Gay, Mary, House
Why it's listed
Built around 1850 at 524 Marshall Street in downtown Decatur, this frame house began as a one-story Classical style dwelling with a central temple-form portico. Around the turn of the 20th century it was reoriented to face Marshall Street and given a jerkin head roof, bracketed eaves and a partial porch that reuses two of the original columns. Inside, the parlor keeps an Adam style mantel with sunburst designs, along with wide flooring, simple moldings and a closet with a carpenter lock. It is one of very few pre-Civil War buildings left in the Decatur area. Mary Ann Harris Gay lived here for more than sixty years. She wrote four books, including Life in Dixie During the War, which recounts Union cavalry occupying her property in 1864. Two 19th-century outbuildings remain to the west. At the time of listing the house stood unoccupied and was threatened by encroaching commercial development.
Significance in brief: It is one of very few surviving pre-Civil War buildings in the Decatur area. It has notable mid-19th-century interior details, including mantels, a carpenter lock and a closet. It was also the home for over sixty years of Mary Ann Harris Gay, a local historian and author who wrote an eyewitness account of Decatur 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 75002072, listed May 6, 1975. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 716 W. Trinity Pl., Decatur |
|---|---|
| County | DeKalb County |
| Listed | May 6, 1975 |
| Reference number | 75002072 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 19th Century (c.1850) |
| Architectural style | Classical (originally simple Classical style frame structure, later altered) |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Described as unoccupied, in fair condition and altered, with the house at risk of removal or demolition. Later material describes a plan to relocate it to Adair Park. |
| Acreage | 0.5 |
| Within district | Decatur Downtown Historic District |
| Coordinates | 33.77623, -84.29833 (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.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
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 75002072.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q43079659
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.