{"nrhp_refnum":"99000412","name":"Smith and Douglas Family Houses","other_names":["Edwards Estate","Smith Homeplace"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"MacJohnson Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cassville","county":"Bartow County","state":"GA","lat":34.234406628000045,"lon":-84.84584396499997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-04-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Black"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small rural district of two vernacular frame houses facing each other across MacJohnson Road in the southern part of Cassville, Bartow County, Georgia: the ca. 1892 Smith House (saddlebag) and the ca. 1901 Douglas House (pyramidal cottage variant).","why_significant":"The houses are argued to be rare documented rural dwellings built and owned by African-American families, representing the move from slavery to land ownership in a region dominated by sharecropping and tenancy. The property stayed in one family for over 100 years. They are also good, intact examples of the saddlebag and pyramidal cottage house types common among rural African Americans in Georgia.","narrative":"Two modest frame houses face each other across MacJohnson Road in Cassville, Georgia. The Smith House, built about 1892, began as a two-room saddlebag with a central chimney and was later enlarged for a growing family. The Douglas House, from about 1901, is a variant of the pyramidal cottage with a steep hipped roof and a four-room plan without a hallway. Both stand on land first bought in 1875 by Charles Edwards, a former slave who worked as a teacher, preacher and farmer. His descendants, the Douglas and Smith families, farmed the land, raised livestock and kept it in the family for more than a century. In a region where sharecropping and tenant farming were common, the houses show African-American independence and property ownership. They are among the first rural African-American resources documented in Georgia. Although covered with artificial siding, they keep their form, windows, doors, floor plans and many interior details.","period_of_significance":"1892-1945","architect_builder":"unknown","architectural_style":"Vernacular: saddlebag; Vernacular: pyramidal cottage","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Both houses remain in use as single dwellings. They have vinyl or artificial siding that closely replicates the original, and one nonhistoric ranch house is on the property.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:43.045475-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/99000412.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93206960","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/bartow-county/smith-and-douglas-family-houses-99000412/"}