{"nrhp_refnum":"78000978","name":"Banks, Ralph, Place","other_names":["Coldwater Plantation"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N of Elberton off GA 77","address_restricted":false,"city":"Elberton","county":"Elbert County","state":"GA","lat":34.228605550000054,"lon":-82.8593396227193,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-05-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame plantation house, known as Coldwater Plantation, in rural Elbert County near Elberton, Georgia, built by Ralph Banks, who settled the area in 1785. The construction date is uncertain, with estimates from 1788 to 1800.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is of statewide architectural and historical importance. It is one of the oldest and most unusual houses in Georgia, with a jerkin head roof, a large four-room central hall plan and diaper-pattern brick chimneys, all rare for the period. It is also the birthplace of Dr. Richard Banks, for whom Banks County was named, and it remains a remnant of a large, self-sustaining cotton and tobacco plantation.","narrative":"Coldwater Plantation, also called the Ralph Banks Place, is a two-story frame house in rural Elbert County, Georgia. Ralph Banks settled the fertile land between the Savannah and Broad Rivers in 1785, and the house was probably built between 1788 and 1800. It has a central hall and four rooms on each floor, front and rear shed porches, and a jerkin head gable roof. The brick chimneys carry a diaper pattern of glazed headers, a feature rare in Georgia, with similar examples nearby. The four-over-four plan was unusually large for its time and place. Banks became one of the region's wealthiest cotton and tobacco planters, and his 1824 estate inventory lists 63 slaves, a tannery, a sawmill and a blacksmith shop. His son Richard, a surgeon, was born here, and Banks County was later named for him. Local tradition links the house to a 1788 Methodist conference, but the nomination doubts this claim. Two nineteenth-century outbuildings stand behind the house.","period_of_significance":"1700-1799","architect_builder":"Ralph Banks","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in good to excellent condition, with modern bathrooms added; used by Banks descendants on weekends and for family reunions.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:40.114338-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/78000978.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93207925","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/elbert-county/banks-ralph-place-78000978/"}