The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation announced today its 2013 list of ten Places in Peril in the state.
Other ites on the list include: Tift Warehouse in Albany; Candler Park Golf Course and Sweet Auburn Commercial District in Atlanta; Dobbins Mining Landscape and Stilesboro Academy in Bartow County; Monticello Commercial Building in Jasper County; Lexington Presbyterian Church in Oglethorpe County; Hancock County Courthouse in Sparta; and Traveler's Rest State Historic Site in Toccoa.
"This is the Trust's eighth annual Places in Peril list," said Mark C. McDonald, president and CEO of the Trust. "We hope the list will continue to bring preservation action to Georgia's imperiled historic resources by highlighting ten representative sites," McDonald said.
Places in Peril is designed to raise awareness about Georgia's significant historic, archaeological and cultural resources, including buildings, structures, districts, archaeological sites and cultural landscapes that are threatened by demolition, neglect, lack of maintenance, inappropriate development or insensitive public policy. Through Places in Peril, the Trust will encourage owners and individuals, organizations and communities to employ proven preservation tools, financial resources and partnerships in order to reclaim, restore and revitalize historic properties that are in peril.
Sites that have been placed on previous years' lists have included: Rutherford Hall at the University of Georgia in Athens, which was demolished in June 2012 despite popular support from students, residents, alumni and the preservation community; Chattahoochee Park Pavilion in Gainesville, which received $25,000 in building materials after the Gainesville City Council voted in July to restore it; John Berrien House in Savannah, which was recently purchased by a descendant who plans to rehabilitate the house and use it for both commercial and residential space; and the Mary Ray Memorial School in Coweta County, which won a Preservation Award from the Trust in 2012.
THE STORY OF THE CABIN
The Cave Spring Log Cabin was discovered two years ago when layers of clapboard siding on a larger structure built around the cabin were removed. The well-crafted log building likely dates to the early 1800's, the frontier days of the Cave Spring settlement. Some evidence suggests that the cabin is an original Cherokee building. When the log structure was uncovered, the Cave Spring Historical Society purchased the building to save it from destruction.
THE THREAT
Almost 200 years old, the Cave Spring Log Cabin is suffering from deterioration; some of the original foundation timbers have decayed beyond repair. Now that the log structure is more exposed, the structure will deteriorate further without some intervention and stabilization work.
THE STRATEGY
Through increased publicity, gain funding to stabilize the cabin and prevent its further decline. Complete further research of the building's history and restore it for use as a cultural heritage museum or other economically sustainable site.
