Carr's Hill Historic Neighborhood with Maxine Easom

Sponsored by the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation, Athens Heritage Walks is a series of guided tours of 

historic places that celebrate each site’s unique architecture, culture and history. Each tour is hosted by a distinctive 

personality whose knowledge and experience bring a unique and colorful perspective to our local history. 

Carr's Hill Historic Neighborhood with Maxine Easom 

Saturday, August 28 at 10 am 

Saturday, September 11 at 10 am 

Cobbham Historic District with Milton Leathers 

Thursday, August 26 at 7 pm 

Sunday, September 26 at 2 pm 

Dearing Street Historic District with Hubert McAlexander 


Saturday, October 23 at 10 am 

FootPrince – Historic Prince Avenue with Amy Andrews 


FootPrince and Palates – Food and Walking Tour of Historic Prince Avenue with Amy Andrews 

Saturday, October 2 at 10:30 am 

Milledge Circle Historic District with John Waters 

Sunday, October 10 at 2 pm 

Sunday, November 7 at 2 pm 

Navy Supply Corps School/Normal School with Danny Sniff 

Thursday, July 29 at 7 pm (reservation deadline: July 26) 

Thursday, August 5 at 7 pm (reservation deadline: August 2) 

North Oconee River Heritage Canoe Tour with Ben Emanuel & Janet Clark 



Oconee Hill Cemetery with Charlotte Marshall 


Saturday, November 20 at 10 am 

Pulaski Heights Historic Neighborhood with David Bryant 



Scull Shoals National Register Historic Site with David Hally & Bob Skarda 

Sunday, August 22 at 2 pm 


Walking The Hill with Lee Epting & John Knowlton 

Tuesday, September 7 at 6:30 pm 


West Cloverhurst/Springdale Historic District with Buck & Diane Adams 


www.achfonline.org

Intricate gingerbread scrollwork graces the gable of this 

vernacular cottage in Carr’s Hill. 

NOTE: tours are listed in alphabetical order below. 

Carr's Hill Historic Neighborhood 

with Maxine Easom 

Saturday, August 28 at 10 am 


This scenic prominence of land that begins at the eastern bank of the North 

Oconee River just below downtown is home to Clarke County’s earliest and 

most significant history. It is here where wealthy landowner William Carr and 

his young bride built a home in 1817 and where the first railroad reached 

Athens in 1841 on land provided by Carr. Carr's Hill remained the Athens' 

railroad terminus for the next forty years, before the construction of a bridge 

across the river. The well-known painting by George Cooke, “A View from 

Carr's Hill,” was painted for his good friends' daughter, commemorating the 

scene which would be her last view of home as she boarded the train to leave 

for Alabama with her new husband. Life on Carr's Hill was closely tied to the river and the industries which were built there. 

Textile mills located along the river such as the Athens Factory and Climax Hosiery Mill provided jobs to many of the Hill's 

residents whose modest cottages are still in use. Once a humble but thriving neighborhood anchored by the Oconee Street United 

Methodist Church (1903) and the Oconee Street Elementary School (1908), today's Carr's Hill is a cautionary tale. The 

neighborhood clearly shows negative effects of misguided zoning and lack of vision, but the story's ending has yet to be written 

and concerned residents are working for a better future. This tour will last approximately 1½ to 2 hours. 

Your Tour Guide: 

Maxine Easom is the fourth generation of her family to have grown up on Carr's Hill. She credits that community's humble 

residents with helping to instill the values that she has carried with her throughout life. A well-respected teacher and 

administrator, she received her bachelor's degree in music education and went on to earn her doctorate in education from the 

University of Georgia. She began her career teaching piano, then became an elementary school teacher and eventually a principal 

at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. She retired recently as principal of Clarke Central High School but continues to 

be active, serving on the board of the Athens Area Urban Ministry which oversees Our Daily Bread Noon Kitchen. She is a lifelong 

member of Oconee Street United Methodist Church, where she has served as the music director for over 40 years. 

Cobbham Historic District 

with Milton Leathers 



John Addison Cobb laid out 80 lots on his land in 1834 for a speculative 

development characterized as a “town in the woods.” In the antebellum 

period, wealthy Athenians built suburban villas on its expansive lots, but, by 

the time of the Civil War, lots became smaller, prompting many cottage-type 

homes. In addition to houses, several important institutional buildings were 

erected in the neighborhood, most especially academies to serve the children 

of Athens’s gentry, many of whom lived in Cobbham. The earliest was the 

Lucy Cobb Institute, a female academy founded in 1858. Another was the 

Athens Academy on Meigs Street, founded in 1886. After World War II, 

Cobbham underwent a transition, with many houses being purchased by 

speculators who subdivided the large homes into student apartments. 

A turn-of-the-century Folk Victorian cottage with 

stylistic influences from both Queen Anne and 

Neoclassical architecture. 

Institutional intrusions on both ends of Cobbham caused the demolition of several homes and threatened others. History 

professor and preservation activist Phinizy Spalding was instrumental in a grassroots effort to protect Cobbham, ultimately 

achieved through its designation as a local historic district. Today Cobbham enjoys its place as one of the premier historic 

neighborhoods in Athens, and it contains some of the finest examples of Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, 

and Second Empire architecture in the Classic City. This tour will last approximately 2½ hours.

Your tour guide: 

Milton Leathers’ ties in Cobbham run deep. He is descended from Virginian John Cobb, who first purchased land in the Athens 

area in 1792. His father grew up in Cobbham, and Leathers lived in the Hill Street home built by his great-great-grandparents, 

Confederate General Howell and Mary Ann Lamar Cobb. Leathers is a consummate story-teller, and he traces his interest in 

Athens history to many years spent listening to the stories of his grandmother, Camilla McWhorter (Mrs. Andrew Cobb) Erwin. A 

graduate of Western Carolina University, Leathers’ varied career includes service as a Russian translator in the U. S. Army, as a 

teacher on Oahu, as president of L. M. Leathers & Sons and Erwin & Co., Inc. and, upon retirement, as an English teacher in 

China. He is former chairman of the Historic Cobbham Foundation, past president of the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation, 

and a current board member of the Athens Historical Society. 

The 1859 Meeker-Pope-Barrow House features one of only 

two antebellum gardens still remaining in Athens. 

Dearing Street Historic District 

with Hubert McAlexander 



Dearing Street is the quintessential old Southern neighborhood of gracious 

homes and gardens. The land was originally part of the 633-acre tract that 

John Milledge purchased and donated for the University of Georgia, 

portions of which were sold over the years to raise money for the college. 

Dearing Street was laid out in the 1830s into four-acre squares and sold over 

a 50-year period. Most of the homes were built between the 1820s and 1910 

in a wide range of architectural styles including Folk Victorian, Colonial 

Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, Neoclassical and vernacular cottages. The 

street was named for William Dearing, a wealthy plantation owner who was 

among the elite that came to Athens to educate their sons at the University 

and build great mansions. A list of the street's former residents—among them the Deuprees, Barrows, Erwins, Cobbs, 

Rutherford, Childs and Harrises—reads like a who's who of Athens. Subsequent owners subdivided their lots and later-period 

structures filled out the street. One of the early residents was Malthus A. Ward, a physician and botanist who was the university's 

first professor of natural history. He created an 8-acre botanical garden for the university—the first in the South—which 

extended from his home eastward to Tanyard Branch. The Dearing Street Local Historic District is home to two charming local 

favorites, Finley Street, which is the last remaining street to feature Belgian Block paving, and The Tree That Owns Itself. Dearing 

Street was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. This tour will last approximately 2 hours. 


Hubert H. McAlexander, Josiah Meigs Professor of English, Emeritus, is a native of Mississippi but a resident of Athens since 

1974. Trained in American literature at the University of Mississippi and the University of Wisconsin, and the author of nine 

books, McAlexander has been a longtime supporter of preservation in Athens and long interested in the history of his adopted 

town and historic street. Dearing Street, located on the next hill west of the University, has always been home to leaders of town 

and gown. He was the impetus behind and researched material for Historic Dearing Street by Frances Taliaferro Thomas, the only 

book to be dedicated to a single street in Athens. 

“FootPrince” – Historic Prince Avenue 

with Amy Andrews 


Ask a current or former Athenian to name their favorite places in Athens, and 

Prince Avenue is guaranteed to be on the list. The stately Greek Revival and 

Victorian homes, flowering dogwoods, deep-set lawns, mature trees, streetfront 

commercial buildings, and neighborhood character of this busy historic 

corridor combine to lend a distinctive presence that few streets can emulate. 

Originally the Federal Road to the Indian Territory, Prince Avenue's earliest 

existing homes date to the 1840s. Some of Athens' and the state of Georgia's 

most influential citizens lived here—among them Joseph Lumpkin, Henry 

Grady and Monroe “Pink” Morton. Home to architecturally-significant 

institutions like the State Normal School (1862), Emmanuel Episcopal Church 

Charles Newton built this handsome Queen Anne home 

in 1897. His four college-educated daughters never 

married and lived here together their entire lives.

(1899), and Fire Hall No. 2 (1901), Prince Avenue is also home to beloved Normaltown, one of Athens' few true neighborhood 

business districts. A victim of the urban renewal mentality that swept through Athens in the 1950s and 60s, local history books are 

filled with photographs of the grand homes that are now gone. In the 1970s, students, artists, musicians and young professionals 

who craved the inexpensive rent, historic ambience and character of the Prince Avenue neighborhoods, moved in. A large 

number of them eventually bought homes here and have lent Prince Avenue an eclectic yet authentic new character that gracefully 

blends with the historic. This tour will last approximately 2 hours. 


Amy Andrews has lived in the Prince Avenue area for more than 25 years. Born in Akron, Ohio, she first came to Athens as a 

child to spend summers with her father and grew to love the architecture, culture and sense of place that imbued the city. She 

received her bachelor's degree in French from the University of Georgia and became a realtor long enough to learn and explore 

the nooks and crannies of Athens, which only increased her appreciation of its historic neighborhoods. She is an administrative 

specialist in Finance and Administration at the University of Georgia, where she has worked for the last 17 years. She is a graduate 

of Leadership Athens and serves as co-chair of Citizens for Healthy Neighborhoods, a Normaltown citizens group. She is 

finishing her second term as a trustee of the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation and is a member of the Education Committee. 

Prince Avenue’s historic and eclectic character 

makes it a popular locale for innovative 

restauranteurs. 

“FootPrince and Palates” – Food and Walking Tour of Historic 

Prince Avenue 

with Amy Andrews 

Saturday, October 2 at 10:30 am 

Prince Avenue is a foodies delight with one-of-a-kind cafes, bakeries, and bars that 

have become entwined with its character—whether housed in a historic building or 

adaptively renovating some of the more contemporary buildings to create a unique 

ambience. Share the inside scoop on the unique restaurants that call Prince Avenue 

home and enjoy mouth-watering samples from some of the best eateries “uptown” 

while we tour this historic corridor. Originally the Federal Road to the Indian 

Territory, Prince Avenue's earliest existing homes date to the 1840s. Some of Athens' 

and the state of Georgia's most influential citizens lived here—among them Joseph Lumpkin, Henry Grady and Monroe “Pink” 

Morton. Home to architecturally-significant institutions like the State Normal School (1862), Emmanuel Episcopal Church 

(1899), and Fire Hall No. 2 (1901), Prince Avenue is also home to beloved Normaltown, one of Athens' few true neighborhood 

business districts. A victim of the urban renewal mentality that swept through Athens in the 1950s and 60s, local history books are 

filled with photographs of the grand homes that are now gone. In the 1970s, students, artists, musicians and young professionals 

who craved the inexpensive rent, historic ambience and character of the Prince Avenue neighborhoods, moved in. A large 

number of them eventually bought homes here and have lent Prince Avenue an eclectic yet authentic new character that gracefully 

blends with the historic. 

Enough food tastings will be served that for most people lunch afterwards will not be needed. Please let us know about any food 

restrictions when making your reservation; we will do our best to accommodate your specific needs. This tour will last approximately 

three hours. Please note that there is an additional $15 fee for this tour to cover food costs. The tour is limited to 16 registrants. 


Amy Andrews has lived in the Prince Avenue area for more than 25 years. Born in Akron, Ohio, she first came to Athens as a 

child to spend summers with her father and grew to love the architecture, culture and sense of place that imbued the city. She 

received her bachelor's degree in French from the University of Georgia and became a realtor long enough to learn and explore 

the nooks and crannies of Athens, which only increased her appreciation of its historic neighborhoods. She is an administrative 

specialist in Finance and Administration at the University of Georgia, where she has worked for the last 17 years. She is a graduate 

of Leadership Athens and serves as co-chair of Citizens for Healthy Neighborhoods, a Normaltown citizens group. She is 

finishing her second term as a trustee of the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation and is a member of the Education Committee.

Milledge Circle Historic District 

with John Waters 



Affectionately known as “High Ball Hill,” Milledge Circle is a neighborhood 

of flowing lawns and gracious homes of distinct architectural styles. It is a 

classic example of an early 20th century landscaped suburb whose residents 

have contributed greatly to the history of the neighborhood and the 

community at large. Hubert Owens, long-time dean and founder of the 

University of Georgia School of Landscape Architecture, is credited with the 

house placement and landscape design for a number of homes along 

Milledge Circle. The natural terrain of Milledge Circle was preserved in its 

development and the neighborhood grew in conjunction with the West Lake 

Country Club, later known as the Cloverhurst Country Club. The concept of 

a recreational landscape for the well-to-do was flourishing about the United 

States in the early 20th century but the Milledge Circle example was unique in Athens at the time. Many features of that landscape 

still exist, such as West Lake, two fairways, and the clubhouse, now a private residence. Notable homes include the 1923 Decker- 

Waters House designed by prominent local architect Fred Orr; Athens first split-level house, the 1941 Aderhold-Scruggs House; 

and Athens' first Art Moderne house. This tour will last approximately 1½ to 2 hours. 


John Waters is a founder and director of the Graduate Studies in Historic Preservation program in the College of Environment 

and Design at the University of Georgia, where he also teaches. An author and activist, Waters has been instrumental in a number 

of local and state preservation organizations. He was one of the founders of the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation in 1967 and 

has served as its president. Waters was also a founder and president of the Joseph Henry Lumpkin Foundation. Waters 

established the Fred J. Orr Society to recognize and perpetuate the works of Orr, a noted Athens architect of the early twentieth 

century who designed the Milledge Circle home in which Waters resides, “Greyside.” 

A 1910 postcard of Winnie Davis Hall, built in 1902 by the 

Daughters of the Confederacy to serve as a dormitory for daughters 

of Confederate soldiers. 

Navy Supply Corps/Normal School 

with Danny Sniff 

Thursday, July 29 at 7 pm 

(reservation deadline: July 26)* 


(reservation deadline: August 2)* 

633 Milledge Circle, a home designed by Athens architect 

Fred Orr, and the home of Mary Lyndon, the first Dean of 

Women at the University of Georgia. 

In 1860, the University of Georgia constructed Rock College, a 

preparatory school on 30 acres of land off Prince Avenue. Between 1862 

and 1891, the school served the educational needs of Georgia in a variety 

of roles including as a Confederate military school, as a Federal garrison, as 

a school for disabled young Confederate veterans, and as home to UGA’s 

agriculture and mechanical arts programs. In 1891, the state established the 

Normal School to train rural teachers in teaching standards or “norms,” 

and the nearby commercial area soon adopted the name “Normal Town.” The oldest surviving buildings were built during this 

period, including Winnie Davis Hall, erected in 1902 as a memorial to the daughter of Jefferson Davis, and the Carnegie Library, built 

in 1910 with a grant from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation. In the 1930s, the campus served as home to UGA freshmen and 

sophomore women to keep them isolated from the temptations of the main campus and downtown. In 1953 the site was purchased 

by the U.S. Navy as a permanent location for its Supply Corps School. In 2011, ownership of the campus will once again return to 

the University of Georgia, which will develop it as a medical campus while preserving its historic buildings. Because of its historical 

and educational significance, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This tour will last approximately 2 hours. 


Danny Sniff is a registered architect whose academic achievements include bachelor of architecture, master of business 

administration, master of landscape architecture and a master’s in historic preservation degree. He is currently pursuing a 

doctorate in higher education at the University of Georgia. As the associate vice president for facilities planning at the University

of Georgia, Sniff has been intimately involved with planning for the medical campus at the Navy Supply Corps School and has 

first-hand knowledge of the historic buildings constructed during the era of the State Normal School. 

*Advanced registration is required. Due to security regulations, registration will close on July 26 for the July 29 tour and on 

August 2 for the August 5 tour. All tour-goers will need to bring a valid drivers license or government issued identification card to 

get on base. No photographs are allowed. 

North Oconee River Heritage Canoe Tour 

with Ben Emanuel and Janet Clark 



Athens is graced with two major rivers that have been vital to its development and are the 

source of its oldest history, yet they remain an undiscovered resource for many Athenians. In 

1783, the Oconee River Basin was the western boundary of the new United States of America 

and a source of opportunity for those heading west. The North Oconee River was the site of 

Athens’ first industry—a sawmill and gristmill dating from the late 1700s and run by Daniel 

Easley, who sold the land across the river upon which the University of Georgia was built. 

The water power supplied by the rivers beckoned industry, and Clarke County had 19 mills at 

one point, many of which were located near the waterfront. By 1840, Clarke County was the 

third largest textile producing area in the country, processing the cotton from adjacent 

plantations and farms. Communities such as Potterytown sprang up near the river and housed 

the workers from the adjacent industries. The river also played a role in the Civil War, 

providing water power to industries which produced Confederate guns and wool and cotton 

for Confederate uniforms. This unique tour will take you by canoe down the North Oconee 

River through downtown to learn about the historic sites along this stretch of the river and 

will allow you to experience the river as few have. This tour will last approximately 3 hours. Please note: This tour requires a certain amount of 

agility as tour-goers will be climbing in and out of canoes on steep and rough surfaces—your feet will get wet. The tour will be held rain or shine. Canoes are 

limited; if you have your own canoe or kayak, please let us know. The tour will be limited to 14 registrants. 

Your tour guides: 

Ben Emanuel is the Oconee River Project Director for Altamaha Riverkeeper, Inc. A canoeist and birdwatcher, he has paddled 

much of the Oconee River, both in the Athens area and in Georgia’s Coastal Plain. He is a founding member of the Georgia 

River Survey (www.georgiariversurvey.org), a frequent volunteer with the Upper Oconee Watershed Network and a member of 

the Oconee Rivers Greenway Commission. A native of Decatur, Emanuel has lived in Athens since 1998 and graduated in 

English from the University of Georgia in 2002. He was City Editor at Flagpole Magazine from 2005 to 2009. 

Janet Clark is a tour guide for Classic City Tours, housed in the historic 1820s Church-Waddel-Brumby House. She developed her 

love for architecture and history as a young girl on walking tours with her father and finds fulfillment in sharing her passion with 

others. She has taught two of the Charles Rowland Memorial Antique Seminars, focusing on 19th century architecture and decorative 

arts. Clark has been conducting tours for the Athens Welcome Center since 1997 and has served as its assistant director since 1996. 

A beautifully carved angel at the grave of 

Norma Marks Morris, 1874-1918. 

Oconee Hill Cemetery 

with Charlotte Marshall 

Sunday, November 14 at 2:00 pm 


The "wool" building of the Athens Cotton 

and Wool Factory, which still has its 

original stone-walled millrace. 

The beautiful monuments among the rolling hills of the historic Oconee Hill Cemetery 

memorialize a cross-section of Athens old and new. Many names, such as Lumpkin, Cobb, 

Church, and Hill, have long been fused with Athens’ history, while others, such as Dean 

Rusk, Wally Butts, Fred Davison, and B-52s guitarist Ricky Wilson, have a place in our more 

recent memory. The cemetery was established in 1856 and designed as a rural cemetery, 

distinguished by its park-like appearance. Originally only 17 acres in size, the cemetery has 

grown to almost 100 acres. The cemetery is divided into three distinct sections: the original 

memorial park, the Factory Burying Ground where employees of the nearby Athens 

Manufacturing Company were buried, and a section that was established after the Civil War

y the Congregation Children of Israel. The Bisson Family, who for many years served as sextons, included several skilled 

sculptors, and they crafted many of the tombstones and memorials. The family lived in the Sexton’s House, a circa 1880 Georgian 

Cottage which was beautifully restored in 2007 by the Friends of Oconee Hill Cemetery. The cemetery’s gravestones, tombstones 

and headstones are rich in detail and symbolism, and the tour will include an explanation of the meanings of the various carvings, 

symbols, icons and other funerary art found there. This tour will last between 2 and 3 hours. Note: This tour will be a donation-only event 

benefiting the Friends of the Oconee Hill Cemetery; a $10 refundable deposit is required. 


A graduate of Wesleyan College, Charlotte Marshall came to Athens in 1966 to work as an admissions counselor at the University 

of Georgia. She married soon after and, through her husband's family, she was introduced to Oconee Hill Cemetery. Her 40 years 

of research in Athens has given Marshall a vast and detailed knowledge of this city's history and its families. She is a longtime 

member of the Athens Historical Society and recently released her much-anticipated book, Oconee Hill Cemetery of Athens, Georgia, 

Volume I. Marshall has edited the tombstone inscriptions of the oldest portion of the cemetery, was the first woman to serve as a 

trustee of the cemetery, and was active in the formation of the Friends of Oconee Hill Cemetery. She is the author of three other 

local history books and has been a contributor to several other publications. 

Pulaski Heights Historic Neighborhood 

with David Bryant 

Sunday, September 12 at 2:00 pm 


Pulaski Heights is one of Athens' best kept secrets—a hidden gem of a 

neighborhood a stone's throw away from vibrant downtown and Prince 

Avenue. Its narrow streets, natural ravines and the Seaboard Coastline 

railroad tracks which bisect it have served to keep the early-twentieth 

century neighborhood intact and protected. Originally home to skilled 

tradesman, clerks, and small business owners who built unpretentious but 

charming cottages in the Southern vernacular style, the area was also home 

to several prominent Athens' industries such as L. M. Leathers Company, 

McGinty's Planing Mill and the Southern Cotton Oil Co. Its current 

residents have maintained a close-knit but individualistic lifestyle and have 

embraced the eclectic neighborhood of lovely bungalows, industrial buildings and trains. One of its well-known residents was 

John Linley—an architect, author and professor at the University of Georgia's School of Environmental Design who bought a 

home on Pulaski Street in 1967. He championed in-town living at a time when people were fleeing to the suburbs and turned his 

1905 home and landscape into a unique oasis to which he welcomed all. The area is home to artists, small business owners, and 

professionals who have adopted his example of bringing your own aesthetic and putting your heart into your house and yard. This 

tour will last approximately 2 hours. 


David Bryant is the Assistant Director of the Georgia Sea Grant at the University of Georgia. He received his bachelor's and 

master's degrees in English from the University of Georgia after which, according to him, he “never achieved escape velocity” 

from Athens. An award-winning author, radio producer and narrator, his work ranges from books such as Georgia's Amazing Coast 

to radio documentaries such as Islam and the West and Berlin Calling to live radio dramas and programs focusing on environmental, 

literary and social topics. He has lived in the Pulaski Heights neighborhood for 20 years, and he and his wife enjoy their proximity 

to what he describes as the best part of downtown - the northwest corner. 

Today, only three partial walls of this c. 1846 brick warehouse 

and store remain. Image courtesy of Jack Wynn, Friends of 

Scull Shoals. 

Scull Shoals National Register Historic Site 

with David Hally and Bob Skarda 

Sunday, August 22 at 2 pm 


Creative décor adorns the home of Charlie and Nancy Hartness, who 

perform old-time music as the group “Hawkproof Rooster.” 

The Scull Shoals village site in northwest Greene County is rich in pre-historic, 

Native American and early American history. After the Revolutionary War, 

land-hungry settlers pressed against the Oconee River frontier, and a settlement 

was established at the site in 1782. The treaty of 1802 pushed the Creek Indians 

west and cotton then dominated the land. The town prospered, with a large

textile mill, boarding houses, stores, a warehouse, a distillery, a toll bridge, and other enterprises employing more than 500 people. 

Throughout the 19th century, a series of events including devastating floods (augmented by erosive farming methods), serious 

droughts and the Civil War wreaked havoc on this company town. By 1900, the mills had closed and most people had deserted this 

once thriving community. Today, only the remnants of the past glory remain. Haunting stone foundations of the old mill's power 

plant and warehouse along with the scattered stone and brick chimney bases can be found in the cleared downtown village and in the 

surrounding Oconee National Forest. Tour-goers will explore the ruins, hear about the fascinating lives of several notable former 

residents, learn how hydraulic power was harnessed and how the factory led the region’s social and economic growth. Information 

will also be provided on the nearby Scull Shoals Indian Mounds Archeological Area, which is listed on National Register. The site is 

located 20 miles from Athens (transportation is on your own), and the tour will last approximately two hours. 


David J. Hally, emeritus professor of anthropology at the University of Georgia, has conducted archaeological research on the late 

prehistoric and early historic aboriginal cultures of Georgia and the southeastern U.S. for over 40 years. His research interests range 

across the full spectrum of aboriginal life and culture including households, communities, chiefdom polities, and regional systems. He has 

published numerous articles, book chapters, and monographs on these subjects as well as an edited book on the archaeology of 

Ocmulgee National Monument and a recent book on the social archaeology of a mid-16th century aboriginal town located on the Coosa 

River in northwestern Georgia. Hally was principal investigator for archaeological research conducted by the University in the Wallace 

Dam basin prior to the creation of Lake Oconee. This research included large-scale excavation of the Curtright factory and village which 

provides valuable insight into the nature of water-powered textile mills and mill communities in the mid-19th century Georgia Piedmont. 

Bob Skarda is a former computer field service technician and award-winning jewelry designer, who is also an avid student of 

Native American and early American history. He and his family have been active members of the non-profit Friends of Scull 

Shoals, Inc. for over 10 years. Skarda currently serves as president of that organization, which protects the nineteenth-century 

Scull Shoals mill village and educates the public about rural life in that time period. Under Skarda’s direction, the group has 

produced an eighth-grade educational curriculum supplement and is developing a nature trail with plants representative of those 

in Dr. Lindsey Durham’s nineteenth-century herbal medicine recipes. He is the author of two books about this historic area: Scull 

Shoals, Mill Village That Vanished in Old Georgia and Early Oconee Indians, A Rich Life by the River. 

Walking “The Hill” 

with Lee Epting & John Knowlton 

Tuesday, September 7 at 6:30 pm 


1800 Crescent Lane, also known as “The Hill” is an enclave of several historic 

homes that were saved from demolition and moved to the site. The Hill had its 

origins with Lee Epting’s grandparents, The Daniels, who lived there in the 

1930s. Epting’s foray into historic preservation and reclamation came while 

converting his Grandfather Daniel's barn for a party house while in college—a 

project which soon evolved into making the structure his home. In 1979, the 

Eptings provided a home for a circa 1800 two-story log house built by his 

family in South Carolina. As word spread, other condemned and threatened 

homes found their way to The Hill. Eventually, Epting's orphanage for 

endangered houses grew to include eight period homes, located in a 

The Thurmond-Barks-Knowlton House, c. 1818, began 

as a one-room cabin with loft. The two-story columns and 

balcony were part of an 1850 addition. 

picturesque landscape of unpaved drives with no streetlights. The homes include the c. 1800 Donnald-Epting House, the c. 1801 

Hodgson-Lumpkin House, and the c. 1818 Thurmond-Barks-Knowlton House. Four of the homes are used to host weddings, 

special events and business retreats and are rented for both short and long-term guest housing. The Hill was the location for the 

film Not Since You, a movie written by Epting’s son Ashley, which premiered in April 2010 at Ciné. This tour will last approximately 

two hours. 


A native Athenian, Lee Epting attended Emory University and the University of Georgia, from which he earned a BBA in 1967. 

While at both colleges, he ran his fraternity's kitchen as a business, and his career in catering and restaurant operation was 

launched. Early in his career, Epting restored the 1909 Southern Railway passenger station on Hoyt Street and opened a 

restaurant there. His catering business began soon after, and today he is the owner of Epting Events, which began with himself, a 

cook and a bartender and has now expanded into a business which employs 75 people. His latest venture is Harry’s Pig Shop, 

already an Athens' favorite. Epting has served as a trustee with the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation and is a generous 

supporter of many local causes and events.

John Knowlton is a healthcare fundraising consultant for nonprofit hospitals. In that role, he has developed and led educational 

seminars for fundraising volunteers and development staff. Knowlton has both a law degree and a doctorate in adult education 

with a focus on leadership and management effectiveness from the University of Georgia. In his spare time, he owns and enjoys J. 

Knowlton Antiques, an upscale English antiques business, which is run from his home on The Hill. He enjoyed exploring the 

South Georgia farmhouses of his youth and became interested in antiques and historic houses while listening to his father telling 

stories about family homes, his grandfather's mill, and the history of the family's antiques. 

405 W. Cloverhurst Avenue, unusual Tudor Revival style 

house built c.1936 by Dr. J. Weyman Davis, Athens 

physician and surgeon. 

West Cloverhurst/Springdale Historic District 

with Buck and Diane Adams 


The West Cloverhurst/Springdale Historic District occupies land that 

belonged to an experimental farm developed by New Jersey native John 

Meeker in the late 19th century. In 1885 Henry Hull Carlton bought Meeker’s 

property and built a large Second Empire style dwelling, the axial driveway of 

which would later become West Cloverhurst Avenue. Carlton was a doctor, 

lawyer, Congressman, and the owner of the Athens Banner newspaper. After 

his death in 1901, the land was sold to Judge Hamilton McWhorter, who lived 

in the Cloverhurst mansion but also began to sell off parcels for development. 

Land on the north side of Springdale was not part of the Cloverhurst estate, 

belonging instead to Robert Bloomfield, industrialist and founder of Athens 

Manufacturing Company. House styles in this historic district include 

vernacular c. 1900 cottages on Springdale and Arts and Crafts influenced designs on Cloverhurst including Colonial Revival, 

Tudor Revival, and bungalow. Just around the corner from Springdale Street is a row of six shotgun houses dating from 1926. 

The shotgun house is a form peculiar to the Deep South, and the houses were originally rental units that accommodated African- 

American service workers, some of whom may have been servants of the nearby neighborhoods. This tour will last approximately 1½ 

to 2 hours. 


Diane Albert Adams has been a Realtor in the Athens area for 28 years. Having received a degree in history from UGA, she has 

always had a strong interest in local history and historic preservation. A native of Athens, her family came to the area from 

Virginia in the 1700s. For ten years, she served the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation as trustee and held two terms as president. 

Adams served as co-chair of the Athens-Clarke County Bicentennial celebration in 2001. With over 35 years of community 

service, she has been involved in many organizations. 

Cuyler (Buck) Adams owns Adams Allied Moving and Storage, one of Athens’ oldest businesses, established by his grandfather in 

1903. A native of Athens, his family came to the area before the 1776 Revolution. He grew up in Cobbham, where his family 

resided for 50 years, and attended Athens schools and the University of Georgia. From 1962–1964, Buck served as a Peace Corps 

volunteer in Brazil; then returned to Brazil in 1966 to serve as a Peace Corp administrator for five years. He has been an active 

board member of Athens Community Council on Aging for many years. The Adams reside in the Cloverhurst-Springdale Historic 

District. 

Visit www.achfonline.org 

E-mail: achftours@bellsouth.net 

Call 706-353-1801

Carr's Hill Historic Neighborhood with Maxine Easom

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