Above:  A Painting That Once Graced the Taylor House in Summerville, Georgia

Photographer = Kenneth Randolph Taylor, December 25, 2020

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I moved last July.  Prior to that, I had moved most recently in August 2007.  Last July, I moved within Athens-Clarke County, Georgia; I relocated into the Five Points neighborhood.

I learned last Thanksgiving that one of my next-door neighbors used to own the Taylor House in Summerville.  I also learned that her former husband was a student under my grandmother, Nell Taylor, at Chattooga High School, in the 1970s.

The painting shown above hangs in a house nextdoor to where I live.  This painting hung in the Taylor House for a long time.

It’s a small world.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 27, 2020 COMMON ERA

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Above:  The Taylor House, February 12, 2014

Image Source = Jimmy Holbrook, 1180 AM, Summerville, Georgia, via the Save the Taylor House Facebook Page

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I extend my deep gratitude to everybody involved in the continuing effort to salvage this great old house.  Special thanks go to William Benefield, the new owner of the structure, and all who have contributed physical labor to the effort, which is in its early stage.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 13, 2014 COMMON ERA

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For Continuing Updates:

https://www.facebook.com/SaveTheTaylorHouse

https://www.facebook.com/congressstreet

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Image Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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My grandmother (1915-2001)

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

Images Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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Images Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

In July 1987, my parents and I, who lived in Berlin, Georgia, at the time, visited my grandmother, Nell Barrett Taylor, in Summerville.

Most images of the old house I have seen have a vague timeframe–certainly not a precise date.  Thus photographs with precise dates provide milestones in marking changes in that structure.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

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Photograph Courtesy of Randolph Fleming Taylor

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My grandmother, Nell Barrett Taylor, lived from 1915 to 2001.  Here she stands behind the old family house in Summerville, Georgia, the kitchen to her right and the garage visible behind her.  My uncle Randy recalls that the last time anyone parked a car in that garage was 1962.  He also remembers the automotive maneuvers required to get a car in and out of the garage.

As for me, the closest thing to a garage of car port I recall being used for is the car shelter at the kitchen door.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 8, 2013 COMMON ERA

Amended January 18, 2014 Common Era

Image Courtesy of Randolph Fleming Taylor

My grandmother was in her yard at Summerville, Georgia, at the time.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

Image Courtesy of Randolph Fleming Taylor

Here is a photograph of my grandmother in a Cessna 24R in 1996.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

Above:  The Taylor House in 2004

This Image and the Other One Courtesy of Randolph Fleming Taylor

I think of an old joke.  Two mature women–neighbors–were speaking across a fence.  One commented that she liked being married to an archaeologist.

The older I become, the more interesting he finds me,

she said.

Older women, in my experience, enjoy that joke more than younger women.

My ancestral family home–which goes back to the 1890s, with stages of construction and one of demolition (there was another wing, removed in the early 1960s)–is like a mature woman and I am like the archaeologist in the joke–I like old buildings.  And I, who have the floor plan committed to memory, want to see the old structure restored to grand dame status.  May house allies in Summerville, Georgia, succeed!  My family–from John D. Taylor, Sr., and his wife, “Hattie,” through my grandparents, John D. Taylor, Jr., and Nell Barrett Taylor, would approve.  And members of the generation preceding mine–my father, my uncle, and my mother–and of my generation also approve.

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Uncle Randy sent this scan of part of a 1990 Summerville News article featuring my grandmother, Nell Barrett Taylor.  Here and elsewhere (most Facebook of late) I have read moving accounts of my grandmother’s positive influence on many lives.  Many students benefited much just from her official duties as a teacher.  She helped at least one former student on her own time at home with a college paper.  And then there were her musical contributions to Summerville Presbyterian Church as a musician.  Hers is a fine legacy.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 29, 2013 COMMON ERA