{"nrhp_refnum":"79000732","name":"Shankle, Seaborn M., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"125 Cherry St","address_restricted":false,"city":"Commerce","county":"Jackson County","state":"GA","lat":34.202613315000065,"lon":-83.45498847899995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-11-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story house with family cemetery and smokehouse on 1.3 acres at 125 Cherry Street in Commerce (formerly Harmony Grove), Jackson County, Georgia. A plain-style section dates to the late 1840s, with an Italianate addition built in the late 1870s.","why_significant":"The house is significant for its architecture, as a rural, simplified version of the Italianate style that keeps a traditional floor plan and attaches the new block to an older house. It is also tied to commercial history through builder Seaborn M. Shankle, an early merchant in Harmony Grove. He helped secure the Northeastern Railroad line for the town, which fueled the growth that led to the 1904 renaming as Commerce.","narrative":"Located on Cherry Street in Commerce, Georgia, this two-story house combines two building campaigns. A plain-style section with two rooms and one fireplace was built in the late 1840s. In the late 1870s a square Italianate block was added to its west end, with a low-pitch roof, wide eaves with brackets, and a central door with sidelights. Inside, the addition keeps a traditional central-hall plan rather than an Italianate layout. A smokehouse and a Shankle family cemetery with a cast-iron fence share the 1.3-acre site. Seaborn M. Shankle, who built the house, ran one of the first stores in Harmony Grove, as the town was then called. With two other local leaders he backed railroad stock that brought the Northeastern Railroad to the town rather than to rival Jefferson. The resulting commercial growth led residents to rename the community Commerce in 1904. The house reflects both this local business history and a rural take on Italianate style.","period_of_significance":"late 1840s and 1870s","architect_builder":"Unknown (built by Seaborn M. Shankle, per the statement of significance)","architectural_style":"Italianate addition to a plain-style structure","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as unoccupied at nomination; the form says the smokehouse is vacant and the owner planned to use the house as an overnight inn. The house was divided into apartments briefly in the 1940s and later returned to its original design.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:40.978834-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/79000732.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93208706","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaborn_M._Shankle_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85800095"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/jackson-county/shankle-seaborn-m-house-79000732/"}