A Piece of History...

This week's excursion was to Roswell, Georgia, to visit some of the historical homes and plantations.  We visited four different homes/plantations.  The first three we went to are called A Southern Trilogy because they were all built by Roswell's founders.  The Archibald Smith plantation home, Bulloch Hall, and Barrington Hall.  Photography was not allowed inside but we were able to get many beautiful shots of the outside to give a taste of the old southern plantation life. 

The Archibald Smith Plantation home
The 1845 Smith Plantation Home stands as majestically as it did over 150 years ago, with original furnishings inside and outbuildings including slave quarters, barn, corn crib, kitchen, carriage house and old well. Attached to, but with no entrance to the home, is a parson’s room. The home was built a mile north of what was then the blossoming town square of a little mill town known as Roswell, Georgia. Archibald Smith came here to escape the summer heat and insects of coastal Georgia, bringing his wife, children, and 30 slaves to help them run a 300-acre plus plantation. You will marvel at the home itself, which contains a treasury of fine antiques, including the 1833 piano in the parlor that the Smiths had crated up and moved to Valdosta, Georgia when they fled the Occupation of Roswell during the Civil War. Over the mantle, since that war, has hung the engraving titled "The Burial of Latane", depicting the burial of a confederate soldier on a southern plantation, a remembrance of the oldest son the Smiths lost in the war. The upstairs hall parlor and four bedrooms are on view. They contain numerous walnut and mahogany marble-topped chests and washstands, magnificent armoires and a spool, canopy bed that is original to the home. In the dining area, view the banquet-sized walnut dining table, original to the house, and an Empire, crotch mahogany sideboard dating about 1860. The house had neither electricity nor gas until the 1940's. In the downstairs library, you'll see Archibald Smith's walnut plantation desk dating back to 1840, in a setting of floor-to-ceiling books from that era. In the hallway is a blue, balloon-back settee, circa 1870-75 believed to have its original upholstery. 

 The front of the plantation

 Separate building for the slaves

 This is the building where food was prepared...technically the kitchen.  Food was brought from this building into the main house where it was served.  One of my favorite things was the "fly flapper."  It was a big wind up device that "flapped" as it wound down to keep the air circulating and keep the flies from the food.   In the background you can see the well where they got their water.

This is the Springhouse--where food such at butter and eggs were kept cool.  It is fed by a natural spring which keeps the food chilled.

The white oak tree.  It was between 280-300 years old--the second oldest white oak tree in Georgia.  Josh took this picture.

Isn't that the coolest bench!  I have a mental image of a man and woman courting, just talking to one another on this bench. 

Barrington Hall
In the 1830s, Barrington King and his father, Roswell King co-founded the colony which became Roswell, Georgia. Together, they built a dam to capture the waters of Vickery Creek. Water was redirected to a millwheel to power the looms of the first cotton mill of the Roswell Manufacturing Company, chartered in 1839. Barrington King took over the mill from his father and doubled its size. By 1853, the two mills tripled the revenue of the original Roswell Manufacturing Company.
Barrington Hall is one of the best examples of Greek Revival Temple architecture in the United States, today.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been called one of metro Atlanta's 50 Most Beautiful Homes by Atlanta Magazine.  Fourteen Doric columns line three sides of Barrington Hall, and this house was used as Union headquarters during the Civil War.

 The gardens in each home were beautiful, but we loved this arch pathway.

Smokehouse

Tours start on the hour, so they set out some water for you while you wait if you get there early.  I thought that was pretty cool--you don't get that very often anymore!

Bulloch Hall
Bulloch Hall was built in 1839 by Major James Stephens Bulloch, one of Roswell's first settlers and the grandson of Georgia’s Revolutionary Governor, Archibald Bulloch. This impressive Greek Revival structure has been described as one of the most significant houses in Georgia, and one of the South's few examples of true temple-form architecture with full pedimented portico. Bulloch Hall has been the setting for many social occasions, chief among them is the wedding of Major Bulloch's daughter, Mittie, on December 22, 1853, to Theodore Roosevelt of New York. Little did those in attendance realize they were witnessing a union that would produce a United States president (Teddy Roosevelt). In 1905, President Roosevelt came to see his mother's childhood home and spoke to a crowd from the bandstand in Town Square. Mittie's other son, Elliott, was the father of Eleanor Roosevelt who married Franklin D. Roosevelt and served as our nation's First Lady. Eleanor would sometimes drive to Roswell from Warm Springs to visit. Even Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With The Wind, was fascinated by Bulloch Hall. In 1923 she interviewed the last living bridesmaid of the Bulloch/Roosevelt wedding and wrote an article for The Atlanta Constitution. Major Bulloch took great care with the grounds. Along with an arbor, 37 shade and fruit trees were planted. Because of their ability to discourage flies and rodents, Osage Orange trees were placed near the house. Today, the grounds of Bulloch Hall boast 142 trees on the Historic Tree Register, reconstructed Slave Quarters, a demonstration garden and nature trail.

An interesting thing that I found about Bulloch Hall is that the slave quarters were separated from the main house by a fence, and there was only a small opening for them to come through.  The smaller structure is the outhouse.

Magnolia trees are all over the place in Georgia.  They are huge, gorgeous trees with giant flowers.  Here is an idea of the size of the flowers!


The Mansell House
The last place we went to was the Mansell House.  It wasn't on our tour list, but we saw signs and I was curious because Mansell is a surname on my mother's side of the family--and they come from the South (most notably Texas).  The Mansell house was built in the Queen Anne style in the early 1900's.  The grounds are gorgeous, and unlike the other homes we visited, the Mansell house is often rented out for weddings, receptions, parties, etc.

The Mansell house had many beautiful statues.  Here are a few of my favorite...