Fowler Family Farm

Southwest of Cumming in fast-growing Forsyth County, Georgia, this ten-acre farm preserves a complete early-20th-century agricultural setting. Alonzo Fowler, a successful farmer, built the one-and-a-half-story Craftsman bungalow in 1922 along with a smokehouse, horse and mule barn, and corncrib and cowshed. A 1933 renter's house and outhouses housed farm workers. As cotton faltered under the boll weevil and the Great Depression, the Fowlers turned to chickens, cattle and pasture. In 1945 Fowler built an experimental two-story chicken house, which proved impractical, and in 1947 he added two long one-story chicken houses set farther from the home. The property was listed for its agricultural importance, showing the diversification of Georgia farming, and for its architecture, including the intact house and outbuildings. Forsyth County bought the land in 2001 and plans to rehabilitate the buildings as a passive park with displays on farm life.