On hold: Work on the Wallis House at Kennesaw Mountain is on the back burner. Site of Howard HQ and field hospital won't be repaired, open any time soon

The side and front of the closed Wallis house in 2024 (Picket photos) and Union Maj, Gen. O.O. Howard

For a time a couple years ago, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park was formulating a report that was to guide decision-making on the future of  the Josiah Wallis house, which briefly served as the temporary headquarters of Union Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard and a field hospital for both sides in June 1864.

The park had hopes of repairing and providing access to the house, with the goal of interpreting Federal strategy at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.

But the project is now on hold -- another setback in a long effort to save the house, give it permanent protection and have it help tell the story of the Atlanta Campaign,

“There are no active plans or established timelines for additional work or interpretive development currently,” Superintendent Patrick Gamman said in an email reply to a Civil War Picket inquiry.

Thousands of cars travel past the house each day (Civil War Picket photo)

“While the park continues to recognize the site's historical significance and interpretive potential, competing priorities and available resources have contributed to the project's current status,” Gamman added. “Work associated with the Wallis House is not moving forward at present.”

The superintendent had no further comment. "Any future developments will be shared publicly through the park's normal communication channels."

Key to the project was the completion of a Historic Structure Report (HSR), which was supposed to be completed in spring 2025 and used as a launching point on recommendations for use of the house and a nearby hill that served as a Federal signal station.

The report appears to be unfinished, given it does not appear on a National Park Service database. Once reports are put online, the public can weigh in on recommendations.

Even with a report, there is no guarantee property upgrades will be done. Officials have to consider the cost of the project, its risks (concerns about vandalism) and rewards (enhanced interpretation).

The two marked park parcels at left, features of the Wallis house at right (NPS, click to enlarge)

Rising near the circa 1853 home is Harriston Hill, which was a perfect spot for the signal station because of its sweeping view of the valley leading to the Confederate lines atop Kennesaw Mountain.

Major improvements on both NPS parcels could run into the millions of dollars. One feature now in place is a parking lot at the entrance of a subdivision allowing access to Signal Hill.

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, said the latest development is “not a surprise.

“(The) house needs work before it can be opened to tourists. ADA compliance, HVAC upgrade, etc. I'd characterize it as indefinite hold.”

The dwelling has been vacant for more than two decades.

Georgia Tech student created model, drawings of house

The Wallis House survives, though it is in fairly rough condition. The public is not allowed on the small NPS parcel in Cobb County, Ga. The home and Signal Hill are separated by the subdivision, which is just off a busy road.

In 2024, a master of architecture candidate at Georgia Tech in Atlanta used LiDar (remote sensing technology) and a drone to create a model of the Wallis House. He produced drawings for use in the HSR.

“Any time you have a chance to get to know a building is exciting, to understand it’s story a little more,” Danielle Willkens, an associate professor of architecture at Georgia Tech, said at the time. “You are on hallowed ground and that is palpable. There is another level of responsibility attached to the site.”

Willkens and student Thomas Bordeaux worked with the park’s first archaeologist, who said the goal was to have the two-bedroom residence available to park visitors at some point, after repairs and upgrades.

The site includes the home, original well and remains of two chicken coops and a smokehouse. Postwar additions included a kitchen, laundry room, bathroom and back porch. An earlier NPS report suggested removing modern features.

A 1953 Wallis house marker along busy Burnt Hickory Road (Picket photo)

There was excitement at the time and rangers were incorporating interpretive information in their talks. But the archaeologist left the park a year ago and there has been no news of further work.

Willkens told the Picket last week said she did not “have any updated work to share.”

It took years to protect and transfer site to park service

The Georgia Tech survey and a November 2021 NPS cultural landscape report on the Wallis farm and Signal Hill appeared to bring new energy to the site, which has largely been out of the headlines in recent years.

The Wallis house was in “imminent danger” of being demolished, according to an NPS official who provided a statement to Congress in June 2010 in support of enlarging the park to include the sites. A developer had purchased 27 acres, including Harriston Hill and the Wallis homestead, in 2002, according to the official. 

Crawford, with the Georgia Battlefields Association, recalls arguing against a rezoning for much of Signal Hill. “Although the Wallis house parcel was not part of the rezoning application, I said that the house and Signal Hill were both parts of a whole, both contributing to the site’s significant history.”

Working with the Cobb Land Trust, the Cobb County government acquired seven acres from the developer, including the farm and hill. About 43 homes are in the subdivision (left).

The land was donated to the federal park years later, in 2019, after Congress finally permitted expansion of the boundaries. The Covid crisis slowed action in 2020.

“I certainly agree this has been a long struggle,” Crawford told the Picket in a 2024 email.

The house is off-limits, but could that change one day?

Today, the setting is hardly bucolic. Cars whizz by on two busy highways – Burnt Hickory Road and Ernest W. Barrett Parkway – and the subdivision separates the Wallis house and Signal Hill. The park has no trespassing signs around the house, which is largely obscured by trees and vegetation. It allows no visitors to the property, citing safety and security concerns. Walking along Burnt Hickory is not recommended.

In 2024, the Wallis House was considered relatively structurally sound, thought it would need a lot of work.

(Civil War Picket photo)

The cultural landscape report detailed ways to interpret the sites. At Signal Hill, some of the trees could be thinned so that visitors could get a view of Big and Little Kennesaw mountains. A trail to the entrenchments, which need to be stabilized, and other features could be built, along with interpretive markers. The Wallis farm could feature an outdoor education area, parking, restroom and signs.

The clash at Kennesaw Mountain was a costly, but brief setback during the Federal advance on Atlanta. Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, commander of Union forces, was at the Wallis house during the Battle of Kolb’s Farm to the south.

Park and local officials hope the home can eventually tell several stories, possibly featuring an exhibit on the role of African-American soldiers and civilians during the Civil War.

“General Howard is an important historical figure because of his successful leadership on the battlefield and his post-Civil War support of former slaves as head of the Freedmen's Bureau and founder of Howard University,” says the NPS.