Tag Archives: South Georgia Tar Paper/False Brick Structures

Dutch Henderson brought this house to my attention a few years ago and we recently coordinated on the location. It was built by Leaston Powell. Wayne Frost writes: I have a pretty good feeling my grand daddy- Tom Pullen made these posts. I was raised next door…so I have a lot of memories of this house. I can still see my uncle Leaston Powell out side tending his animals . He always wore a black felt hat and pointer overalls and brogans. He liked to trap quail to eat and I would sit beside him under his Chinaberry trees and shoot robins, I loved it as a kid and yes we ate them. My grand daddy Tom Pullen lived about 1/4 of a mile from Uncle Leaston and he didn’t own a car so he would hook up a wooden sled (that he built) to his mule . He would stand on that slay and ride it to my grand daddy’s. I could hear him coming as the sled was being pulled up the road. He had a high pitched voice like Sweenie on the Green Acres t.v. show. Life was simple back then.

As is common with hall-and-parlor houses, it features a shed room across the back.

It also has two wings on the front, known as preacher rooms, or keeps. Rural preachers once had to travel for many miles to different charges, or churches in their care, and members of their congregations often opened their homes to them. The rooms were usually independent additions to the house and positioned so the preachers could come and go as they pleased.

A much more unique feature of the house are the two rough-hewn elongated diamond-shaped porch posts, featuring a cutout diamond in the middle. I feel certain that Mr. Powell made these himself.

I haven’t been able to locate a date for the house, but I would guess late 1870s to circa 1900. It has clapboard walls, later covered by false brick (tar paper) siding.

A small barn, likely a corn crib, survives on the property, as well.