Historic Home in Danger

Photo credit: Connner Franklin Leland

An 18th century house with connections to the late President Jimmy Carter is on a list of historic properties in danger. The Historic Rock House in McDuffie County, believed to be the state’s oldest stone house, is on the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2025 Places in Peril list.

Historians say Carter’s fourth-great grandmother may have lived in the home, which was part of the Quaker settlement of Wrightsboro established in the 1760s. The home itself is thought to have been built in 1795. The Trust said in a statement that the home has been vandalized and weather-damaged, and its remote location makes both repairs and security challenging.

Leaders in the east central Georgia county have allocated funds from a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) to improve security and restore the property, but the cost is currently higher than the funding. The Trust says advocates are trying to find other ways to pay for the home’s preservation.