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Hickory Hill
Receives Statewide Preservation Award
from Georgia
Trust for Historic Preservation
Restored Thomson Home a Popular Site for
Visitors
ATLANTA, April
22, 2006 –Hickory Hill, an 1860s mansion located
in Thomson, Ga., received an award for Excellence
in Restoration from The Georgia Trust for Historic
Preservation at its Annual Meeting April 22 in
Athens.
Constructed in the
1860s as a four-over-four, Hickory Hill belonged
to Thomas E. Watson, a U.S. House Representative
in 1882, a Presidential candidate in 1904 and 1908
and a U.S. Senator from 1920 to 1922. The Greek
Revival mansion was listed on the National
Register of Historic Places in 1979.
In 2000, the
Watson-Brown Foundation began an extensive
rehabilitation to return the home to its 1920
appearance, including recreating a 3000-sq.-ft.
addition that was demolished in 1939. With the
help of oral histories, manuscript collections,
historic photographs and remnants of original
wallpaper, historic features inside and outside
the home were restored. Original furnishings were
placed inside the mansion following restoration.
Aside from the main
house, there are several other historic structures
on the 256-acre property, including an automobile
garage, a dovecote, a peacock run and a
smokehouse. Hickory Hill’s surrounding landscape
was also restored by incorporating historic
plantings, such as the beech allée.
“The newly restored
Hickory Hill has been a welcome addition to
Thomson,” said Greg Paxton, president and CEO of
The Georgia Trust. “The museum educates visitors
about the benefits of historic preservation and
serves as a gathering space for the community.”
Following its
restoration, Hickory Hill opened to the public for
tours of the home and its surrounding woodland
gardens. The Neoclassical mansion is Thomson’s
only professionally staffed house museum, and
offers several events to the public, including a
summer archaeology camp for children and the Tom
Watson Watermelon Festival, which draws hundreds
of visitors each summer.
For more than 25 years, the Trust has recognized
preservation projects and individuals in the state
who have made significant contributions to the
field of historic preservation. Awards are
presented on the basis of the contributions of the
person or project to the community and/or state
and on compliance to the Secretary of the
Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.
Awards in the
Excellence in Restoration category recognize
exemplary restoration of historic structures. An
accurate restoration project depicts the form,
features and character of a historic building as
it appeared at a particular period of time.
Restoration requires sensitive upgrading of
mechanical systems and other code-required work to
make the building functional. This year the Trust
presented five Excellence in Restoration awards.
With more than
8,000 members, The Georgia Trust for Historic
Preservation is the country’s largest statewide,
nonprofit preservation organization. Founded in
1973, the Trust is committed to preserving and
enhancing Georgia’s communities and their diverse
historic resources the education and enjoyment of
all.
The Trust
generates community revitalization by finding
buyers for endangered properties acquired by its
Revolving Fund; provides design assistance to 105
Georgia Main Street cities and encourages
neighborhood revitalization; trains Georgia’s
teachers in 56 Georgia school systems to engage
students in discovering state and national history
through their local historic resources; and
advocates for funding, tax incentives and other
laws aiding preservation efforts.
Late last year,
the Trust announced its first annual listing of
Georgia’s 10 Places in Peril. The
Georgia Trust is a recipient of the Trustees Award
for Organizational Excellence from the National
Trust for Historic Preservation.
For more information
on Hickory Hill, contact Michelle Zupan, curator,
at 706-595-7777 or
mzupan@hickory-hill.org.
To learn more about
The Georgia Trust and the Preservation Awards,
visit
www.georgiatrust.org.
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