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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.
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