Two sites in Macon could be added to the National Register of Historic Places

Two properties in Macon have a shot at being added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Georgia Industrial Home and the James and Olive Porter House were among six sites added recently to the Georgia Register of Historic Places.

The nominations were made by the Georgia National Register Review Board, a group tasked with choosing which sites in Georgia will be recommended to the National Park Service, which determines which places are added to the national register.

The Georgia Industrial Home, a 159-acre property on Mumford Road, was a non-denominational orphanage started by Rev. William E. Mumford in 1899. There are six buildings on campus, including a 1906 Neoclassical Revival-style administrative building and five cottages featuring Colonial Revival-style elements.

The James and Olive Porter House on the campus of Wesleyan College is a Tudor Revival-style house designed by architect W. Elliott Dunwody Jr. It was constructed in 1928 as part of the couple’s Normandy-inspired country estate.

Properties listed on the registers are eligible for federal or state tax credits and incentives, according to a news release from the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Other properties added recently to the state’s register include:

▪ Peachtree Center Historic District in Atlanta — This district is home to some of the best known buildings in the city, including works by architect John C. Portman Jr. The district also is the site of the city’s modern American civil rights movement.

▪ Trust Company of Georgia Northeast Freeway Branch in Atlanta — A 1962 bank building designed by architect Henri Jova is celebrated for its innovative design featuring a round shape and New Formalist architectural style.

▪ Friendship Baptist Church Cemetery near Buford — The cemetery, established in the mid 1800s, is associated with the early settlement of southern Hall County and Friendship Baptist Church. The cemetery has a variety of funerary art as well as 19th to mid-20th century markers.

▪ Dixville Historic District in Brunswick — A mostly residential neighborhood that developed in 1880-1919 as a cohesive black community . It is home to lots of early house types typical to the state. It also is a good example of a planned residential community for the city’s working class black population.

The National Register of Historic Places, created in 1966, is America’s official list of noteworthy properties that are significant to American history, architecture, archeology, engineering and culture, the news release states.

To be eligible for listing on the national register, a property, or a majority of properties in a district, must be at least 50 years old, the release states. It also must retain historic integrity in location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association.

This story was originally published September 19, 2017 at 7:20 PM with the headline "Two sites in Macon could be added to the National Register of Historic Places."