Felton, Rebecca Latimer, House
Approximate location: the National Park Service places this pin arbitrarily within the property, not at a surveyed point (stated accuracy ±12 m).
Why it's listed
This one-and-a-half story frame house north of Cartersville, Georgia, dates to about 1853 and was home to Rebecca Latimer Felton until 1905. Five bays wide with a gable roof, it has a one-bay entrance porch with a plain pediment, corbeled exterior chimneys, and a kitchen ell added at the rear. Inside, the two front rooms have paneled wainscoting and simple mantels. Felton, with her husband William Harrell Felton, worked in Georgia politics, wrote and spoke widely, and campaigned for women's rights, temperance and penal reform. In 1922 she became the first woman sworn in as a United States senator. The nomination states that the house is the only known surviving structure linked to her adult life. It also describes the house as a surviving antebellum plantation plain home in an area heavily damaged during the Civil War. The Feltons left it largely unaltered, and at the time of nomination tenants lived there.
Significance in brief: The house was the home of Rebecca Latimer Felton from 1853 to 1905, and she became the first woman sworn in as a U.S. senator in 1922. The nomination calls it the only known surviving structure tied to her adult life. It is also cited as a surviving antebellum plantation plain house in an area devastated by Federal troops during the Civil War.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 79000697, listed January 31, 1979. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | N of Cartersville off U.S. 411, Cartersville |
|---|---|
| County | Bartow County |
| Listed | January 31, 1979 |
| Reference number | 79000697 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 |
| Architectural style | Plantation plain style |
| Areas of significance | Politics/Government, Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | National |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Occupied by tenants at the time of nomination, who made cosmetic and functional alterations such as boarding up the fireplaces and covering walls in the left rear room. All outbuildings date from the 20th century. |
| Acreage | 0.1 |
| Coordinates | 34.20615, -84.79827 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 79000697.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.