Lathemtown Historic District, George W. and Marie H. Lathem House, 11530 Cumming Highway (State Route 20), Lathemtown

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

The George W. and Marie H. Lathem House is located at Cumming Highway/State Route 20 (SR 20) in Cherokee County, Georgia. The resource sits on the west side of the highway and stands just east of Orange Church Circle. The house is located at latitude: longitude: This point was taken from the center of the 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-F. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The George W. and Marie H. Lathem House is a contributing resource to the Lathemtown Historic District. The early twentieth-century residence supports Lathemtown s significance as an intact, rural historic district. The house stands 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-F. 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 Lathem Family Rental House will be demolished. 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 format photography) was prepared in accordance with the stipulations of the MOA.

Description: The George W. and Marie H. Lathem House stands on the south side of SR 20 to the east of the highway s intersection with the western end of Orange Church LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, GEORGE W. AND MARIE H. LATHEM HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-F (Page 2) Circle. The house is oriented to the north and is the only resource on its lot (Figure 3). The single-story frame residence rests on a raised brick foundation and is rectangular in plan. The frame vernacular building stands three-bays wide at its front (north) facade and is clad in original German siding with wooden cornerboards. It is topped with a side-gabled, asphalt-shingle roof featuring exposed rafter tails. A pedimented portico rests on a raised brick foundation and is centered on the building s front (north) facade.

The portico is supported by replacement wood posts and features German siding in its gable. The portico is accessed via poured concrete steps extending to its east. Beneath the portico rests the house s primary entrance: an original wood door featuring four rectangular lights at its top and three recessed panels below. Flanking the door on either side, but lying outside the shelter of the portico, are original six-over- six, double-hung, wood-sash windows. They retain their original wood surrounds. Like the building s primary (north) facade, the building s secondary facades are simple in their design. Two openings are symmetrically placed on the house s eastern (side) facade.

The southernmost opening holds a door of the same type as the front door, and the facade s northernmost opening holds a window of the same type as the front (north) facade. Another window of the same type is found on the building s western facade, opposite the eastern window, and is the facade s only opening. The building s rear (south) features two large openings. One holds a paired set of six-over-six, double-hung, wood-sash windows. The second opening has been boarded, but likely once held a second window unit of the same type (Figure 4). The early twentieth-century residence retains its original footprint and has not incurred any additions over time. History: The George W. and Marie Lathem House was likely built by the Lathem family as a rental house.

The family owned a number of rental houses in Lathemtown in the and which they rented to family members and others. 1 The house s first occupants may have been Marie H. and George W. Lathem, Sr. In George was living with his parents, E. Marvin and Georgia Lathem, on the south side of the Cumming Highway in Lathemtown at Cumming Highway. Ten years later, the census places George and his wife, Marie both of whom were still teenagers on this 1 Mary Helen Cissell, Living, Laughing and Loving in Old Lathemtown (Orange, GA: Orange United Methodist Women, 35, 59, LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, GEORGE W. AND MARIE H. LATHEM HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-F (Page 3) property.

The order of the census indicates they were living in a rental house next door to the home of George s aunt and uncle, Charlie and Ethel Lathem, which still stands one parcel to the east at Cumming Highway. In George worked as a salesman at W.A. Lathem and Sons general store across the road, which was run by his father and uncles, Charlie and Jack Lathem. In George and Marie owned their own home some distance from those of his parents and aunt and uncle. It was in Lathemtown, however, and George continued to work at the general store. 2 A larger principal dwelling once stood upon this parcel, immediately to the east of the rental house. Its appearance and construction date were not identified.

It is visible on the earliest legible aerial photograph of the area, taken in 3 Later aerial photography indicates it was demolished ca. This house s builders are not known, but the deed record suggests it was constructed by George and Marie Lathem or their son, George W. Lathem, Jr. In Lathem, Jr. transferred the property to his brother-in-law and older sister, John R. and Martha Lathem Holbrook, who lived in a house still standing on the west end of Lathemtown at Cumming Highway. 4

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

Atlanta Constitution. Marie H. Lathem. Death Notice. October 26, hem&match=2. Cherokee County Clerk of Court Office, Canton. Deed Book Page Cissell, Mary Helen. Living Laughing and Loving in Old Lathemtown. Orange, GA: Orange United Methodist Church, Google Earth. Historic Aerials: address. Electronic Resource. Accessed date via Google Earth Desktop Application. Netronline. Historic Aerials: Cumming Highway. Internet Search Engine. Accessed September 2 U.S Census Bureau, and Federal Censuses. 3 Historic Aerials, aerials, (images) aerial image search of Cumming Highway, Netronline, accessed September 4 Google Earth, aerial (image), aerial images search of Cumming Highway, Google Earth Desktop Application, September Cherokee County Deed Book 146/Page 591 Marie H.

Lathem, Death Notice, Atlanta Constitution, October 26, accessed September LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, GEORGE W. AND MARIE H. LATHEM HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-F (Page 4) United States Bureau of the Census. United States Federal Census. Accessed June-August, https://www.ancestry.com/. LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, GEORGE W. AND MARIE H. LATHEM HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-F (Page 5) Supplemental Materials 1. Figures Georgia GIO State Imagery September Figure 1: George W. and Marie Lathem House District Locator Map. LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, GEORGE W. AND MARIE H. LATHEM HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-F (Page 6) Figure 2: George W. and Marie Lathem House Site Map. LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, GEORGE W. AND MARIE H. LATHEM HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-F (Page 7) Figure 3: Oblique view of George W.

and Marie Lathem House, north (front) and east (side) facades. View looking southwest. (Photograph by Sarah Potere, July LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, GEORGE W. AND MARIE H. LATHEM HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-F (Page 8) Figure 4: George W. and Marie Lathem House east (side) facade. View looking west. (Photograph by Sarah Potere, July