East Robert Toombs Historic District

East Robert Toombs Avenue in Washington, Georgia, between Alexander Avenue and Grove Street, forms a tree-lined district of about 17 acres. Most buildings are ante-bellum houses with Federal and Greek Revival details, set in spacious grounds under large oaks, cedars and magnolias. The district runs from the Washington Presbyterian Church to the Washington-Wilkes Historical Museum, and includes the Robert Toombs House, the Dyson House, the Hillhouse-Wood House (begun in 1814) and a later Episcopal church built after an 1895 fire. Later Victorian and early twentieth-century additions fit the older scale and materials. The district was recognized for its architectural cohesiveness and for associations with Robert Toombs, a Confederate-era political figure, with Speaker Isaiah T. Irvin, and with early Presbyterian history in Georgia. The area was once known as Gilbertsville, after land sold as home sites before 1821.