Shields-Etheridge Farm

Set on 610 acres of rolling piedmont land along the Middle Oconee River southwest of Jefferson, Georgia, this farm complex preserves nearly a century of agricultural and industrial life. The main house, built in 1866 as a two-story plantation plain dwelling, was later given a Neoclassical Revival porch and other additions. Around it are a three-story concrete cotton gin from 1910, a grist mill, blacksmith shop, commissary, warehouse, water tower, barns and crop houses. Tenant houses, a second family homeplace, two cemeteries and a two-room schoolhouse with a teacher's residence complete the grounds. The school was first built for white children and later served Black students until the 1950s. Many buildings used decorative concrete blocks made in Jefferson by a relative of the owner. The farm is significant for its continuous agricultural and industrial operation, its intact and varied buildings, and its surviving working landscape and ornamental yard. The period of significance runs from 1834 to 1942.