Jackson Hill Historic District

Jackson Hill Historic District occupies two adjoining wooded hills northeast of downtown Rome, Georgia, the higher rising 809 feet above sea level. Three separate layers of history share the site. In 1863-64, local citizens dug earthen fortifications here as part of Rome's defenses, and many trenches remain largely undisturbed. From 1892 into the late 1930s the city built a reservoir, brick filter building and chemical feed house as part of its second waterworks system. In 1935-37 Works Progress Administration crews added a rustic stone community clubhouse, winding roads, stone bridges, an amphitheater, walls and an Irish rock garden, with stonework supervised by master mason Antonio J. Cescutti. The filter plant closed in 1940 and the reservoir in 1967, and park use ended in the late 1960s. The district was recognized for its military, engineering, architectural, recreational and governmental importance, and the clubhouse remains in social use.