Terrell County Historic Preservation Society hosts historic home tour; strives to restore Dawson’s historic landscape

DAWSON – Few southwest Georgia towns can boast a historic architectural landscape as unique as Dawson’s.

Awe awaits lovers of old buildings around each street corner – from the beautiful Victorian- to antebellum-style homes, to the 1892 Terrell County Courthouse with its turreted clock tower and grand arches. Although time and nature have worn down many of the once beloved buildings, the longstanding Terrell County Historic Preservation Society works hard to promote the county’s history and preservation.

The public got a glimpse into the preservation and renovation efforts of three homes in Dawson’s historic district on May 16. The TCHPS hosted a Tasting Tour of Homes, guiding guests through the Baldwin-Stokes-Miller House, Rogers Home and Averett-Garrison Home. Shawn O’Connor-Veazie, the TCHPS co-president, said hosting these tours calls attention to the society’s efforts and encourages others to get involved. 

“It helps keep Dawson in people’s minds as a charming, historic community,” he said. “Every time we have a tour, it results in people buying and rescuing an old home. We do it as a community service to make sure people know that there’s something special here, and encourage people to want to live here … and invest here.” 

O’Connor-Veazie himself is in the process of restoring his second Dawson home. For him, finding his “dream home” and meeting the members of the TCHPS in the process, was “serendipitous” as he moved to Dawson. 

“When I moved to Dawson, for the most part, they (TCHPS) were one of the only groups that were still active and had survived and still put on events,” O’Connor-Veazie said. “A lot of them are older and have been very involved in the community. … They kept sharing stories of the people who lived there.” 

The historic society works closely with the city to increase cultural awareness, improve the appearance of streets and buildings and preserve sites with historical importance. The society’s work has landed local properties on the National Register of Historic Places and renovated significant properties like the local Carnegie Library.

Joyce Espy, co-president of the society, said she can recall when “every home on every street” in Dawson was well-loved and cared for, with fresh paint and ornamental gardens. She was born and raised in Terrell County and is a graduate of Terrell County High School. After some 55 years away, she returned to her hometown to retire. She bought an old feed and seed shop in the heart of downtown and renovated it into a loft living space. 

It wasn’t long before Espy got involved in the TCHPS in hopes of supporting Dawson’s historic preservation.

“This was such an absolutely active and vivid town, and it’s not anymore; I want it to come back,” she said. “I’m working so hard.”

She said she believes that by supporting the housing in Dawson, the society is supporting the wider community.

“We’re also striving for industry here so people will come back here and renovate these houses,” Espy said. “I did my loft, hoping somebody else would feel encouraged to do that.” 

The first home on the tour is well-known by locals. It sits, stately, on Lee Street, and for years, had fallen into disrepair. The Baldwin Home’s doors and windows were broken and boarded up, its paint faded and weeds overtook the dirty front stairs. About three months ago, Michael Sellers and his partner began fixing up the home. He moved to Dawson nine years ago to restore a different home, but it had been his dream to eventually buy the Baldwin home.

“We couldn’t believe we bought it,” he said. “Just seeing the potential and seeing what it could be … restoring the hardwood floors and painting … just bringing life back to an old house.”

In three months time, the home’s roof was repaired, its windows replaced and its floors resanded. Through windows no longer boarded, warm light glowed and the chatter of guests flowed out. On May 16, it was still a partial work zone as guests walked around, marveling at the fresh paint, intricate woodwork and quirky, original fireplace tiling. 

“It’s just one step at a time,” Sellers said. “We kind of threw it all together this week so we could have everybody here.”

The home will be on the TCHPS Christmas Tour in December, and Sellers said he hopes guests will be able to see the whole house then. 

Sellers said Dawson felt like home almost as soon as he moved to the area. As he grew to love Dawson, he grew to love its history. 

“If you don’t have history or old homes, you don’t have anything,” Sellers said. “Without this society, who’s going to take care of things around here? Our hope is that people donate and that we can keep doing this.”

As he’s worked on his home, Sellers said he’s learned about the home’s history. It was built in 1902 for Andrew Jackson Baldwin, one of the “most influential citizens of the community,” at the time. 

“We’ve learned the importance of who lived here, how good he was and how people loved him as a person … because he was involved in the community,” Sellers said. “It feels good to give back to the house. I think he would be proud of what we’re doing.” 

The tour’s second stop was just down Lee Street. It welcomed guests with its large, freshly painted porch and bright pink potted flowers. Susie Brown Clyde, a Dawson native and TCHPS board member, stood in the front room and gazed at the shelves that lined the walls. Her father had built them years ago for the homeowner, Michael Rogers.

Rogers bought the large home in 1995 to raise his five children in. He said the floors were dirt when he first bought the house, and it’s been a journey over the years to complete renovations. On May 16, the newly restored wood floors shined.

The home comes with unique historic features, including two front rooms that were separated into a men’s parlor and women’s parlor. Rogers had since opened the spaces up, turning them into a living room and office. 

Clyde said it felt good to see the home fully renovated and her dad’s work a part of it. As a carpenter herself, she said she enjoys restoring things and thus joined the TCHPS. 

“The group is important,” she said. “It’s bringing back life, and it’s bringing a sense of history.”

Still, Terrell County’s historic landscape is at risk. 

O’Connor-Veazie said it stresses him to see so many old homes vulnerable. For every old home with shining, new paint in Dawson’s historic district, there is another home overgrown with weeds or seemingly on the brink of collapse. O’Connor-Veazie said it can be challenging convincing reluctant property owners to sell the buildings. 

“The roof can only leak for so long before it can’t be rescued,” he said. 

Terrell County’s historic home inventory attracts people from outside the community. Each homeowner on the historic tour had moved to the town. Haunting photos of the character-filled homes land themselves on sites like Vanishing Georgia or For the Love of Old Houses. They draw people in.

“We really want to see those houses rescued, and there’s plenty of people out there that if they were available, would love to have the opportunity,” O’Connor-Veazie said.