{"nrhp_refnum":"78000977","name":"Swanton House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"720 Swanton Way","address_restricted":false,"city":"Decatur","county":"DeKalb County","state":"GA","lat":33.77213820600008,"lon":-84.30515351599996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-08-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Military","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1 1/2 story, four-room, central hall Plantation Plain house in Decatur, DeKalb County, Georgia, begun about 1825 and enlarged by Benjamin Swanton in 1852. It was moved in 1968 from Atlanta Avenue to 720 Swanton Way.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the oldest extant building in Decatur and the most important surviving building tied to the city's early history. It is a fine example of Plantation Plain style and is linked to the Swanton family, who were prominent industrialists. It also served as Federal army headquarters during the Civil War in July 1864.","narrative":"Swanton House is a modest 1 1/2 story Plantation Plain dwelling in Decatur, Georgia, with a central hall and four main rooms. Its oldest portion is a log structure reputedly built in the 1820s by early settler Ammi Williams. In 1852 Benjamin Franklin Swanton, a New Hampshire native who became one of Decatur's leading industrialists, bought the house and added rooms, an interior fireplace and a one-story front portico. His businesses included a cotton gin, sawmill, gristmill, brickyard, tanyard and machine shop. In July 1864 the house served as headquarters for General Thomas W. Sweeney of the Federal Army of the Tennessee during the advance toward Atlanta. Threatened by urban renewal in 1968, it was moved a few hundred feet to land once owned by the Swanton family, then restored to its c. 1850 look using structural evidence, family recollections and an early watercolor. It is listed as the oldest surviving building in Decatur.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Ammi Williams","architectural_style":"Plantation Plain","criteria":[],"status_note":"Moved in 1968 to avoid urban renewal demolition and restored to its c. 1850 appearance; owned by the DeKalb Historical Society.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:40.221951-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/78000977.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000977/f94275dfc7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000977/f94275dfc7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"strixxvaria","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swanton_House_02.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">strixxvaria</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swanton_House_02.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93207816","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swanton_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q39054288"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/dekalb-county/swanton-house-78000977/"}