Ware-Lyndon House Through the Years

Ware-Lyndon House Through the Years. . 1806 City of Athens is chartered, becoming the northern-most settlement in Georgia., 1829 Dr. Edward Rowell Ware moves to Athens to practice medicine., 1840s Ware purchases a large tract of land in the northern part of Athens. After removing an existing house, he builds this Classic Greek Revival style home. The property is located in the fashionable Lickskillet neighborhood and extends east to the North Oconee River., 1848 Athens obtains a new charter and forms a city government under an “Intendent” system. Ware is elected to serve as the first Intendent [Mayor]., Mid-1850s Dr. and Mrs. Ware remodel their house, adding Italianate marble mantels, ornate plasterwork, gas light to the interior, intricate ironwork to the porch, and Italianate brackets under the outside eaves., 1870 Part of the Ware estate is sold to build a depot for the newly-chartered Northeastern Railroad., 1873 Dr. Edward R. Ware dies., 1880 Dr. Edward S. Lyndon purchases the estate from Ware's heirs. The new owners update the house, adding decorative Victorian murals along with stenciling and grain-painted finishes on the woodwork, walls, and ceilings., 1917 Dr. Edward S. Lyndon dies. The house becomes rental property managed by his daughter, Moselle Lyndon Burke., 1939 Ware-Lyndon estate is purchased by the City of Athens., 1939-1974 House is used by many government agencies, the last being the City of Athens Park and Recreations Department (now Leisure Services)., 1974 Ware-Lyndon House becomes the center of visual arts in the Athens area through a citizen movement lead by Ronnie Lukasiewicz., 1976 Ware-Lyndon House is listed in the National Register of Historic Places., Late 1990s Lyndon House Arts Center is built, connecting to the Ware-Lyndon House and providing critically needed exhibition, gallery, and program space., 1999 Ware-Lyndon House becomes an 1800s period house museum, highlighting the lives of two families that helped shape Athens for more than two generations., 2002 Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation consolidates the furniture and decorative arts collection and places it on permanent loan to the Ware-Lyndon House., 2016 Front walkway and formal garden SPLOST project is completed., Captions (left to right) , . Ware Era Map (1874) Made one year after his death, the features on this 1874 survey map of Edward Ware's estate highlight the family's mid-1800s lifestyle. The map shows an extensive group of outbuildings and cultivated areas. , . 1918 Fire Insurance Map (Sanborn Map Company) Lyndon lived in the house until his death in 1917. The 1918 Sanborn illustrates the changes that had occurred in the property since the 1874 Ware estate map. These changes included the removal of a number of the outbuildings and the residential development surrounding the property. Athens City Directories reveal that by 1918 the house was no longer occupied by members of the Lyndon family but instead was managed as a boarding house by Lyndon's daughter, Moselle Lyndon Burke. , . Aerial views
, Historic Structures Interpreted on the Site , The 1874 and 1918 maps, along with information provided by family members, allowed for the interpretation of several structures that were once a part of the property: , . A children's Victorian style playhouse was added to the front lawn during the Lyndon era and remained until circa 1920. , . A kitchen and attached gas works were located near the northwest corner of the house in the 1874 map. It is not clear if either of these remained by 1918. , . A cistern was located behind the house. It is known that both the Wares and Lyndons had a cistern.