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Social Circle opens doors to history
Published September 16, 2009
SOCIAL CIRCLE — For ChiChi Ewing, it has become a passionate hobby.
“I like to restore old homes,” Ewing said. “And I like opening the house to the public, especially after doing so much work. I love letting the people appreciate what has been done and taking a look into history.”
Ewing, who lives at the Will T. Knox House on West Hightower Trail, is one of the stops along the Social Circle Historic Preservation Society’s 28th annual Fall Tour of Homes. The tour will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Ewing and her husband were a part of the tour a few years ago as they restored the Upshaw-Stephens-Ewing house, now home to Henry Funeral Home and another stop on the tour. The Ewings moved into the Knox house more than a year ago and now feel it is ready to open to the public. Local merchant and farmer William T. Knox built the house more than 112 years ago out of pine he personally selected from his land in Jersey. In 1895 it burned to the ground but was restored. The Ewings have added on to the home but it has not lost much of the historic allure.
There are eight stops along the tour, including the historic society’s headquarters at the Nebhut-Akridge-Gunter House and Social Circle’s new city hall, housed in the Hester House. Proceeds from the tour will benefit the renovation work being done at the Gunter House, with the goal of home eventually becoming a local museum, educational center and be used for special events. In 1992, the preservation society purchased the home to rescue it from being moved out of Social Circle or falling prey to a wrecking ball to create a parking lot.
“The Historic Preservation Society’s Tour of Homes accomplishes a celebration of our city’s history and the society’s dedication to preserving the homes that characterize our unique heritage,” said Tom Brown, membership chairperson for the group and chair of this year’s tour. “The people who take the tour will enjoy our special approach to a tour of homes program. They will also experience the families who once lived in these homes and the contributions they made to our city’s heritage. In that way, these homes serve as a very personal monument to those families.
“These homes are important because of their unique architecture and they represent a lasting memory of the people from our city’s early years. Preserving historic homes allows those of us today to appreciate the important contribution of years past.”
The tour of homes originated in 1982 with the same purpose as today: get the community to appreciate and know more about its historic property and talk about its history, according to Wayne McMillan, treasurer for the society.
“Tours bring the past back to life,” he said. “A tour of homes is so much more than a visual treat. It’s about who built this home, who lived here and what was it like in the 1800s and more frequently remembering the past as, ‘I remember when the Malcolms lived in Gunter Hall when they were first married because it was a boarding house.’
“The tour makes a profound statement about preservation: This home is truly an asset and should be here for generations to come.”
The theme for this year’s tour is “Looking Forward to the Past.” Tickets for the event are $18 and can be purchased the day of the event at the Gunter House or online at www.historicsocial
circle.com. For more information, call 770-464-1253.
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