Stone Mountain Park tears down fire-ravaged home built for Confederate colonel, moved from south Georgia to be part of what is now called Historic Square

The Davis-Dickey home was torn down to its foundation in June (Photo courtesy John Rosemeyer)

It went down with no fanfare or media coverage, for that matter.

Stone Mountain Park’s Davis-Dickey home, which was formerly owned by a Confederate colonel, was demolished in early June after officials decided it was damaged beyond repair by an accidental fire in November 2023.

I don’t normally report something that occurred two months ago, but I only became aware of the demolition last week. I had checked on the fate of the structure previously and was last on site in early April. A blue tarp placed over the roof after the blaze was in pieces then, leaving sections of the roof open to the elements.

Park spokesman John Bankhead on Tuesday forwarded me a press release that was sent out ahead of the work, but I did not receive at the time. He said no photos of the demolition were available and no news outlets covered the story. I did see a photo on Flickr.

The Stone Mountain Memorial Association, which oversees the state venue, said structural engineers made an assessment and historic preservationists were consulted before the decision was made.

More damage is evident on the other side of the house (Stone Mtn Park Dept. of Public Safety)

The blaze was concentrated in the center and upper portions of the home; its wings were not as damaged. But the damage was extensive. 

The Georgia fire marshal’s office determined that an electrical fault in conduit near the entrance to the home was the cause. Since then, the house was surrounded by a fence, awaiting its fate.

“Reconstructing the home to 1840’s era construction standards would be next to impossible and incredibly expensive,” the association said in the release. “In addition, with it now being part of a state park, the building would need to be reconstructed as ADA compliant with additional points of entry, most likely an interior elevator and ramps added for access and egress."

The Davis-Dickey manor residence was the centerpiece of a recreated antebellum plantation at the park. Other relocated buildings in Historic Square (left) are open to the public, Bankhead said.

All items, mostly period furniture and antiques, not lost to the fire are in storage, Bankhead said.

The Davis-Dickey home  was built in the community of Dickey, west of Albany, Ga., for the family of slaveholder Charles Milton Davis, who left Aiken, S.C., in 1850.

The home was completed in about 1856. Davis, a cotton planter, was the third-largest slaveholder in Calhoun County with 78 enslaved persons. He owned about 3,500 acres, according to census records. Charles and his wife Agnes lived there with seven children.

Davis served as a colonel in the Calhoun County cavalry. Other websites indicated he served as well in the 12^th Battalion Georgia Cavalry and the 10^th Georgia State Troops. All of the units appeared to be stationed in Georgia.

The 6,250-square-foot home was broken into quarters and moved in 1961 to the park for reconstruction. The house faced the park's famous Confederate memorial carving of Lee, Jackson and Jefferson.

The fire ravaged-home before its demolition (Photo courtesy John Rosemeyer)

After it was restored and filled with original and period furnishings, the residence opened to Stone Mountain Park visitors in 1963 as a largely privately operated venture. It was considered the "big house" at the complex, which includes other homes, outbuildings and two slave dwellings.

Now it's gone, with no apparent replacement in sight.

Memorial association CEO Bill Stephens said: "We take historic preservation seriously at Stone Mountain Park, and though the Dickey/Davis House was the centerpiece of the Historic Square, none of these buildings are original to the region, each were transferred and reconstructed here from other parts of the state.

“The costs of restoration are prohibitive, and there is currently no funding source available for complete restoration. The building also cannot be secured in its current state, potentially making it a target for vandalism or potential injury by a park visitor."

Confederate carving and lawn at Stone Mountain Park (Chris Yunker, Wikimedia)

Stone Mountain Park in recent years has been under pressure to remove features, street names or exhibits that depict what critics and scholars call symbols of the Confederacy, Lost Cause and white supremacy.

Architectural historian Lydia Mattice Brandt and associate professor of history Philip Mills Herrington, writing in the March 2022 Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, detailed the history, timeline and goals of the antebellum plantation now known as Historic Square.

They write that the plantation complex buttressed Georgia’s resistance to desegregation in the late 1950s and early 1960s and is a mixture of fact and fantasy. The authors suggest a reinterpretation of the square is critically important.

Stone Mountain rises behind the home before the fire (Jason Armstrong, HMdb.org)

The Stone Mountain Memorial Association has pledged to make changes, but some say the pace has been too slow. The park has relocated four Confederate flags that were next to a popular trail.

A planned museum at Memorial Hall will cover the site's entire past.

Home destroyed in fire at Stone Mountain Park was built for man who served in Confederate cavalry. Officials have ruled out arson

Center of the home goes up in flames (Stone Mtn Park Dept. of Public Safety)

(Updated Nov. 18) -- A Confederate colonel's lavish manor home, which a century later became the centerpiece of a recreated antebellum plantation at Stone Mountain Park outside Atlanta, went up in flames early Tuesday .

“It appears at this point to be a total loss. The fire was concentrated in the center and upper portions of the home,” John Bankhead, park police spokesman, told the Picket in an email.

Bankhead said in an email two days later that tests on fire debris and other evidence collected at the Davis-Dickey house led the state fire marshal's office to determine "that an electrical fault in conduit near the entrance to the home was the cause of the fire and not arson."

The Davis-Dickey home is among a collection of relocated antebellum structures in the park’s Historic Square. The residence was built in the community of Dickey, west of Albany, Ga., for the family of Charles Milton Davis, who left Aiken, S.C., in 1850.

The house -- which won praise for its architecture and antiques -- faces the park's famous Confederate memorial carving at Stone Mountain Park and has been the object of critics who believe the complex and some other park features send the wrong message in today's world.

The home was completed in about 1856. Davis, a cotton planter, was the third-largest slaveholder in Calhoun County with 78 enslaved persons. He owned about 3,500 acres, according to census records. Charles and his wife Agnes lived there with seven children.

Davis served as a colonel in the Calhoun County cavalry. Other websites indicated he served as well in the 12^th Battalion Georgia Cavalry and the 10^th Georgia State Troops. All of the units appeared to be stationed in Georgia.

A marker outside the 14-room home says the colonel was made to sign the oath of allegiance to the United States after the war. The family moved to Apopka, Fla., in the 1870s and raised oranges. Davis died in 1902 at age 79.

Stone Mountain rises behind the home before the fire (Jason Armstrong, HMdb.org)

The residence remained in the family until it was moved to Stone Mountain Park in 1961 to be the centerpiece of the attraction.

The home was in poor condition when it traveled 200 miles, according to the Society of Architectural Historians.

After it was restored and filled with original and period furnishings, the residence opened to Stone Mountain Park visitors in 1963 as a largely privately operated venture. A visit to the park this week shows the complex to be showing its age. 

It was considered the "big house" at the complex, which included other homes, outbuildings and two slave dwellings. The area was promoted as both history and entertainment and actress Butterfly McQueen, featured in the film "Gone With the Wind," was hired to appear at the plantation site. She left the park in 1965.

A tarp covers the home and a fence was erected (Picket photo)

Stone Mountain Park's website says: Each structure was moved from its original site and carefully restored to preserve its authenticity and historical value. Take a self-guided tour and enjoy the sights and smells of the working cookhouse and garden. This fascinating area also houses the most extensive collection of period furniture and decorations in the south, reflecting the diverse lifestyles of 18th and 19th century Georgia residents."

It says the home is “an excellent example of neoclassical architecture.”

Stone Mountain Park in recent years has been under pressure to remove features, street names or exhibits that depict what critics and scholars call symbols of the Lost Cause and white supremacy. The Stone Mountain Memorial Association has pledged to make changes, but some say the pace has been too slow. The park this year relocated four Confederate flags that were next to a popular trail.

Road to Historic Square was closed for a few days (Picket photo)

Scholars and historians say the attraction tried to approximate Tara, while minimizing the horrors of slavery.

Gordon Jones, senior military historian at the Atlanta History Center, 25 years ago said: “In short, the Stone Mountain Park which emerged in the 1960s comprised a comical orgy of Lost Cause, Old South, and even Western movie clichés, clearly removed from the more serious and hateful Ku Klux Klan past, but also clearly rooted in it.”

Architectural historian Lydia Mattice Brandt and associate professor of history Philip Mills Herrington, writing in the March 2022 Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, detailed the history, timeline and goals of the antebellum plantation now known as Historic Square.

They write that the plantation complex buttressed Georgia’s resistance to desegregation in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and it was mixture of fact and fantasy.

“That seeming authenticity coincided with the well-worn tropes of Lost Cause storytelling, marginalizing the history of slavery and the enslaved while depicting White consumption as virtuous and White pleasure as paramount. The plantation, past and present, was an amusement park.”

The authors suggest a reinterpretation of the square is critically important. (Click photo at left for a rendering of Historic Square.)

“The site provides an exceptional opportunity for visitors to question how their own experiences, education, consumption, and assumptions also perpetuate the Old South myth.”

The Picket reached out to the Stone Mountain Memorial Association for comment on the current role and possible future of Historic Square, which remained closed after the fire.

It's too early to say what might happen to what's left of the Davis-Dickey residence.

Even though the structure suffered extensive fire and water damage, it’s possible some belongings can be saved. As for the possibility of rebuilding, Bankhead said: “Not sure at this point. The left and right sides were not as damaged, but the center is destroyed.”