Giles County is a Showplace of Historic Architecture

By CLAUDIA JOHNSON

Examples of a variety of architectural styles are found throughout Giles County.Antebellum or pre-Civil War styles may generally be divided into log, Federal, Greek Revival and Gothic Revival. Post-war architecture is usually referred to as Victorian and includes Queen Anne, Second Empire, Eastlake, Italianate and vernacular interpretations employing architectural elements common to the period.Many local vintage homes were built after the turn of the century and are of the bungalow, foursquare, art nouveau and Colonial revival styles. 

Not all historic or vintage homes are listed on the U. S. Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places. However, Giles County has many homes and buildings that are listed, either as an individual structure or as contributing architecturally to a National Register Historic District.To be designated as a district, at least 80 percent of the building must embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction and must be more than 50 years old.The South Pulaski National Register Historic District showcases structures from Pulaski’s prosperous days before the Civil War through the depression era. 

The Victorian Homes of the Sam Davis Avenue N.R. Historic District illustrate Pulaski’s revitalization and prosperity after a long Union occupation during the Civil War. Much Lynnville, an excellently preserved example of a thriving Victorian railroad town, comprises a National Register Historic District. The Pulaski Courthouse Square has also been placed on the National Register.National Register designation doesn’t restrict or limit the individual building owners’ rights. It does, however, protect listed buildings from destruction by the Federal government for any reason.

Owners of N.R. listed buildings receive no financial compensation. In order to qualify as an individually listed building, the structure must be proven historically significant through association with a famous person or must embody architectural characteristics typical of a style or period.With the exemption of the Milky Way Farm, all local privately owned individual listings were constructed before the Civil War. These are the Federal-style Clifton Place at Wales and Elisha White House at Waco, the Greek Revival George Tillery House and Copeland Whitfield House near Pulaski, the White-Witt-Christopher House at Pigeon Roost, Wilkerson Place near Campbellsville and the Bass-Morrell House and Wilson-Young House, both near Elkton.

Architectural distinction enabled several churches to be placed on the register including the Eastlake-influenced Olivet Methodist Church, parsonage and school, the Greek Revival-style Pisgah United Methodist Church and cemetery as well as the Gothic Revival First Presbyterian Church of Pulaski. An association with Gov. John C. Brown and its Victorian architectural elements netted Church of the Messiah, Episcopal, a N.R. listing.

Another listing, the Bethany Presbyterian Chruch Complex which included the church, its manse and the adjacent Bethany Academy were also listed, but the complex has since suffered a fatal fire.

Buildings showcased here are identified as National Register if they have achieved an individual listing or are a contributing structure in an historic district.

Here is a list of places listed.