Preservation Posts - August 2013 
In this issue: 
- Message from the Director - Preservation Tax Incentives Spur Economic Activity in Georgia Communities - Seeking New Uses for the Old Lumpkin Street School - Filming at Georgia's State Parks and Historic Sites - Recent News & Announcements - Upcoming Events 
Message from the Director 
By Dr. David Crass, Division Director & Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer 
Recently, Gavin Aung Than published a cartoon strip on his blog Zen Pencils (see here). Drawn in the style of the great Calvin and Hobbs cartoon strip by Bill Watterson, the script was taken from a commencement speech Watterson gave at Kenyon 
College. For those of you who aren't fans, Watterson labored for many years before his strip made it big, and never licensed the characters because he valued the qualities that made them special and didn't want them degraded by cheap merchandising. In other words, he recognized that Calvin and Hobbs' unique strength was their authenticity. 
Aung Than's strip spoke to me on two levels about historic preservation. Watterson's advice to the Kenyon graduates: "to invent your own life's meaning is not easy, but it's still allowed, and I think you'll be happier for the trouble" was a reminder that for the vast majority of us, historic preservation is more than just a job. Rather, it's a calling to strengthen our communities by preserving those links to our past that define who we are. How lucky we are to be engaged in such an endeavor! 
But as importantly, just as Watterson recognized that Calvin and Hobbs' value lay in their authenticity, historic preservation is founded on the premise that authenticity isn't just "important." It's everything. A simple proof: visit the Little White House in Warm Springs, where President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died. I've not talked to a visitor yet who didn't say something like "I could feel his presence when I walked in the door." Now picture yourself walking into a modern replica of the Little White House. No contest. 
Authenticity drives many of HPD's functions, from tax projects, to the Certified Local Government program, to the National Register, to our museum work with our Parks, Recreation, and Historic Sites Division. The desire to strengthen our communities drives our staff's efforts every week. I am very proud to be a part of this great endeavor. 
Speaking of staff, I want to welcome on board two new HPD members. Dona McKenzie is our new Administrative Office Coordinator. In that role she will work closely with Jana Fitzgibbon to keep the trains running on time. Stephanie Cherry-Farmer is our new National Register and Survey Program Manager. A Georgia State University graduate, Stephanie comes to us from Preservation New Jersey. I'm thrilled to have both of them on board - welcome! 
Preservation Tax Incentives Spur Economic Activity in Georgia Communities 
By Carole Moore, Tax Incentives & Grants Coordinator 
Georgia's preservation tax incentives programs, administered by HPD, play a significant role in the economic development of communities throughout the state by creating jobs, spurring neighborhood and downtown development, promoting sustainability, increasing and supporting cultural and heritage tourism, encouraging local investment, and generating increased tax revenues. 
Statistics gathered for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2013 indicate that, despite the recent economic downturn, the state tax incentives continue to spur economic activity in small towns and larger cities alike throughout the state. Preliminary certifications remained about the same from SFY 2012 to SFY 2013, but final certifications increased slightly from 36 projects representing $37.3 million in investment in SFY 2012 to 52 projects representing $42.6 million in investment in SFY 2013. 
Statistics also show a change in the Georgia city leading in the annual number of applications. For about the last decade Savannah has been in the forefront for having the greatest number of tax incentives projects each year, but Macon has been slowly but steadily gaining in recent years. In SFY 2013 Macon took the lead, accounting for 42 proposed and completed rehabilitations. Savannah--still a prominent tax incentives program community--moved to second place with 22 projects. Other cities and towns with rehabilitation projects demonstrate there is widespread program activity scattered throughout the state. They include Atlanta, Augusta, Avondale Estates, Ball Ground, Cartersville, Columbus, Decatur, Fitzgerald, Greensboro, Madison, Marshallville, Metcalfe, Milledgeville, Moultrie, St. Marys, Tifton, Tybee Island, Valdosta, and Washington. (For more information about the state tax incentives statistics for SFY 2013, please view our report on HPD's website.) 
One of the main reasons for the high number of projects in Macon is that the non-profit Historic Macon Foundation (HMF) promotes and facilitates use of the tax incentives programs to owners of historic properties there. In addition, HMF has established revolving loan funds for the residential Beall's Hill neighborhood and the downtown area, through which it purchases vacant historic homes and downtown lofts and sells them to new homeowners before or during rehabilitation. HMF estimates that it recovers approximately 95% of its costs, sometimes even making a profit. The preservation tax credits are essential to the program's success, while the state tax assessment freeze is used as a marketing incentive to draw potential buyers. 
Two typical projects in Macon completed during SFY 2013 are the Peacock Building and a residence on Adams Street. 
The Peacock Building's entry after rehabilitation, revealing original tin ceiling. 
The Peacock Building, located in Macon's Vineville Historic District, utilized both the federal and state tax incentives. The building is a typical single story commercial building constructed c.1927, which has retained many of its original features, such as original beaded board, tin ceilings, and original roof tiles. The property owner spent over $160,000 rehabilitating the building into office space, which qualifies him for a state tax credit of approximately $40,000.00 and a federal income tax credit of approximately $32,000. 
Owners of a residence on Adams Street in the Macon Historic District were only eligible for the state tax incentives because the property is a personal residence. Built c.1904 as a single family home, it had been converted into apartments in recent years. The current owners spent $200,000 returning it to its original use as a single family home, thereby qualifying them for a state tax credit of $50,000. 
Two interesting and related projects located in Savannah are the Heyward-Lipsey Apartment House, c.1911, on Habersham Street and the adjoining Heyward-Purse Apartment House, c.1905, on Bolton Street, located within the Savannah Victorian Historic District, the city's first streetcar suburb. Both properties are good examples of multi-family triplex apartment houses built in the Queen Anne style by Pauline de Caradeuc Heyward for Savannah's middle classes at the turn of the last century. Throughout their long history, the buildings continued to be used as rental apartments with relatively few alterations and amazingly retaining many of their original features such as plaster ceilings and walls, hardwood floors, molding and trim, wainscoting, pocket doors, and main hall stairways and newel posts. The property owner spent approximately $331,000 on the rehabilitation of each building, generally repairing, rather than replacing, architectural features and elements, and installing new wiring, plumbing, and bathroom fixtures, and retaining their use as rental apartments. The completed projects qualify for approximately $66,000 in federal income tax credits and approximately $82,000 in state income tax credits for each building. 
The adjacent Heyward-Purse and Heywood-Lipsey apartment buildings before (top) and after (bottom) rehabilitation. 
Not all big projects are in Georgia's big cities. In Milledgeville - a thriving medium-sized town - property owners spent $2.4 million rehabilitating the 1903 three-story brick Horne Building, located within the Milledgeville Historic District, into street level retail and upper floor residential apartments. The rehabilitation work included faade masonry and window repair and replacement of missing features, cartouche repairs, storefront and canopy replacements, a new rear deck and stairs, roof structure modifications, and floor plan alterations. The completed project qualifies for approximately $480,000 in federal income tax credits, while the state tax income tax credit would be $300,000 (the credit cap). 
These five projects are just a small sampling of the total 52 projects which received final certification from HPD for the state tax incentives during SFY 2013. Each of these projects contributed to the economic revitalization and vitality of their respective neighborhoods and downtowns by creating jobs both during the rehabilitation (and after the rehabilitation for commercial properties); increasing property values and thereby increasing tax revenues for their respective communities; promoting sustainability ("the greenest building is the one already built"); and supporting heritage tourism by providing new venues, services, and amenities which in turn attract both locals and out-of-towners to the area. Visit our website for more information on historic preservation tax incentives in Georgia. 
Seeking New Uses for the Old Lumpkin Street School 
By Jeanne Cyriaque, African American Programs Coordinator 
The Lumpkin Street School is Hawkinsville's only surviving equalization school. The 1957 building served as an elementary school until Pulaski County schools were integrated. 
Hawkinsville's Lumpkin Street School is one of the remaining 500 Georgia equalization schools that were built for African Americans, and is the only extant school of this type in Pulaski County. The campus features two buildings that were constructed as a result of the 1954 Brown vs. Board U.S. Supreme Court landmark decision that ultimately led to school integration. Georgia was part of the "massive resistance" movement to school integration, and spent $275 million on new schools, including 500 schools for AfricanAmerican students, to prove that it could operate two racially "separate but equal" school systems. 
Between 1957 and 1963, the Pulaski County Board of Education constructed Hawkinsville Elementary School (presently known as the Lumpkin Street School) and J.L. Bozeman (demolished) as schools for African Americans. The campus of the Lumpkin Street School has two remaining buildings, one built in 1957 and the second one built in 1963, as the school population increased. The school was also known as Hawkinsville High and Industrial School during this era. No buses were provided for children who had to walk from a mile away, so the African-American Parent-Teacher Association raised funds to purchase a Robins Air Force bus at auction. Affected students paid a nickel daily to ride the "Blue Jay." Prior to the construction of these equalization schools, the Hawkinsville Rosenwald School, a six-teacher school financed through the Rosenwald Fund, was the only community school that existed at the site. It operated until 1957, and was supported by local African-American churches. 
Following integration, the 1957 and 1963 buildings gradually deteriorated. In the 1980s, the 1957 building was altered to become the community's Head Start program. The flat roof was modified to add a gabled entrance and the original glass windows were replaced. Some of the architectural features that were common for equalizations schools were flat roofs, glass transom or "curtain walls" for maximum light, covered walkways and lack of ornamentation. The later 1963 building still maintains these features. The Pulaski County Board of Education recently donated the endangered buildings to the Deacon and Stewards Association of Pulaski County, a nonprofit entity comprised of leaders of major denomination churches in the African-American community. 
HPD African American programs staff visited with the Deacons and Stewards Association recently to discuss their plans for adaptively reusing the equalization school buildings. The meeting also presented an opportunity for oral history recordings of former students by Michelle Elliott, a University of Georgia Archway professional and her students. Lucius Bray, Curtis Brown, Greg Brown, James Colson, Thomas Fisher, James Joyner and Ray Rawls represented the Deacons and Stewards Association at the meeting and interviews. Some of these former students attended both the old Rosenwald School as well as the Lumpkin Street School that replaced it. Karen Bailey, the Hawkinsville Main Street Director, hosted the meeting in the historic Old Opera House. The equalization school, African- American churches and Pine Bloom Cemetery are included in the Hawkinsville, Georgia Historic Tour Guide. This guide was funded through a 2011 Historic Preservation Fund grant administered by the Historic Preservation Division that was awarded to the City of Hawkinsville, a Certified Local Government. 
What lies ahead for the Lumpkin Street School? The meeting suggested several possible uses for these historic school buildings and partnerships. The UGA Archway project will document the oral histories they conducted in a future exhibit. Another positive outcome was additional assistance from Sara George and Erin Tatum, University of Georgia colleagues who will develop grant applications for the Deacons and Stewards Association to develop a preservation plan. In addition, the Deacons and Stewards are assembling photographs and other documentation to aid in determining the buildings' eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. More information on African-America schools in Georgia is available here. 
Filming at Georgia's State Parks and Historic Sites 
By Debbie Wallsmith, Preservation Specialist 
DNR staff and film crew members pose during filming of The Roosevelts. 
Some of Georgia's State Parks and Historic Sites have gained national attention as a result of the state's rapidly growing film industry. In several instances the cultural resources on these properties have served as sets for both motion pictures and for documentaries. Allowing a film crew access to historic structures has led to the establishment of strict guidelines to ensure the protection of irreplaceable resources; including monitoring all activities undertaken by the film crew beginning with set construction through filming and finally removal of the set. 
The 1850s cabin at Pickett's Mill Battlefield in Dallas served as the home of Felix Bush (Robert Duvall) in the 2009 film Get Low. The funeral party scenes were filmed elsewhere on the property. Reproduction mill parts were placed in the mill ruins at Sweetwater Creek State Park for Killing Season, starring Robert DeNiro and John Travolta, while many other scenes were filmed elsewhere at Sweetwater as well as at Tallulah Gorge and Black Rock Mountain State Parks. 
Several important documentaries have been filmed at state historic sites. The American Experience's series on American Indians, We Shall Remain, featured Chief Vann House and New Echota in Part 3: The Trail of Tears. The Indian cast and crew were very proud to have been able to film on property that has historic ties to the Trail of Tears. In 2004, HBO filmed Warm Springs, starring Kenneth Branagh as Franklin D. Roosevelt, in the pools in which FDR took therapy. 
The Roosevelts is a new documentary being produced by Ken Burns and features the Little White House State Historic Site, as well as locations throughout West Georgia including FDR State Park and Blanton Creek WMA. The seven-part series includes many scenes inside the Little White House and the surrounding gardens and is scheduled to air on PBS in Fall 2014. 
Recent News & Announcements 
The T.R.R. Cobb House Listed in the National Register of Historic Places (press release - August 8) 
The Mary Ray Memorial School Listed in the National Register of Historic Places (press release - August 7) 
The Forsyth Railroad Depots and Baggage Room Listed in the National Register of Historic Places (press release - August 5) 
Upcoming Events 
September 5, 2013 - Pinevale High School Alumni Association banquet - Valdosta Jeanne Cyriaque will be speaking at the Pinevale High School Alumni Association banquet on Thursday, September 5th at 7:00 p.m. in Valdosta. Pinevale High School is one of Georgia's equalization schools and the alumni are stewards of the school's historic gymnasium. Please contact Jeanne for more information. 
September 10-11, 2013 - The Recent Past: Identification and Evaluation of Mid20th-Century Resources - Atlanta Review nationwide trends in mid-20th-century houses and commercial structures, with an emphasis on the evolution of suburban development patterns, construction methods, and building types. Examine era-specific factors that help to identify and evaluate these buildings in terms of their significance for eligibility for listing in the National Register and consideration of Section 106, Section 110, and Section 4(f) regulatory issues. Cosponsored by the National Preservation Institute, HPD, and GDOT. An agenda and registration information are available online at www.npi.org. 
September 12, 2013 - Preservation Planning and Policy Development for Historic Roads - Atlanta Explore the current tools and techniques used for the identification, preservation, and management of historic roads. As an emerging area of historic preservation, planning and policy for historic roads presents new challenges for the historic preservation professional. Learn how to apply transportation policies to historic roads, balance safety and function with historic preservation objectives, and build awareness and new constituencies for the legacy of highway design in the United States. Co-sponsored by the National Preservation Institute, HPD, and GDOT. An agenda and registration information are available online at www.npi.org. 
October 9-11, 2013 - Georgia Municipal Cemetery Association annual conference Thomasville Co-sponsored by HPD. Full details will be posted here as they become available. 
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) 2013 Georgia Historic Preservation Division All rights reserved. Title image: The Brooks Family Farm (Banks County) was listed in the National Register on July 23, 2013. It also received a Georgia Centennial Family Farm Award in 2012.