Athens – Clarke County – This week we are in Athens, “The Classic City” – home to the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!). There are so many great old homes to see I couldn’t get them all in one post! This week we are primarily taking a walking tour around the Dearing Historic District. There’s a great tour brochure put together by The Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation. I started out by visiting what is believed to be the oldest remaining house in Athens, the circa 1820 Church-Waddel-Brumby House. It is also the location of the Athens Welcome Center. Also, I visited in December, so you will see a few Christmas decorations!
The Welcome Center is being restored to its appearance in the 1820s, it is fun to take a look around this almost 200 year old home!
The City of Athens was founded in 1806
Now as I got looking around Dearing Street, I had to go and admire the Bond House below. I love a big old Victorian, and this house commands the corner it is on. Porches galore and a great turret too.
The Young L.G. Harris House below dates from the 1830s. This house is on a corner, and was moved from facing Pope Street to Dearing Street many years ago. If you look closely, there is a very friendly cat on the front porch of this historic home.
Judge Harris, below, lived in the home for around 50 years. A philanthropist, Young Harris College is named in his honor.
The Goodwin-McNeil House below is the only stucco house around. It was the home of artist Sally Goodwin for many years, and there is a large studio upstairs in this house. She was a founding member of the Athens Art Alliance back in 1919.
Below is another 1820s house in Athens (and there aren’t many that have survived!). I love the porch on this house. Turns out the house has been moved, but retains a lot of its old floorboards and federal style mantels. The chimneys were painted pink in the 1960s, thus the house is known as Pink Chimneys.
Dearing Street contains a Tree That Owns Itself
Yes, there is a tree that owns itself at the corner of Dearing and Finley. The owner of the land wanted it protected forever, and he deeded – to the tree – all the land within 8 feet of it. The original tree fell in 1942, but a sapling from one of its acorns, planted in 1946 now occupies this sport.
The Mell-Whitworth House below is a little different than most of the other houses. Major remodeling over the years, as it originally had a corner turret and wrap around porch.
Now the house below caught my eye as I just love the window details and of course the beautiful porch.
I went a little further afield in the area, and spotted more beautiful Victorians. A yellow house always looks so inviting!
The Nix-Hartman Cottage below, built in 1915. Interestingly this has been home to several prominent Athenians throughout the years, including UGA football coach Bill Hartman!
This is just a small glimpse of the amazing old homes around Athens, so will have some upcoming posts showing a few other neighborhoods. Thanks so much for coming along on this tour, I appreciate you reading the blog!