Placenames in Columbus and Muscogee County (Part 2) - Rosemont and Belmont

Historic Columbus
9 hours ago
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SOURCE: Placenames in Columbus and Muscogee County: Part One by Kenneth H. Thomas, Jr. Muscogiana Journal, Vol. 22, Fall 2011.

Thacker Howard House (Rosemont), 629 20th Street, once in the middle of a large estate. The interior was decorated with hand painted murals. Thacker Howard was the second oldest son. He married a Miss Thweatt. They had four sons, Thacker, Homer, Toombs, and Seaborn and three daughters, Rebecca, Mary, and Elizabeth (who married Henry T. Hall and was the mother of Sarah, Mrs. W. C. Bradley).

The story of how Rose Hill got its name is tied to the James Carter Cook family, who came to Muscogee County in 1833 from Morgan County, Georgia. The family is linked to two antebellum houses, Rosemont and Belmont, both now gone, as well as the naming of Rose Hill.

Rosemont (pictured above) was owned by James Carter Cook, Jr., and his wife, from the 1840s until 1883. James Carter Cook, Jr., at age 21, married Mary Louisa Redd on November 7, 1844, and presumably moved to the property described shortly thereafter. The chronology of the house is best described by Etta Blanchard Worsley who was closer to the sources when she wrote the following in 1951 about the Thacker B. Howard House which she stated was later owned by James Carter Cook. The house which by then was numbered 629 Twentieth Street was pictured in her book, and she states:

"The house, built in the 1830s, changed hands long before Thacker Howard's death, and was owned for a number of years by James C. Cook, Jr. Mrs. Cook, who was Mary Louisa Redd, planted beautiful rose gardens, and a hedge of Cherokee roses, which extended around the point of the triangle formed by Talbotton and Hamilton Avenues. Others followed her example, and she named the neighborhood "Rose Hill," calling her own house, "Rosemont." ... In 1903, the J. T. Whatley family acquired the property and have held and treasured it for nearly fifty years. Mrs. Lowe was Miss Hannah Whatley." [This last sentence refers to the then-owner, Mrs. Marcus Lowe.]"

1883 Map of a portion of Rose Hill at the intersection of Hamilton Road and Talbotton Road (drawn for sale purposes). The house icon (in between Rosemont Avenue and Magnolia Avenue) represents Rosemont.

The Cook family sold "Rosemont," and surrounding acreage, in 1883, with a large advertisement appearing in the newspaper, showing the above triangle of land, the Albert G. Redd estate to the north, and the "Thomas estate" across Hamilton Road. The January 1883 advertisement included this plat/drawing which shows the main house remaining on a smaller lot, with the rest of the estate being divided up into smaller house lots, thus opening up the area for other people to build houses.

Above - L: Albert G. Redd House R: Judge Grigsby Thomas House

Below - Image of Rosemont taken in 1936 for the Historic American Building Survey.

It is sometimes difficult to document when a name was first used for a house, as the newspapers of the day often did not mention the name of a house, and even in obituaries, people whose homes are well known and even survive today, are said to have died "in Wynnton" or at their residence "near Wynnton" rather than at their house or plantation which had a name, or is thought to have had one in general use. With Rosemont, a newspaper article from 1877 clearly indicates some of the activities associated with Mrs. Cook and "Rosemont." In response to an article reprinted from the Atlanta Constitution in the Columbus Times, criticizing some of the houses in Columbus as being rundown, the writer mentions that Mrs. Cook had established the "Rosemont Social Club" in September 1875 and held meetings at her house. In 1880, the Rosemont Social and Music Club was to meet at the Cook residence on Rose Hill.

After selling Rosemont, the Cook family apparently returned to live permanently at their plantation house Belmont, only 7/10ths of a mile or so northwest of the Rosemont property. It is possible that Belmont was once too remote for them, but as Rose Hill was building up, it was not as far away from the city anymore.

The house, "Rosemont," on Rose Hill changed hands a number of times after the Cooks moved. When street numbers were assigned, it became first 615 20th Street, later changed to 629 20th Street. The city directories give an incomplete chronology of who was living in the house. In 1896-1897, William Slade was there, by 1898-1899 Mr. Cook's niece, Carrie Lewis Philips and husband Charles, as well as Grigsby E. Thomas and wife Emma were there. In 1900 just the Philips couple are there, and in 1902, John P. Norman and wife Sarah. In 1903, as noted by Mrs. Worsley, John T. Whatley and wife Lillie bought the property and moved in with their children, having previously lived close by.

The Whatleys had four daughters and a son. When their daughter, Nettie Ruth, married Professor Edward Scott Sell of the University of Georgia, in the house in 1914, the article referred to the house as "formerly known as 'Rosemont.'" After the deaths of the Whatleys, their daughter, Hannah lived there, later marrying Marcus Lowe. By the time of her death in 1966, she had sold the property, and it had become the medical offices for Dr. Harold G. Jarrell by 1965. It was under his ownership that the house was torn down in 1991 after a new office was built. "Rosemont" was also photographed and recorded by the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1936, being listed as the Cook-Thomas House. The adjoining house of Mrs. Cook's brother, Albert G. Redd, was also recorded in 1936 and is listed as being demolished c. 1957.

This Rosemont is not to be confused with the 20th century neighborhood near St. Francis Hospital, where there was also a shopping center and elementary school with that name. That area began to be developed and used the name Rosemont as early as 1921.

Belmont

Citizens today probably don't recognize the name of "Belmont," the name of the plantation house and grounds that existed from the 1830s until the 1960s and which was owned by the James C. Cook family until 1928. In researching this article, I learned of the importance of this property and how its division over time shaped the development of the northern area of Columbus.

The Belmont plantation/estate of James Carter Cook, Sr., appears to have encompassed in 1838, 1138 acres of land in the 8th District of Muscogee County, which included land lots 68, 70, 71, 72, 88 and 89,24 with this acreage appearing in tax records in 1838 (1138 acres), 1845 (1038 acres), and 1869 (944 acres). It was said to have had a mile frontage on the Chattahoochee River and included what today is known as the Rose Hill area, Bibb City, Lover's Leap, and parts in between. Before 1838, Cook also owned lot 69 (sold in 1837), as well as lot 79, adding about 405 acres to his earlier holdings.

An 1897 Enquirer article indicated a fire at the Belmont property had burned "the frame servant's house in the yard and had spread to the large, old-fashioned log smokehouse." Both were destroyed, and only rain apparently saved the main house described as an "elegant residence."

Other articles indicate what an important site Belmont was both for recreation and social events. The newspapers online have yielded an 1873 article referring to Belmont as the "estate of James C. Cook" and indicated that Lovers' Leap was a feature of the property, although the site, now the dam at Bibb City, was some 8/10ths of a mile away. Most groups who visited the site for picnics went first to Lovers' Leap. In 1876, a Methodist Sunday School group was coming to visit, and "Belmont" was described as the "country seat" of Mr. Cook, 1 ½ miles from the city, and on the North and South Railroad. It indicated the property had been settled in 1834 by his father, and the original house was still standing. An 1889 article indicated that the lawns of Belmont went down to the Chattahoochee River. Others indicate a play was performed at Belmont.

The 20th century brought great changes to Belmont, as the estate grew smaller with land sales and divisions. The century opened with Miss Cook and her father still living there, and her father, James Carter Cook, Jr., died there in 1901. The house was featured on a postcard ca. 1908 with the caption reading: "Belmont, Residence of Miss Mary E. Cook." By this time the house had a street address of 3109 7th Avenue, and the block of land it sat on was bordered by 32nd Street on the north, Belmont Street on the south, 6th Avenue on the west, and 7th Avenue on the east. Mollie Cook died at Belmont on March 12, 1928, just as the city of Columbus was preparing to celebrate its centennial. Miss Cook left "Belmont" and the remaining property, as well as an endowment, to the First Presbyterian Church, and a plaque there commemorates her donation.

In 1941, "Belmont" was mentioned as one of the historic places in Columbus, when a summary of its fate was given: "the immense tracts of land which formerly surrounded the old homes have been cut to oblivion ... and the old house if left standing is only too often a ghostly shadow of its once simple elegance. Particularly is this true of Belmont... The house was built in 1833 and was originally surrounded by 4,400 acres of land and whose boundaries ran from the Chattahoochee River to Jordan City. It was kept intact until 1869, when piece by piece the land began to be sold. Belmont today is said to be used as a factory boarding house." The address given was 3109 7th Avenue. The Sanborn Fire Insurance Map for 1929 shows the house facing east toward the railroad which had crossed the property early on around 1871-1872.

The last city directory to list it, that of 1962, showed it was divided into four apartments. It was torn down shortly thereafter. Today the final city block, across the street from a public housing/apartment complex, remains intact and could be a possible archaeological site. The site is about 6/10ths of a mile east of the Johnston Mill Lofts.

Belmont Street is perhaps the only remaining placename in Columbus related to this once important estate.