visited the historic Hulsey Cemetery in Hall County. The purpose for the visit was to identify the boundaries of the small, family cemetery so no graves are disturbed during the construction of Don Carter State Park. The cemetery consists of about 15 marked graves and several depressions that are likely unmarked graves along with the remnants of a stone wall on a wooded hilltop overlooking Lake Lanier. Orange construction fencing had been placed around the hilltop encompassing the marked graves and stone wall as a temporary boundary.
Since several of the graves are unmarked and many of the headstones have nothing carved on them, it is hard to say when the first interment was made. The latest marked death date, however, is 1900. The cemetery is typical of rural, folk cemeteries in its location on a hilltop and the use of several types of stone for grave markers including marble and fieldstones. What makes this cemetery unique is the presence of a few markers carved out of soapstone. This may represent an abundance of this type of stone in the area. Investigations outside the fencing identified approximately ten additional unmarked graves. Most of these were located down the slope of the ridge from the hilltop toward the lake. They were flagged and the protective fencing will be expanded to include these additional burials. The delineation of the boundaries of the Hulsey Cemetery will not only protect it from harm during current construction but will also help to protect and preserve this final resting place of some of north Georgia's early settlers for years to come.
Information on historic cemeteries is available on our website.
Palmetto Depot Renovations
By Erin Parr, Environmental Review Specialist
The depot as seen before renovation work began.
The Palmetto Depot, constructed between 1914 and 1924, is currently undergoing renovations to become a railroad-related museum and community center for the City of Palmetto thanks to Transportation Enhancement funding administered by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) through funding from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The building originally served as a passenger and freight depot for the Atlanta and West Point Railroad until it was sold to the City of Palmetto in the early 1970s. At that time the city renovated the building for use as a city hall, police station, and fire station. However, over the last several years, the building has been vacant.
The Atlanta and LaGrange Railroad was completed to Palmetto in March of 1851 and the city began its transition from a small, rural farming town to a bustling railroad town with new businesses and increased population. In 1857 the Atlanta and LaGrange Railroad was renamed the Atlanta and West Point Railroad. Between 1914 and 1924 the Palmetto Depot was constructed, with the freight section constructed first and the passenger section and connecting breezeway completed afterward. In 1918 the Atlanta and West Point Railroad constructed three overpasses in order to elevate the railroad for both convenience and safety reasons. As a result, the passenger section of the depot has a partial basement and a lower level access tunnel under the rail line in order for passengers to safely reach the double track. Remnants of the Jim Crow Era can be seen in the double stairwell leading from the tunnel into the depot, with painted signs marking the way to separate waiting rooms for whites and blacks.
Many alterations occurred during the building's use as city hall, police station, and fire station including the removal or covering of many historic materials, the addition of brick planters, the enclosure of the breezeway, and an addition to the northern portion of the building in what was originally an open platform area. In February 2012, a 50% completion site visit was conducted by Dean Baker, Transportation Enhancements Reviewer, and myself. Current renovations to the building include the removal of nonhistoric materials, reroofing, the restoration of historic design and materials, and site and landscaping improvements.
For more information on the Transportation Enhancements program and other projects that have utilized this funding visit our website.
For more on Georgia's railroads and depots visit Georgia's Railroad History and Heritage.
Historic Places of Incarceration: Georgia's County Jails
By Denise Messick, National Register Historian
The 1903 Berrien County Jail was listed in the National Register in 1982.
Since 1932, Georgia has been divided into 159 counties - the second largest number of any state in the nation. County governments perform many crucial functions, but one of the most central has always been law enforcement. Therefore, it follows that Georgia has numerous county jails dating from various periods in its history. Many jails were so well constructed that they survived decades after newer facilities took over their functions. These historic jails provide a glimpse into the penal system that evolved in the state. Like county courthouses, jails can symbolize how communities relate to governmental authority. New jails were often touted with much fanfare in the local newspaper, as they were commonly among the most architecturally prominent public buildings in a county seat. During the Victorian era, some communities balked at the idea of jails being located in the center of town. Though a location near the courthouse was convenient, many jails were placed away from residential or commercial areas, so as to keep them distant from "polite society."
The earliest jails in some locales were no more than primitive lock-ups or "calabooses." The c.1783 jail in Warthen (Washington County) is an extant example of a hewn log building that temporarily housed prisoners. As the state developed a more standardized legal system after the Civil War, counties began to build more "respectable" facilities with the most up-to-date construction techniques. The purpose of county jails was to hold individuals convicted of minor offenses (usually misdemeanors such as public drunkenness), those awaiting trial, and those awaiting transfer to the state prison. However, there were times when most punishment was carried out at the local level. County sheriffs were powerful figures in Georgia, and enlightened penal reform evolved slowly. Even when capital punishment was a state function, local jails sometimes came equipped with gallows, perhaps as a warning to the populace.
The designs of county jails were dependent on local circumstances and budget. These utilitarian buildings were often made less austere by the addition of exterior ornament reflecting the styles deemed appropriate for institutional buildings of their time. Sometimes the form almost completely disguised the function - except for the bars on most of the windows. In the late 19th century, Italianate elements were often used. Around the turn of the 20th century, the Romanesque Revival style was commonly employed to convey the idea of an impregnable castle or fortress. During the Great Depression, jails that were built using federal public works funding were less elaborate; they could be plain or have classical or Art Deco motifs.
There were several necessary elements in these purpose-built facilities that also affected their design. In order to be relatively fire-proof and escape-proof, jails used brick and concrete construction with thick walls. Beginning in the 1870s, the sheriff and his family often lived on the first floor. (This would be the most elaborate residence in many small towns.) There would also need to be an office, cooking facilities, and cells. The sheriff's wife might be the jail cook. Cells (usually on the upper floors and/or the rear) were arranged so that prisoners could be segregated by gender, age, race, and/or severity of their offense (for example, "drunk tanks"). Unlike state prisons, county jails rarely had workshops or laundries, as they did not have a constant long-term inmate population.
A high percentage of the construction costs of jails were for the steel cell units. Multiple sets of communal cells became the norm --- usually housing two to four inmates per cell. The emphasis was on security, less than on humane treatment or proper light or ventilation. Freestanding islands of cells could be separated from the exterior walls by a walkway, thus reducing the likelihood of escape. This design was adapted from those used in large penitentiaries. Nationwide there were 8 to 10 major companies that manufactured cells. They produced technologically complex cell units that were prefabricated for installation. Many had built-in bunks, sinks, steel floors and ceilings, and lever-operated locks.
One of the largest jail-building companies in the U.S. was the family-owned Manly Jail Works, begun in 1888 in Dalton, Georgia. The business started by creating horse-drawn, steel-wheeled "Manly Portable Convict Cages" to transport inmates to work sites. Another major company was Pauly Jail Works of St. Louis, Missouri, which began as a steamboat blacksmith operation in 1856. These companies almost never designed the entire building, as architects were needed for the building "envelope" that surrounded the cells.
One architect for many county jails in Georgia was James W. Golucke (1857-1907). Best known for his courthouses, Golucke usually designed monumental brick buildings using either the Romanesque Revival style or classical styles. His jails included Dodge County (1897), Rockdale County (1897), Macon County (1899), Twiggs County (1902), Pickens County (1906), and Whitfield County. In a bitter twist of fate, Golucke died while imprisoned in Baker County for allegedly misappropriating funds for the construction of the county courthouse.
The story of county jails would not be complete without mentioning the participation of local sheriffs in the brutal convict-lease system that permeated the South for decades after the Civil War. Under this system prisoners (primarily African Americans) were leased out by sheriffs to private enterprises to work on farms, in mines, or in other industrial facilities. Many inmates were crippled or killed by the long hours and cruel conditions. This contributed to the success of the turpentine industry in south Georgia and the brick-making business in Atlanta, for example. After convict leasing was outlawed in Georgia in 1908, the use of roadside chain gangs became common. By 1911, 135 of 146 counties used convict labor on their road projects and other public works. This was a significant part of the economic power of county governments until the 1940s.
Dozens of jails in Georgia are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Some are contributing to historic districts; others are
individually listed; and others were included as part of two thematic (multiple property) nominations completed in 1982 and 1985 for jails of South Georgia and jails of the Georgia mountains area, respectively. Finding new uses for historic jails can be a challenge. Several in the state are in peril through neglect or threats of demolition. The cells are important features that define the character of these buildings, yet leaving them intact can mean that some uses are not feasible. Not every community needs a museum. Other uses include visitor centers, art galleries, and offices. The 1906 Colquitt County Jail was rehabilitated in 1996 to house the Moultrie-Colquitt Chamber of Commerce. The 1892 Troup County Jail is now the LaGrange Art Museum. The Marble Valley Historical Society has rehabilitated the 1906 Pickens County Jail. The 1881 Dawson County Jail is a visitor center and the 1884 Lumpkin County Jail in Dahlonega is a history museum.
For more information on these and other jails, researchers may call 404-651-5911 to request an appointment to review HPD's files. In addition to numerous National Register nominations, HPD has a topical file labeled "Jails/Prisons" that includes a lengthy essay by Georgia State University graduate student Jared R. Wilson, which provided some of the source material for this article.
Please send your comments or suggestions to charlie.miller@dnr.state.ga.us.
Not a member? Subscribe now! Our mailing address is: Georgia Historic Preservation Division Department of Natural Resources 254 Washington Street, SW, Ground Level Atlanta, GA 30334 Add us to your address book Copyright (C) 2012 Georgia Historic Preservation Division All rights reserved. Title image: Graffiti seen inside a cell of the former Dodge County Jail.