Lathemtown Historic District, Jessie D. and W. Herbert Lathem Sr. House, 11546 Cumming Highway (State Route 20), Lathemtown

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA-2445-E. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Jessie D. and W. Herbert Lathem Sr. House was located at Cumming Highway/State Route 20 (SR 20) in Cherokee County, Georgia. The resource stood on the south side of the highway, just east of Orange Church Circle. The house was located at latitude: longitude: This point was taken from the center of the Jessie D. and W. Herbert Lathem Sr. House. It was obtained on September 10, using Google Earth There is no restriction on its release to the public.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA-2445-E. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Jessie D. and W. Herbert Lathem Sr. House was a contributing resource to the Lathemtown Historic District. The early twentieth-century residence supported Lathemtown s significance as an intact, rural historic district. The house stood as a representation of the agricultural community s continued growth and development during the first half of the twentieth century. See the Lathemtown Historic District (HABS No. GA-2445) overview for further discussion of overall district significance. Historians: Marvin Brown, M.A., Senior Architectural Historian, AECOM Sarah Potere, Architectural Historian, AECOM Report Completed October

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA-2445-E. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Georgia Department of Transportation is implementing plans to widen State Route 20 from two to six lanes between Scott Road (near Canton) and North Corners Parkway (near Cumming). The project corridor spans approximately miles and falls within Cherokee and Forsyth Counties. As a result of this roadway expansion, all or part of the Jessie D. and W. Herbert Lathem Sr. House would be demolished; however, the house was removed by its current owners prior to the roadway expansion. Mitigation efforts were explored and a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was developed between the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the Georgia Department of Transportation, and the Georgia State Historic Preservation Officer.

This Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) documentation (historical narrative report and large LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, JESSIE D. AND W. HERBERT LATHEM SR. HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-E (Page 2) format photography) was prepared in accordance with the stipulations of the MOA. Description: The Jessie D. and W. Herbert Lathem Sr. House stood on the south side of SR 20 midway between the eastern and western intersections of Orange Church Circle with the highway. The house was oriented to the north and was the only resource on its lot. It was demolished in July Dating to the early twentieth-century, the single-story, frame American Small House stood one-story tall. Its main block was four bays wide at its facade and rectangular in plan.

A side-gabled, asphalt-shingle roof topped the building and its exterior was clad with vinyl siding. A small, single-bay, side-gabled block extended from both the building s eastern and western ends (Figure 3 through Figure 5). Enclosed between the eastern and main blocks of the house was an interior brick chimney. The building s primary entrance was located off-center on its north (front) facade and sheltered by a single-bay pedimented portico. Two square, wood posts supported the portico and featured carved square bands at their top, middle, and base. Small pilasters, resembling turned pickets, adorned the columns and spanned the distance between the middle and base square bands. A wooden-lattice screen rested at the pediment s peak, and vinyl siding cladded the area below.

The remaining four bays on the north (front) facade held paired one-over-one, double-hung, vinyl windows. The windows varied in size and were all replacement units set in aluminum surrounds and flanked by false shutters. The residence s rear (south) facade held both a paired set and two single windows of this type that were asymmetrically placed on the facade. The building s western elevation was defined by the single-bay, side-gabled block. This block included a secondary building entrance which held a door of the same type as the front.

A band of three one-over-one, double-hung, vinyl windows pierced the western facade and a shed-roof porch, which was an addition, extended to the north, sheltering the secondary entrance and small one-over-one vinyl window which sat perpendicular to the door. The building s eastern facade was not visible at the time of survey due to vegetative overgrowth. History: This house s appearance and history suggest it was erected in the County tax records assign it a construction date of Its earliest known and likely original occupants were William Herbert Lathem, Sr. who was called Herbert, and his wife, Jessie (n e Dean) Lathem In Herbert lived with his parents, Ethel and Charlie Lathem, in their home immediately east of this dwelling.

He was 17 years old and worked as a salesman LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, JESSIE D. AND W. HERBERT LATHEM SR. HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-E (Page 3) with his father and uncles at the W.A. Lathem and Sons general store across the road.1 By Jessie and Herbert were married and renting this house from his parents. That year s census places them next door to Ethel and Charlie. Taken in April, the census continued to identify Herbert as a general store merchant. However, his World War II draft registration card, signed in November states he was employed by the county school superintendent, suggesting that he had become a teacher.2 The renting and rental of houses by members of the Lathem family in Lathemtown was not uncommon. Leila Y. Lathem, the wife of Ray W. Lathem, Sr.

one of Herbert s brothers recalled their living arrangements after their marriage: We lived with his [Ray s] parents [Charlie and Ethel] for a few months until one of the rental houses in Lathemtown became vacant. Ray s family had a lot of rental houses and they also had the general store in Lathemtown where the furniture store is now. 3 Another example of a Lathem renting to a family member is the house at 152 Orange Church Circle (GA-2445-B), which Lizzie and Jack Lathem Charlie s brother rented to their daughter and son-in-law, and then to their granddaughter and her husband, in the late and Herbert Lathem died in Jessie Lathem in In William H. Lathem, Jr, through his executorship of his mother s estate, received individual title to the house.

An affidavit of possession, filed in by Julie Lathem Smith the daughter of Susan L. and William H. Lathem, Jr. attested to the long-term ownership of the house and its tract by her grandparents and father. The house left family hands, likely for the first time, that same year.5 It was demolished in July 1 Cherokee County Board of Tax Assessors, Property Record Search of Cumming Hw; U.S. Bureau of the Census, Federal Census. 2 U.S. Bureau of the Census, Federal Censuses; U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, Herbert Lathem, accessed June https://www.ancestry.com/. 3 Mary Helen Cissell, Living, Laughing and Loving in Old Lathemtown (Orange, GA: Orange United Methodist Women, 59.

4 Cissell, Living, Laughing, Loving in Old Lathemtown, 5 Lathem, Obituary, Atlanta Constitution, July 29, accessed April Jessie Dean Lathem, Obituary, Atlanta Constitution, November 16, accessed April %20lathem&match=1; Cherokee County Deed Book 9090/Page 60 Deed Book 12861/Page 353 and Deed Book 12861/Page 355 LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, JESSIE D. AND W. HERBERT LATHEM SR. HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-E (Page 4)

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA-2445-E. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Atlanta Constitution. Lathem. Obituary. July 29, Accessed April Jessie Dean Lathem. Obituary. November 16, Accessed April s=jessie%20dean %20lathem&match=1. Cherokee County Board of Tax Assessors. Property Records Search for Cumming Hw. Accessed April /?viewer=taxparcels. Cherokee County Clerk of Court Office, Canton. Deed Book Page 60, Deed Book Page Deed Book Page United States Bureau of the Census. United States Federal Census. Accessed April https://www.ancestry.com/. U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, Herbert Lathem. Accessed June https://www.ancestry.com/. LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, JESSIE D. AND W. HERBERT LATHEM SR. HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-E (Page 5) Supplemental Materials 1. Figures Georgia GIO State Imagery September Figure 1: Jessie D. and W. Herbert Lathem Sr.

House District Locator Map. LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, JESSIE D. AND W. HERBERT LATHEM SR. HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-E (Page 6) Figure 2: Jessie D. and W. Herbert Lathem Sr. House Site Map. LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, JESSIE D. AND W. HERBERT LATHEM SR. HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-E (Page 7) Figure 3: Oblique view of House, north (front) and east (side) facades. View looking southwest. (Photograph by Sarah Potere, July LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, JESSIE D. AND W. HERBERT LATHEM SR. HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-E (Page 8) Figure 4: House north (front) facade. View looking south. (Photograph by Sarah Potere, July LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, JESSIE D. AND W. HERBERT LATHEM SR. HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-E (Page 9) Figure 5: Oblique view of House, north (front) and west (side) facades.

View looking southeast. (Photograph by Sarah Potere, July LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, JESSIE D. AND W. HERBERT LATHEM SR. HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-E (Page 10) Figure 6: House west (side) facade. View looking southeast. (Photograph by Sarah Potere, July LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, JESSIE D. AND W. HERBERT LATHEM SR. HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-E (Page 11) Figure 7: House south (rear) facade. View looking north. (Photograph by Sarah Potere, July