Category Archives: Abandoned

Plantation Plain House-Fountain Inn, South Carolina

I photographed this I-House, also known as a plantation plain, in August 2020. As I was driving home today and avoiding the interstate, I caught a glimpse of the house and realized it had been lost to fire.

The only information I can find on the home is that it was built in the 1880s. I suspect it might be earlier than that.

The many trees made the property hard to photograph.
Here is a link to the Google Street View.

Mt. Sinai Holiness Church of God-Emanuel County, Georgia

The Mt. Sinai Holiness Church of God sits just off the road in Emanuel County. Based on the name, this congregation was likely a Church of God in Christ (COGIC) denomination. While open to all races, members in the churches are mostly African American. Georgia’s historic resource database indicates that the church was built in 1945. According to Google Street Views, this church was active until at least 2014.

Sexton’s House-Atlanta, Georgia

This Craftsman-style home is tucked into a corner at the back of Crestlawn Cemetery. For the number of times I have visited this cemetery, I have managed to miss it until recently. Tax records indicate the home was built in 1910. Crestlawn Cemetery wasn’t established until 1916.

The original owners were the Allen family, Cora and Frank and their sons, James and Horace. Frank Allen served as the sexton for Crestlawn Cemetery until his death in 1946. Both James and Horace lived in the home after their parents passed. Horace was the last Allen to live here when he passed away in 1975.

This is the view through the one window that was not boarded up. Sadly, the home is in horrible condition.
This is the storage shed in the yard. I just loved the light with the fall colors.

Credits to Archive Atlanta for the initial information on the house.

Miller-Anthorne-Williams House-Eufaula, Alabama

The Miller-Anthorne-Williams House is a one-story hipped roof house with Greek Revival details. Built in the years immediately after the Civil War, it is a contributing property to the Lore Historic District in Eufaula.

Cowan-Ramser House-Eufaula, Alabama

This Greek Revival home was built in the 1840s for Dr. William Lockhart Cowan. William Cowan and his wife, Anna, had eight children. Five of them lived to adulthood. Their second eldest daughter, Laura, married a local doctor, Dr. Robert Fleming. Fleming moved into the Cowan home. Known as a sleepwalker, he awoke one night and fell off the balcony. Paralyzed by the fall, he and his wife moved to live with his relative to get care. Her mother and sister followed them.

The family sold the home to Jacob Ramser, a Swiss craftsman. Ramser was known for his carpentry skills. He built the first theater in town.

The Ramser family lived in the home until they sold it to the White family, who turned it into a funeral home. The Colonel White and Sons Funeral Home was in business until 2004. The building has been vacant since. It is listed as an Alabama Place of Peril. It’s sustained damage from storms, and the roof has been breached.

In the background, you can see the historic Black lodge, the St. Matthew Lodge.

It was documented in 1934 as part of the Historic American Building Survey. It is one of the last remaining Greek Revival homes in the area.

St. Matthew Lodge No.5-Eufaula, Alabama

The St. Matthew Lodge No. 5 in Eufaula, Alabama, was one of ten Colored Lodges already in existence in the state before the Prince Hall Lodges officially began in Alabama in 1870. This lodge worked under the National Compact Grand Lodge.

I realized as I was looking at the HABS photos of the Cowan-Ramser House that you can see the St. Matthew Lodge in the background. This means the building has been around since at least 1934.