Ayers-Little Boarding House
Also known as: The Little Coffee Shop
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
Standing at the southeast corner of the courthouse square in Carnesville, this sprawling frame house began around 1840 as a house and tavern. In 1860 Jeremiah Ayers bought it along with a neighboring post office and joined the two with a breezeway. After his death in 1885, his widow Louisa and daughter Lizzie began taking in boarders, and the family lived in the basement while renting out the rooms above. Lizzie later married Robert Leland Little. Around 1930 the couple renovated the house, dividing the attic into three dormer-lit bedrooms and moving the family coffee shop into the old post office wing. Boarders included doctors, lawyers, and teachers and students from the Tugaloo Institute. Lizzie Little ran the boarding house and coffee shop, and edited the Carnesville Herald, until her death in 1963. It is the last of the small historic businesses that once lined the square, and it illustrates how a boarding house could provide women with respectable work and housing.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues it is an excellent example of a late-19th- and early-20th-century boarding house, altered in the 1930s to hold a restaurant and more boarders. It was an important business on the courthouse square serving boarders and local residents. It also reflects women's history, since boarding houses were among the few businesses open to women, and Lizzie Little ran it until 1963.
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 08000292, listed April 16, 2008. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 121 Athens St., Carnesville |
|---|---|
| County | Franklin County |
| Listed | April 16, 2008 |
| Reference number | 08000292 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1885-1963 |
| Architect / builder | Unknown |
| Architectural style | Other: Side-gable dwelling |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Commerce, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Current function is listed as a single dwelling; a family member resided in the house until 2007. |
| Acreage | 2.7 |
| Coordinates | 34.36933, -83.23299 (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 08000292.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q134305065
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.