Lathemtown Historic District, Martha L. and John R. Holbrook House, 11520 Cumming Highway (State Route 20), Lathemtown

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

The Martha L. and John R. Holbrook House is located at Cumming Highway/State Route 20 (SR 20) in Cherokee County, Georgia. The resource sits on the south 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 Martha L. and John R. Holbrook 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-G. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Martha L. and John R. Holbrook House is a contributing resource to the Lathemtown Historic District. The mid 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-G. 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 Martha L. and John R. Holbrook 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. LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, MARTHA L. AND JOHN R. HOLBROOK HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-G (Page 2) Description: The Martha L. and John R. Holbrook House stands on the south side of SR 20 directly east of the highway s intersection with the western end of Orange Church Circle. The house is oriented to the north and features a large setback from SR 20. It is the only resource on its lot. Constructed in the single-story Compact Ranch house is square in plan and stands four-bays wide at its front (north) facade. It is of wood-frame construction and topped with a side-gable, asphalt-shingle roof.

The house rests on a continuous concrete-block foundation, which is visible at its southern and western facades revealing a partially exposed basement level. The single-family residence features a variety of cladding materials. At its front (north) facade, vertical wood sheathing and brick veneer equally clad the facade s top and bottom halves. The remaining three facades are covered with original German siding. Vertical board siding, scalloped at its ends, clads either end-gable and is topped by triangular wooden vents. A two-bay, integrated porch is located at the eastern end of the north (front) facade. It is supported by turned wooden posts, which appear to be late twentieth/early twenty-first-century replacements.

The posts rest upon a wooden porch deck which sits atop the building s continuous brick foundation. A triangular wood bracket featuring a floral motif is affixed to the porch s front (northwest) corner. The building s primary entrance rests beneath the porch and is comprised of a wood-slab door featuring nine rectangular lights above with two raised wood panels below. The door appears to be original and is fronted by a wooden screen door. Flanking the doorway to its east is a large 16-divided light picture window which retains its original wood muntins and window surround. Two additional openings are found on the front (north) facade and are located to the west of the primary entrance, outside the bounds of the integral porch.

These include two, eight-over-eight, double-hung, wood-sash windows which are slightly different in size (Figure 3). Both openings, however, retain original wood surrounds and are flanked by fixed, louvered, wooden shutters. Two windows of the same type are placed off-centered on the building s eastern (side) facade. Two windows of the same type are additionally found centrally placed on the building s western (side) facade. A pair of small, rectangular, sliding windows rests beneath each of these openings at the building s basement level. Two more windows, eight-over-eight, double-hung, wood-sash units, are also found at the building s southern (rear) facade. Like the front (north) facade, these openings differ in their size.

Resting beneath the larger of the two windows, at the basement level on the facade s western end, is a paneled fiberglass door, which is replacement. A square, single-light opening is also found at basement level to the east of the door. LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, MARTHA L. AND JOHN R. HOLBROOK HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-G (Page 3) A shed-roof, porch extends from the building s southeastern corner. The single- block appendage rests on a concrete-block foundation and appears to be original or an early addition to the building as historic aerials show it in place by Large, screened openings punctuate the sides of the porch, beneath which rests wooden weatherboards. Vertical board siding with scalloped ends clad the space above the windows on the porch s eastern and western facades.

A wood-frame screen door is found on the porch s eastern facade. History: In George W. Lathem, Sr. sold this property to his daughter, Martha and son-in-law, John Rudolph Holbrook for Tax records date the house s construction to The relatively low price of the property, the date of transfer, and the house s appearance suggest this date is accurate. According to the census, Martha had grown up in Lathemtown and John the son of John R. and Flora Holbrook was raised in the nearby community of Settendown.2 John and Martha met at a high school basketball game in nearby Free Home. In she recalled: We started dating after that. My parents thought he was a good man. He was a school teacher in Forsyth County at Friendship Elementary School.

He went through his basic training and then we got married in just before he left for overseas. He was in the Korean War. 3 While he was overseas, Martha worked for the Capitola Feed Company in Canton, where she was paid more than the a month! she had received for teaching school at Free Home.4 John Holbrook died in Tax records continue to identify the Holbrooks as the owners.5 1 Historic Aerials, aerials, (images) aerial image search of Cumming Highway, Netronline, accessed September 2 U.S. Bureau of the Census, Federal Census; Marie H. Lathem, Death Notice, Atlanta Constitution, October 26, accessed September 20H.%20Lathem& match=2; Cherokee County Deed Book 40/Page 26 3 Mary Helen Cissell, Living, Laughing and Loving in Old Lathemtown (Orange, GA: Orange United Methodist Women, 37.

4 Cissell, Living, Laughing, Loving in Old Lathemtown, 37. 5 John Rudolph Holbrook, Death Notice, Darby Funeral Home, August 8, accessed March darby funeral Cherokee County Board of Tax Assessors, Property Record Search for Cumming Hw. LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, MARTHA L. AND JOHN R. HOLBROOK HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-G (Page 4)

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

Atlanta Constitution. Marie H. Lathem. Death Notice. October 26, hem&match=2. Cherokee County Board of Tax Assessors. Property Records Search for Cumming Hw. Accessed April at viewer/?viewer=taxparcels. Cherokee County Clerk of Court Office, Canton. Deed Book 40, Page 26, Cissell, Mary Helen. Living Laughing and Loving in Old Lathemtown. Orange, GA: Orange United Methodist Church, Darby Funeral Home. John Rudolph Holbrook. Death Notice. August 8, Accessed March John-Holbrook-4/. Netronline. Historic Aerials: Cumming Highway. Internet Search Engine. Accessed September Sullivan, Patrick, Mary Beth Reed and Tracey Fedor: The Ranch House in Georgia: Guidelines for Evaluation. Stone Mountain, GA: New South Associates, United States Bureau of the Census. United States Federal Census.

Accessed June-August https://www.ancestry.com/. LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, MARTHA L. AND JOHN R. HOLBROOK HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-G (Page 5) Supplemental Materials 1. Figures Georgia GIO State Imagery September Figure 1: Martha L. and John R. Holbrook District Locator Map. LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, MARTHA L. AND JOHN R. HOLBROOK HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-G (Page 6) Figure 2: Martha L. and John R. Holbrook Site Map. LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, MARTHA L. AND JOHN R. HOLBROOK HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-G (Page 7) Figure 3: Oblique of House north (front) and east (side) facades. View looking southwest. (Photograph by Sarah Potere, July LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, MARTHA L. AND JOHN R. HOLBROOK HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-G (Page 8) Figure 4: Oblique of House south (rear) and east (side) facades.

View looking northeast. (Photograph by Sarah Potere, July