Tag Archives: Dekalb County

Georgia

Visiting the Battle of Druid Hill-Decatur, Georgia

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Over Easter weekend, a friend and I met for breakfast and decided to roam around a bit. We both wanted to visit the house where the front yard was filled with sculptural works. Druid Hill is an earthwork site identified and named by welder-turned-sculptor Clark Ashton.

According to Ashton’s website, Druid Hill is the historic memorial site of The Battle of Druid Hill, the location of the Mechanical River Kingdom, and the site of the Commuter Gallery. It is also Ashton’s home.

He wants the US Board on Geographic Names to designate his property as Druid Hill, but the Druid Hills Civic Association does not want this to be approved under the guise that it would be “confusing.“

For fans of outsider art like Howard Finster’s Paradise Garden and Eddie Martin’s Pasaquan, this is a must-see. It’s easier to access. Druid Hill can be visited any day of the year. It is located at 3162 N. Druid Hills. Please feel free to park in the driveway, but head to the top of the hill and park on the side.

Included is a small handful of the pieces that you can see in the front and back yards.

Georgia, Houses

Servant’s House-Decatur, Georgia

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Sometimes known as the Fraser Building, this saddlebag served as living quarters for the servants on land of Rev. Donald Fraser, who owned land near the Decatur Presbyterian Church. Fraser was the pastor at the church from 1872-1887.

The saddlebag house was moved in 2001. There is a newish roof and new stabilizing piers, but no other works seems to have been complete since its initial move.

Alabama, Houses, National Register of Historic Places

The B. A. Nowlin House-Collinsville, Alabama

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This distinctive Queen Anne was built in 1896 for B. A. Nowlin, a local merchant who owned a dry goods store in downtown. It is a contributing property to the Collinsville Historic District.

Alabama, Churches

Collinsville Presbyterian Church-Collinsville, Alabama

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The congregation of Collinsville Presbyterian Church began in 1904. Soon after they were organized, they purchased a building that was 2/3rds a Methodist church and 1/3 of the building belonging to the Van Buren Lodge No. 355 F. & A. M. The Gothic Revival Church was built in the 1890s and was relocated to its current site in Collinsville in 1908. The church is still active.

Georgia, Houses

Keyhole House-Scottdale Mill Village, Georgia

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Scottdale Mill Village was founded and built from 1900-1915 in central DeKalb County, Georgia. The village was located just south of Scottdale Cotton Mill, a mill founded by Colonel George Washington Scott in 1900.

The village provided housing and other services for workers and their families. At one point, the Village even had its baseball team. The housing in the village was all very similar, except for this house, which I call the “Keyhole House.”

While modest by Victorian standards, this house is the only two-story house in the village. Its details are also more ornate than the traditional mill houses.

Tax records indicate it was built in 1920, which I believe to be wrong. I would think it was built much closer to 1900. Unfortunately, I am currently unable to find more info on this house.

Newspaper research indicates it was sometimes available for rent. Tax records show it is commercially owned, making me concerned about its future.

I assume that it was the mill foreman’s house. It did not serve as housing for the Scott family. They lived closer to downtown Decatur.

Finally, I was able to locate a proposed historic district delegation application, and the house is included as a contributing property. Yet, there is no history about the house in the packet.