Gilbert, Jeremiah S., House
Also known as: Gilbert House
Why it's listed
Built around 1866 on Perkerson Road in Southwest Atlanta, this two-story farmhouse was raised by Jeremiah S. Gilbert after he returned from Confederate service to find his home destroyed. Short of building supplies, he used materials from his own farm. The first-floor walls are fieldstone set in a mortar of clay and sand, built up in wooden forms about twelve inches at a time, while the upper story is weatherboard. Rough wooden lintels over the rear porch windows reflect the same resourcefulness. The family remodeled the interior in the 1930s, adding a dormer roof and dividing the upstairs into four rooms. The house is valued as one of the few Reconstruction-era structures in Southwest Atlanta to survive urban growth, and for its record of postwar rural building methods. Gilbert's descendants lived there until 1968, and the City of Atlanta bought the property in 1971. The house has been vacant since then, and part of the land is now Avery Park.
Significance in brief: The house is one of few Reconstruction-era structures in Southwest Atlanta to survive urban growth. Its first-floor walls of fieldstone and clay-and-sand mortar, poured in wooden forms, show how rural Georgians built with farm materials when supplies were scarce after the Civil War. It is also tied to Jeremiah Gilbert and his prominent Atlanta family.
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 80001075, listed April 17, 1980. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 2238 Perkerson Rd., SW, Atlanta |
|---|---|
| County | Fulton County |
| Listed | April 17, 1980 |
| Reference number | 80001075 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | c. 1866 |
| Architect / builder | Jeremiah S. Gilbert |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Owned by the City of Atlanta since 1971 and vacant since then; windows are boarded up. Part of the land is used as Avery Park. |
| Acreage | 11.3 |
| Coordinates | 33.69334, -84.41048 (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 80001075.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q18150762
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.