UPSON COUNTY, GA - HISTORICAL HOUSES Rucker-Davis-Reeves House

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Historic Houses printed in Upson Historical Society Newsletters:
May 1999


A GRAND OLD HOUSE

The Rucker-Davis-Reeves house near the old depot, was
built in 1881 by Mr. & Mrs. Fielding Sanders and Mary
Wyim Rucker. Mr. Rucker had practiced law in Butler,
Georgia, and moved to Thomaston when he accepted a job
as general manager of one of Upson County's early
cotton fac-tories. The Ruckers belonged to the Bap-tist
Church, and two of their daughters, Lucy and Irene
(Mrs. J. T. Tisinger), taught at R. E. Lee in the
1880's and 1890's. He moved from Thomaston to
Gainesville, Georgia. Lucy went on to Shorter College
fame at Rome, where she married President Azor W. Van
Hoose.

Next, the home was owned by M. W. Davis and his wife,
affectionately known as "Miss Lou." They enlarged it to
create a library and ballroom, in order to ac-commodate
the lavish entertainment for which the family was
noted. In 1919, the house was then bought by Mr. T. J.
Reeves, who was in the cotton business. The house was
again enlarged and a warp-around porch was added.
Mrs. Martha Reeves was the last member of this family
to occupy this house. 

This is a Victorian style house called Second Empire.
This style is named for a period in French history when
Napoleon III ruled France. The main feature of these
houses is the mansard roof with dormer windows. The
mansard roof may have been developed as a clever way to
avoid taxes. In Paris, houses were taxed according to
the number of floors they had. The mansard roof did not
count as an extra floor, but allowed additional rooms.

Second Empire houses are often associated with haunted
houses. One was used in the movie Psycho and the Adams
Family and Munsters television programs.