HISTORIC RESOURCES __________________
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Table of Contents ________________________ page 6n
Introduction __________________________________________ 1
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A Brief History of Suwanee ______________________________ 1
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Historic Resources Inventory ____________________________ 2
Historic Commercial Resources ______________________________________2
Historic Residential Resources _______________________________________3
Historic Institutional Resources_______________________________________3
Archaeological and Cultural Sites _____________________________________4
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Summary and Needs Assessment ________________________ 5
The Suwanee Town Master Plan______________________________________________________________________ 6-i
Chapter 6: Historic Resources _______________________________________________________________ n
6-ii _____________________________________________________________________ The Suwanee Town Master Plan
HISTORIC RESOURCES __________________
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CHAPTER
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Introduction
Historic resources include landmark buildings, historic structures and sites, historic rural resources, archaeological and cultural sites, and the historic environment in which they exist.
They serve as visual reminders of a community's past, providing a link to its cultural heritage and a better understanding of the people and events that shaped the patterns of its development. Preservation of these important resources makes it possible for them to continue to play an integral, vital role in the community. Although the City of Suwanee does
not have any properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the City is fortunate to have many historic structures and sites intact. Most of the downtown area, as well
as the historic residential areas around the downtown, remain sound. Some of the downtown commercial buildings also have been revitalized.
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A Brief History of Suwanee
Suwanee, Georgia began about three miles southwest of the current downtown area of Suwanee, where Suwanee Creek flows into the Chattahoochee River. For hundreds of years,
prior to the beginning of the Town of Suwanee, a large Indian Village flourished on both
sides of the river. Shawnee Indians originally settled the village. Both Cherokee and Creek
Indians refer to Suwanee Old Town in U.S. government documents as early as the late
1700’s by which time the village was inhabited. It is also later shown on maps ceding land
to the U.S. government by the Cherokee in 1817 and the Creeks in 1818. There are various
accounts regarding the naming of the City of Suwanee. One suggests that Suwanee is an
Indian word meaning “Echo.” Another account credits the name to the early white sellers’
way of pronouncing the word “Shawnee.” Either way, the name Suwanee appears to be
closely tied to the City’s Indian heritage.
On the l5th day of December 1818, the General Assembly of Georgia passed an act creating the Counties of Gwinnett, Hall and Walton. Gwinnett County is adjacent to Walton
County on the southeast and Hall County on the northeast. The County was named for Button Gwinnett, who represented Georgia in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in
1776 and who wrote his name on the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776.
Gwinnett was killed in a duel in 1777. On January 12, 1954, the Georgia Historical Commission dedicated a marker on the Courthouse Square in Lawrenceville in honor of Button
Gwinnett.
As is the case with many communities throughout the South, Suwanee can trace its beginnings to the growth and evolution of transportation. As transportation evolved, the community of Suwanee evolved with it. In 1820 a Land Lottery was held in Gwinnett County.
There were four land lots awarded in that lottery that intersect in the Town of Suwanee,
about 100 feet to the east of where Davis Street crosses Buford Highway. The federal government recognized Suwanee as a town when the Suwanee Post Office was established in
1838. On May 21, 1869 Abram Moore sold a right of way to the Georgia Airline Railroad
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100 feet through his property. The Southern Railroad and depot were constructed through
this section of Gwinnett County in 1871. The village of Suwanee grew around this depot. A
second small railroad station called Shadow Brook, was added on the south side of the railroad tracks at which is now the intersection of the tracks and Lawrenceville Suwanee Road.
“The Belle,” which stopped at this station, was in operation from 1879 to 1931. In 1881 the
Richmond & Danville railroad opened a narrow-gauge railroad, known as the Lawrenceville-Suwanee Narrow-Gauge Railroad from Lawrenceville to Suwanee. Suwanee became a
changing station as people transferred from this line to the Southern Railroad line that could
take them into Atlanta
In 1880 there were 39 dwelling units and 216 people in the Town of Suwanee. There was
a hotel, a department store and other commercial establishments in the town. In 1923 the
Sandborn Map Company published a detailed map of the town. The 1923 map showed 12
stores in operation, a cotton gin house, a feed mill, two auto repair garages, two blacksmith
shops, a coffin factory, a gristmill, a planing mill and a livery stable. Pierce's Corner, built
in 1910, is still in operation today as an antique mall.
Cotton was the town’s economic base. Up until 1830 the majority of farmers in the Suwanee area grew cotton. The first cotton gin house was built between 1872 and 1875 on
the northeast corner of Jackson and Scales Street. As the transportation network continued
to grow and expand, so did the City of Suwanee. With the growth of the highway system in
the 1970s more development was occurring along I-85 and the Lawrenceville-Suwanee
Road. Today's City limits reach out approximately five miles. Much of the recent growth
continues to take place in Suwanee along I-85 and the Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road. The
historic downtown area has remained pretty much the same, as it must have appeared in
the early part of this century.
Since its incorporation in 1949, the City has increased in both size and population.
Through the annexation of land, the City has grown from approximately 3.1 square miles in
1949 to about 9.7 miles in 1999.
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Historic Resources Inventory
The following sections discuss the commercial, residential, institutional and archeological
resources of Suwanee. There are no industrial or rural resources having historic value. In
1996 Richard P. Plumer compiled, “Town of Suwanee History Late 1700s – 1920s.” This
document used several sources to document both town history and a partial historic resources inventory including the Town of Suwanee Deed Records. The City relied heavily
upon his work in documenting this information.
Historic Commercial Resources
As transportation evolved, a commercial core was formed around the railroad depot. The
historic commercial area is today referred to as Old Town Suwanee. This area is broadly
defined as that area located around Main Street, White Street, Russell Street, Davis Street,
Stonecypher Road and Scales Street. On May 20, 1881 a fire destroyed all the stores in
downtown Suwanee. Several commercial buildings built after this time still exist and are in
use today, including Pierce's Corner, built in 1910 and currently used as an antique mall.
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Several other historic commercial buildings are in use as a woodworking shop and a clothing consignment shop today. A goal of the City is to preserve and revitalize this area.
Historic Residential Resources
The historic houses of the City of Suwanee are clustered in and around “Old Town Suwanee,” the original one-mile radius from Main and Scales Streets. Although there are several houses farther out from this area the majority of historic homes are on Main, Calaboose, White and Davis Streets.
Most of the houses within the old Suwanee area are a simple regional farm style. There are
some examples of Queen Anne Victorian such as 587 Main Street, and the Rhodes House.
The house across the street from the Rhodes House is an example of Queen Anne Victorian, although it has been altered. The majority of the historic houses in Suwanee have side
or front gabled roofs, with a few having pyramidal roofs.
The Rhodes House, commonly referred to as the Rhodes Hotel, is one of the older structures in Suwanee. Daniel M. Born built the small home on this location for his daughter Lillie and her husband Henry W. Rhodes about 1880. The first time it can be ascertained that
the house owned by Henry W. Rhodes served as a hotel was in 1892. Over the years the
family added substantially to the house until it boasted six bedrooms and wide porches,
both upstairs and down. By 1911 it was used as a boarding house, primarily for teachers. It
was used as a residence up into the 1950's when it fell into disrepair. Today, it is once
again being used as a private residence.
Historic Institutional Resources
In 1874 the first church in town, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was built by its six black
trustees on White Street. The Church began extensive interior and exterior renovations in
1999, and will reopen as the Christian Worship Center in 2000.
In 1876, the Suwanee Methodist Church was formally organized with 34 members. The
church building was erected in 1879 or 1880 at the west end of Main Street. Prior to this,
people of Suwanee held worship services in a school building. Sometimes the church was
a part of the Duluth circuit and sometimes it belonged to the Lawrenceville circuit. In 1909
a windstorm caused so much damage to the building that a new church had to be built. A
site was acquired, and in 1910, a new building was erected on top of the hill on Scales
Road. In the 1940's the Duluth circuit was divided and a Suwanee circuit was formed. This
included churches from Level Creek, Meadow, Mt. Zion, Trinity and Suwanee. In 1952 the
church grounds were graded making more parking spaces available. Three classrooms were
also added at this time, as was gas heat. The church is now called Suwanee First United
Methodist Church.
The First Baptist Church of Suwanee is believed to have been organized before the Civil
War with services held in a local schoolhouse, but no records show that a Baptist Church
was organized there before 1886. At that time, the church was known as the Suwanee Baptist Town Church. The original church was built on a lot where the Mount Olive Baptist
Church now stands. In 1920 a new lot was purchased and an auditorium was erected on
scales street. It was constructed of brick and stone with a seating capacity of 250 people.
The original frame church was deeded to the black trustees of the Mount Olive Baptist
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church in 1926. This frame building no longer exists, and has been replaced by concrete
building about 50 feet from the original building. In 1926 the name of the church was
changed to Suwanee Baptist Church. In 1945 the pastorium was erected directly across the
street from the church. In 1949 the church changed its name from Suwanee Baptist Church
to First Baptist Church of Suwanee, Georgia. In 1982 many members split from this church
and formed the Shadowbrook Baptist Church.
In the early days of Suwanee's history, the African Americans who lived in the community
attended the above-mentioned churches. Although balconies or pews segregated them,
they did not have separate churches. Two of the older black churches that were later
formed are the Mount Olive Baptist Church and the Suwanee Parish United Methodist
Church.
Archaeological and Cultural Sites
Suwanee's earliest beginnings were along the Suwanee Creek and the Chattahoochee
River. Before the Europeans settlers arrived, this site was the site of several Indian villages,
inhabited by the Creek, Cherokee and Shawnee Indians. It is very probable that this town
or village was several hundred years old.
Several burial grounds have been identified in the City of Suwanee, including:
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Shadow Brook Cemetery on the southeastern corner of the railroad tracks and Lawrenceville Suwanee Road. This cemetery contains the oldest grave marker (1877);
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An Indian Mound at George Pierce Park;
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Slave graves at the corner of Burnette and Wildwood Road;,
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Historically black cemetery on Cemetery Street in Old Town (1921);
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The Lockridge Family Cemetery on Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road at Satellite Boulevard;
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The Suwanee Creek Langley Family Cemetery;
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The Old City Cemetery at the Methodist Church;
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A Family Cemetery off of Suwanee Dam Road next to the lake; and
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The Level Creek Church cemetery on Suwanee Dam Road.
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Summary and Needs Assessment
The City of Suwanee has an old and rich history with an abundance of historic resources
that warrant attention because of their valuable contribution to the community. Unfortunately, the fire of 1881 destroyed the earliest commercial structures in Suwanee. Richard P.
Plumer’s “Town of Suwanee History Late 1700s – 1920s” is a good source for an initial
documentation of the town’s history and inventory of historic places and buildings.
The primary historic resource in the City is “Old Town Suwanee,” which consists of a small
commercial district that is situated along the railroad and is fringed with residences. Other
historic resources include several grand Victorian homes and “Regional Farm-Style” homes.
Active in preserving the integrity of Suwanee's history and historic resources is the Suwanee Historical Society. The City will continue to work with the Historical Society and
business owners to promote historic awareness.
As its most important historic resource, the City is taking steps to further preserve and promote “Old Town Suwanee.” Infill development and new construction must be compatible
with the existing historic nature of the area. This may include Traditional Neighborhood
Development, with homes on small lots, traditional architecture, narrow streets, etc. Commercial development should be designed and constructed to blend with existing and future
residential and non-residential development. Promoting the historic nature could include
generating an historic atmosphere through street design and amenities, as well as encouraging street festivals and events.
The City will investigate the creation of a Historic District with specific design guidelines to
better guide development in this area.
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