Mathis House

The Mathis House on East Main Street in Lumpkin, Georgia was built circa 1840-1845. It is a two-story Plantation Plain house with Greek Revival details. The home has an ornate entrance on the first floor with flush tongue and groove siding, and multi-paned trabeated doorway, along with the second-floor entrance with fluted pilasters, are among the most decorative found in Lumpkin. The house was one of four of identical appearance in Stewart County, all within a four-mile radius of each other. Today it is the only one still standing. It is also historically significant as. a manifestation of the large but relatively plain farmhouses located on what were, at the time, the outskirts of Lumpkin.

Its early ownership is hazy, but by 1899 Miss Ernie Stevens, a schoolteacher, and a woman locally known as Aunt Penny McCullough lived here. Some local citizens were said to have been afraid of Aunt Penny because she would sit on the porch and talk to herself; they felt she was conversing with the dead in the old Baptist cemetery across the street. The house has had several owners, and although extensively researched, little could be found on its history.

The Mathis House was listed as part of a study of historic resources in Lumpkin in 1976 which led to a National Register nomination of 15 historic districts and individual buildings. The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. After sitting vacant for years, the property was recently gifted to the county. There is hope that it will be restored or stabilized, however no plans for restoration have materialized. Today, the home is barely visible from the road and surrounded by overgrowth.

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