Pearson-Boyer Plantation

Pearson-Boyer Plantation is a rural farm complex near Sparta in Hancock County, Georgia. Its main house was begun in 1854 and finished the next year for Stephen Pearson Jr. and his wife Iwanona, using enslaved labor and timber from the family's own sawmill. The one-story, central-hall house is flanked by two detached wing rooms joined by a U-shaped front porch, a layout described as unusual in Georgia. Inside, the parlor has a plaster ceiling medallion and marbled baseboards, and many original planks, pegged beams and porcelain doorknobs survive. Surviving barns, a store, a carriage house and a privy, along with sites of other outbuildings, show how a self-sufficient cotton and corn farm operated. James Madison Boyer bought the land in 1894 to keep the Pearsons in their home, and farming continued until 1937. Archaeological remains of an earlier mill and dam also lie on the property. The district was listed for its architecture and its agricultural history.