The Bowman-Pirkle House is a historic two-story log house located in Buford, Georgia, United States. Built in 1818, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is recognized as one of the earliest structures built and occupied by white settlers in the former Cherokee territory of North Georgia.
History
The house was constructed in 1818 for John Bowman (1798–1890), who served as a volunteer courier for General Andrew Jackson's staff during the First Seminole War (1816–1819). According to historical accounts, Bowman met Major Ridge, a principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, during Jackson's encampment near Flowery Branch, Georgia. Ridge gifted Bowman a sizable tract of land, and with the help of Cherokee braves, Bowman built the two-story log house where he resided from 1818 until 1890.
Bowman married Mary Smith of North Carolina around 1822. He earned the title of "Doctor" by learning herbal medicine from the Cherokee, planting medicinal herbs along a stream about a mile from his house in a place that came to be called "Medicine Hollow." He treated both Native Americans and white settlers and developed a large, largely self-sufficient plantation.
In 1890, the house was acquired by Bowman's daughter Amanda and her husband Noah Pirkle, who had served in the Confederate States Army (Company A, 11th Georgia Regiment) during the American Civil War. The house remained in the Pirkle family until 1969, when it was given to the Hall County Historical Society. Around 2003, ownership was transferred back to descendants of the Bowman family.
Architecture
The house is a Log Plantation Plain Type with a double verandah. The original main structure was built of logs but has since been weatherboarded. Key architectural features include:
- A three-bay, weatherboarded house elevated on flat bedrock
- A trabeated doorway with sidelights
- A double verandah with square posts and flat balusters
- Flat, scalloped wood trim around the gable edges
- Originally no glazed windows, only shutters
- A central hall with narrow stairs leading to two large rooms
- A later one-story, three-bay "cottage" addition (circa 1870) with a square-columned porch
- A continuous L-shaped shed porch to the rear
- One original stone chimney (1818) on the west side; a later chimney added with the cottage addition
- A well house, several barns, and a grape arbor on the property
Location and Relocations
The house has been moved multiple times:
- Original location: Friendship Road (formerly Pirkle Ferry Road) near Flowery Branch, Hall County, Georgia — now a parking lot.
- 1980s: Moved to the Lake Lanier Natural History Museum near Lake Lanier Islands Water Park.
- Circa 2003: Moved to its current location on private property at 2699 W. Rock Quarry Road, Buford, Georgia, within the original 7,200-acre Bowman plantation limits.
National Register of Historic Places
The Bowman-Pirkle House was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 14, 1973 (NRHP Reference No. 73000623). The nomination form describes it as "a fine example of the architecture of the early settlement of Indian lands" and notes that it is "probably one of the earliest structures built and occupied by whites in this Indian territory."
Notable Visitors
Historical figures known to have visited the house include General Andrew Jackson and Chief Major Ridge of the Cherokee Nation.
Slavery
Historical records indicate that as of 1861, ten enslaved individuals were held captive on the Bowman plantation.
Legacy
Some descendants of John Bowman continue to own and manage historic properties in Buford, including the Victor Hugo Allen mansion.
