The James and Lily Gaines House was built by Prussian architect, John Schmitz, in 1901 as a “Honeymoon House.” Schmitz relocated to Bartow County after serving in the Civil War as a Union soldier. His architectural work can be seen throughout Bartow County.
The home is a rare example of a brick Queen Anne home in Georgia. Built into a hill, the home faces downtown and the rail line. It is believed the bricks came in via the rail since there isn’t a record of a brick manufacturer in the area until 1906.
A long-rumored story about the home is that it was a hospital with a tunnel to the nearby funeral parlor. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be verifiable. It did serve as a hotel at one point.
The Martin and Lucretia Stamper house is near the Meriwether and Harris County lines in Talbot County. It is also known as Merrywood. The two-story I-house with Classic Revival details was built in 1833. The Stampers, who moved to the area from Upson County, were among the early families to settle there. Their two-story home is a rarity and indicates how wealthy the family was. According to the 1840 census, the Stampers enslaved 40 people and owned just over 700 acres.
In 1850, the Stampers sold their property to John Harris and James Weaver. While the National Register of Historic Places does not state this, it seems the land was divided, and the Harris family occupied the house. In 1860, Weaver sold his acreage to Harris. The Harrises lived in the house until 1890.
The home was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. The photos below are from the NRHP application.
St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church was consecrated in 1876 after it was built on land donated by Frances Kimble Butler Leigh. Rev. James Wentworth Leigh, an Anglican minister who had moved to McIntosh County in 1873 as Frances’s husband, obtained the church’s designs. It was built to resemble an English church. The newly freedmen built the church to serve as the Black Episcopalian church. The church was named after a martyred Black saint.
Unfortunately, the church was destroyed in an 1896 hurricane. It was rebuilt and severely damaged again in the 1898 hurricane. Completed in 1901, the church is one of the most complete tabby buildings on the coast.
A few years ago, it seemed that the oldest commercial building in Georgia would be another case of demolition by neglect. The Adam Strain Building was built before 1820 and survived The Burning of Darien by federal troops during the Civil War. More recently, it was vacant for many years and had started to deteriorate to the point that the Georgia Trust for Historic Places had listed it as one of the state’s Places in Peril.
In February 2020, it was announced that Marion and Milan Savic of Marietta had purchased the building with the intention of saving it. Working with the teams from Ethos Preservation and Landmark Preservation, the Savics were able to restore it. Marion shared that the preservation teams designed new techniques for the restoration. For instance, an outside wall must be pulled closer to the building. The system was designed specifically for the building’s walls.
Window details
In July 2024, it looked like the building would be open for fall as a brewery. My friends and I decided to plan a trip for October to see the restoration and try the brewery. Unfortunately, it was not ready by the time for our trip to the coast. Luckily, mutual friends were able to connect us with Marion Savic who graciously offered to give us a tour.
A mural that was found when the clean-up process began.
The two-story building will open as the Tabby House Brewing Company sometime in the fall of 2024, so when my friends and I showed up, they were in the final stages of getting ready to open. The building has two floors with an upper and lower outdoor patio. In view of the river, it will be the place to grab a pint in McIntosh County and surrounding areas.
A view of the tabby inside the building
Outside of being a scenic place to visit, architecture and history nerds will appreciate the details the Savics kept to respect the building’s history and architecture. Patrons will be able to see a close-up of the Tabby. Much of the hardwood was salvaged from the building and reused.
Saint Simons Lighthouse is one of five remaining lighthouses in Georgia. It and the Keeper’s House was built in 1872. It replaced a lighthouse destroyed by the Confederate troops in 1871 because there was concern that Federal troops would use the light to guide them to shore.
The Keeper’s Dwelling is a two-story brick structure with Italianate details. It was used until the 1950s and now serves as the Lighthouse Museum. Visitors can climb the 129 steps to the top of the lighthouse to get the same view as the lighthouse keeper.
The Victorian home in the Montford District was built in 1897 by O. D. Revell for Carolyn Gray. The Wilkinson family lived in the home by 1902. By 1922, it was divided into rental units. It became a bed and breakfast in 1995.
Image from the National Register of Historic Places application
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