The Last Link to a Forgotten Quaker Settlement: Rock House, Thomson, GA

Constructed by Thomas Ansley, the Rock House in McDuffie County is one of the few remaining structures linked to Georgia’s small 18th-century Quaker community of Wrightsboro. Recent dendrochronology testing has revealed a c. 1795 construction date. Considered to be the oldest stone house in the state, it was also home to ancestors of former President Jimmy Carter. The Rock House is a rough-hewn, fortress-like, frontier structure reminiscent of 17th century New England’s garrison houses built to serve both as residences and fortifications.

The home is constructed of four-inch field stone walls covered with cement scored to resemble blocks of sandstone. It is a full two stories with a pitched roof providing a full attic story under the gable. Enclosed in both gable ends are chimneys, and out of each end at the angle of the roof, a low chimney stack rises. At the rear eave line is an original box cornice with a simple late 18th century profile. Across the front from left to right are a single window, paired doorways and paired windows. At the basement level there are two small windows on either side of the front entrance. At the rear there are seven openings with the basement level repeating the pattern of the front. The main floor level, left to right, shows two windows, one doorway, one window. Each gable end has four widely separated windows on the main floor and two at the attic.