Taking off largely in the early 1970s, Macon citizens began an effort to identify homes in what was then a newly emerging downtown historic district. The task for those involved was deciding which sites needed to be preserved for future generations.
The local efforts were kicked off after the National Preservation Act of 1966 created the National Register of Historic Places, which lists sites across the country deemed worthy of broad preservation efforts.
While homes such as the Hay House, or Cannonball House are well known to locals or even those visiting Macon, there are a few lesser known National Register of Historic Places entries which came from that initial push to preserve in the early 1970s.
Here are three of Macon’s other iconic historic homes.
- Raines-Miller-Carmichael House:
The Raines-Carmichael House was built in the late 1840s from the design of architect and builder Elam Alexander. According to the home’s application to the National Register of Historic Places, it is an example of a modified Greek Cross style.
Prominent features of this style include its centrally located octagonal hall from which the wings of the house connect. The interior of the home features a free-hanging stairway, which leads upward to a cupola (small dome) above the second story.
The home’s namesake comes from its original owner, Judge Cadwallader W. Raines. He and his wife lived in the home until their respective deaths. Changing hands over time, the home now belongs to the Carmichael family. Located at 1185 Georgia Avenue, the home has been a private residence since its addition to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
- Hatcher-Groover-Schwartz House:
The Hatcher-Groover-Schwartz House located at 1144 – 1146 Georgia Avenue is an example of the French Second Empire style of the Victorian era. Some features of that style present on the exterior of the home include a corner pavilion, metal roofed porch, and a red brick finish complemented by carved stone.
The lot where the home now sits was purchased in 1880 by Marshall Janes Hatcher from the Central Georgia Bank. Through the decades the home would change hands, and families a few times before being purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Bert Sehwartz who occupied the home at the time of its application’s acceptance to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. Today the home remains a private residence.
- Davis-Guttenberger-Rankin House:
This home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 — still a part of those early Macon site applications. The home exists as an example of the Carpenter Gothic style.
Evidence of this form of architectural design are the house’s intricately carved exterior wooden spindles, various window types, roof elevations and its central tower.
Built in 1885, the home originally sat on the 20-acre estate of Judge John L. Hardeman. In 1890, the home and estate was purchased by Buford McDonald Davis, a prominent area attorney.
In 1911, during a period of residential development on the grounds of the original 20-acre estate, the decision was made to take on the extraordinary feat of moving the home to its present location at 134 Buford Place – a then new road. Myrtle T. Rankin was the occupant at the time of the home’s addition to the National Register and contributed her married name to the title of the house. The home today still continues to remain a private residence.
