Shankle, Seaborn M., House
Why it's listed
Located on Cherry Street in Commerce, Georgia, this two-story house combines two building campaigns. A plain-style section with two rooms and one fireplace was built in the late 1840s. In the late 1870s a square Italianate block was added to its west end, with a low-pitch roof, wide eaves with brackets, and a central door with sidelights. Inside, the addition keeps a traditional central-hall plan rather than an Italianate layout. A smokehouse and a Shankle family cemetery with a cast-iron fence share the 1.3-acre site. Seaborn M. Shankle, who built the house, ran one of the first stores in Harmony Grove, as the town was then called. With two other local leaders he backed railroad stock that brought the Northeastern Railroad to the town rather than to rival Jefferson. The resulting commercial growth led residents to rename the community Commerce in 1904. The house reflects both this local business history and a rural take on Italianate style.
Significance in brief: The house is significant for its architecture, as a rural, simplified version of the Italianate style that keeps a traditional floor plan and attaches the new block to an older house. It is also tied to commercial history through builder Seaborn M. Shankle, an early merchant in Harmony Grove. He helped secure the Northeastern Railroad line for the town, which fueled the growth that led to the 1904 renaming as Commerce.
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 79000732, listed November 29, 1979. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 125 Cherry St, Commerce |
|---|---|
| County | Jackson County |
| Listed | November 29, 1979 |
| Reference number | 79000732 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | late 1840s and 1870s |
| Architect / builder | Unknown (built by Seaborn M. Shankle, per the statement of significance) |
| Architectural style | Italianate addition to a plain-style structure |
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as unoccupied at nomination; the form says the smokehouse is vacant and the owner planned to use the house as an overnight inn. The house was divided into apartments briefly in the 1940s and later returned to its original design. |
| Acreage | 1.3 |
| Coordinates | 34.20261, -83.45499 (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 79000732.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q85800095
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.