Lathemtown Historic District, Epperson Family Rental House, 11511 Cumming Highway (State Route 20), Lathemtown

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

The Epperson Family Rental House is located at Cumming Highway/State Route 20 (SR 20) in Cherokee County, Georgia. The resource sits on the north side of the highway and stands just west of Arbor Hill Road. The house is located at latitude: longitude: This point was taken from the center of the Epperson Family Rental 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-K. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Epperson Family Rental 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-K. 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 Epperson 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.

LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, EPPERSON FAMILY RENTAL HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-K (Page 2) Description: The Epperson Family Rental House stands on the north side of SR 20 and to the west of Arbor Hill Road. The house is oriented to the south and is the only building on its parcel. It is accessed from the highway via a gravel drive which approaches the residence on its eastern side. The mid twentieth-century single-family residence stands one-story tall and is constructed of concrete block. It has a square footprint and is topped by a side- gable, asphalt-shingle roof. The building s walls are exposed concrete block and its side gables are clad with German siding. The house s front (south) facade is divisible into three bays.

The middle bay, placed slightly off-center, holds an early or original wood door which features nine fixed lights above and recessed panels below. Serving as the building s primary entrance, the door is fronted by metal screen door and framed by an original wood surround. A flat-roof portico supported by metal filigree posts frame the doorway. The portico rests on a square concrete deck approached by concrete block stairs. Two-over-two, double-hung, wood-sash windows flank the door on either side. The facade is void of any architectural detail except a small metal grate at its basement level (Figure 3). Like the south facade, the building s east (side) facade is divisible into three bays. Its first (southernmost) bay is a doorway holding the same door type as found on the southern facade.

It too features an original wood surround. The doorway is sheltered by a pedimented portico which features German siding at its gable. It is supported by metal filigree posts resting on a concrete block deck approached by concrete block stairs. Two windows are found to the north of the doorway and are the same type as those found on the southern facade. The building s western facade also boasts two symmetrically spaced windows of the same type. A small shed-roof, frame addition extends from the northwestern corner of the house. Clad in siding, the addition rests on a concrete block base and has one opening: a centrally placed door on its northern facade.

A shed-roof porch topped with a standing-seam metal roof spans the entire length of the building s rear, attaching to both the rear northwest addition and the northeast corner of the main house. It is supported by four wooden posts and is a late twentieth- century addition (Figure 4). History: In Lawrence I. Epperson purchased the house s parcel from Alice Smith and her heirs. The lot size was small, 90 x 255 , but so was the purchase price, Epperson was a native of Cherokee County, and a member of LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, EPPERSON FAMILY RENTAL HOUSE HABS No.

GA-2445-K (Page 3) Lathemtown s Orange Methodist Church, who had moved to Atlanta in and died there in 1 The appearance of this concrete-block house, coupled with the deed records, suggests it was built between about and the actual and estimated build dates in county tax records. It was erected by the Epperson family as a rental house. 2 In L. R. Epperson sold the property to Mary Smith and Barry Smith. By this date the house was standing, as the deed references a single family concrete block dwelling and the sale price was was LeRol R. Epperson, the son of LeRol R. Epperson, Sr. and grandson of Lawrence I. Epperson. His father (LeRol was born in the Free Home community near Lathemtown, but after moving to Atlanta in with his parents he became a lifelong Atlantan. While both LeRol Sr.

and LeRol Jr. had family ties with Lathemtown, they lived in Atlanta and their interest in Lathemtown land was undoubtably pecuniary. They also owned the neighboring property to the east at 195 Trenton Lane. 3

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

Atlanta Constitution. Lawrence I. Epperson. Obituary. April 21, Accessed April %20%20epperson&match=1. Mr. and Lerol R. Epperson. December 19, Accessed April ?terms= Epperson, LeRol. Obituary. May 17, Accessed April %20jr.%20lerol&match=2. Cherokee County Board of Tax Assessors. Property Records Search for Cumming Hw. Accessed April viewer/?viewer=taxparcels. 1 Cherokee County Deed Book YY/Page 176 Lawrence I. Epperson, Obituary, Atlanta Constitution, April 21, accessed April %20%20epperson &match=1. The parcel appears on a plat depicting multiple parcels found at Cherokee County Plat Book 18/Page 104 (drawn filed 2 Cherokee County Board of Tax Assessors, Property Record Search for Cumming Hw. 3 Cherokee County Deed Book 259/Page 820 Mr. and Lerol R.

Epperson, Atlanta Constitution, December 19, accessed April match=1; Epperson, LeRol, Obituary, Atlanta Constitution, May 17, accessed April LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, EPPERSON FAMILY RENTAL HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-K (Page 4) Cherokee County Clerk of Court Office, Canton. Deed Book YY, Page Deed Book Page Plat Book 18, Page LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, EPPERSON FAMILY RENTAL HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-K (Page 5) Supplemental Materials 1. Figures Georgia GIO State Imagery September Figure 1: Epperson Family Rental House District Locator Map. LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, EPPERSON FAMILY RENTAL HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-K (Page 6) Figure 2: Epperson Family Rental House Site Map. LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, EPPERSON FAMILY RENTAL HOUSE HABS No.

GA-2445-K (Page 7) Figure 3: Oblique of House, south (front) and west (side) facades. View looking northeast. (Photograph by Sarah Potere, July LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, EPPERSON FAMILY RENTAL HOUSE HABS No. GA-2445-K (Page 8) Figure 4: Oblique of House, north (rear) and west (side) facades. View looking southeast. (Photograph by Sarah Potere, July