Rocksprings Shotgun Row Historic District
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Why it's listed
Six small shotgun houses stand side by side along Rocksprings Street in Athens, Georgia, all built around 1925. Each is one story, one room wide and about three rooms deep, with a front-gable metal roof, weatherboard siding, a simple shed porch and original six-over-six windows. Inside, tongue-and-groove boards cover the walls and ceilings, and plain mantels and moldings survive. Small rear or side additions mostly hold bathrooms. The houses were built from inexpensive materials to shelter low-income Black laborers, likely including domestic workers for the grand homes along nearby Milledge Avenue. A 1926 Sanborn map places the row near African-American churches. The row is the only intact cluster of shotgun houses left in an area that has changed dramatically. Only 55 shotgun or double-shotgun buildings turned up among 1,600 surveyed properties in Athens-Clarke County, so the group was listed for its architecture and its link to the city's African-American working-class history.
Significance in brief: The district is an intact grouping of a rare urban building type, the shotgun house, of which only 55 of 1,600 surveyed Athens-Clarke County properties were identified. It is also tied to African-American working-class history, since the houses were built for Black laborers, many of whom likely worked for households on nearby Milledge Avenue. It was judged significant under Criteria A and C at the local level.
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 96000875, listed August 23, 1996. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 433--447 Rocksprings St., Athens |
|---|---|
| County | Clarke County |
| Listed | August 23, 1996 |
| Reference number | 96000875 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | c.1925 |
| Architectural style | No Style: Vernacular (shotgun house type) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Black |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Historic and current function is single dwelling; the houses were recently restored, with Bricktex siding removed from three of them. |
| Acreage | 1 |
| Within district | West Cloverhurst Avenue Historic District |
| Coordinates | 33.94746, -83.39121 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
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 96000875.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q141741514
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.