Press Release - Durham Place Listed in the National Register of Historic Places

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Durham Place

Durham Place Listed in the National Register of Historic Places


ATLANTA (June 16, 2017) – Durham Place has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The property is located at 261 North Main Street in Maxeys (Oglethorpe County). The nomination was sponsored by the property owners, and nomination materials were prepared by the owner and a consultant.

Durham Place is an approximately 3.5-acre property located on the west side of Georgia Highway 77, across the road from the former Georgia Railroad rail bed in the small town of Maxeys. The property includes a circa-1844 one-story saddlebag house that was expanded in 1880 into a gabled-wing cottage, a circa-1844 single-pen slave cabin, a circa-1844 apothecary/doctor’s office, a circa-1870 smokehouse, and a modern shed, chicken coop and barn.

Durham Place was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a good and intact example of a late 19th-century gabled-wing Folk Victorian-style cottage, and in the area of health/medicine for its association with the Durham family of doctors. The Durham house retains its floorplan and exterior and interior character-defining features, including the wood siding, chimneys, windows, wood floors, wood ceilings, wood trim, and several mantels. All of the outbuildings also retain a high level of integrity. The apothecary is a rare Georgia resource that retains its heart pine clapboard siding, windows, shutters, and all interior features such as the curved apothecary room. It housed the doctor’s office and the front horseshoe-shaped dispensary room with original compounding desk, and served in this capacity from the time of its construction until 1923, when Dr. Samuel Davis Durham, the last of the Durham doctors to practice here, discontinued his practice. The apothecary was constructed at a time when academic medicine was in its infancy. Most of the six Durham doctors connected to the property were educated in Philadelphia and practiced “eclectic” medicine, which included both herbal and conventional medicines and procedures.

The National Register of Historic Places is our country's official list of historic buildings, structures, sites, objects, and districts worthy of preservation. The National Register provides formal recognition of a property's architectural, historical, or archaeological significance. It also identifies historic properties for planning purposes, and insures that these properties will be considered in the planning of state or federally assisted projects. National Register listing encourages preservation of historic properties through public awareness, federal and state tax incentives, and grants. Listing in the National Register does not place obligations or restrictions on the use, treatment, transfer, or disposition of private property. 

The Historic Preservation Division (HPD) of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources serves as Georgia’s state historic preservation office. Its mission is to promote the preservation and use of historic places for a better Georgia.  HPD’s programs include archaeology protection and education, environmental review, grants, historic resource surveys, tax incentives, the National Register of Historic Places, community planning and technical assistance. 

The mission of the Department of Natural Resources is to sustain, enhance, protect and conserve Georgia’s natural, historic and cultural resources for present and future generations, while recognizing the importance of promoting the development of commerce and industry that utilize sound environmental practices.    

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For press inquiries contact Historic Preservation Division Public Affairs Coordinator Jeff Harrison – 770-389-7869 and jeff.harrison@dnr.ga.gov


The above is a news release from the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Releases can be found online at www.georgiashpo.org.