presented by the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation

Dearing Street Historic District

The 1859 Meeker-Pope-Barrow House features one of only two antebellum gardens remaining in Athens.

The 1859 Meeker-Pope-Barrow House features one of only two antebellum gardens remaining in Athens.

with Hubert McAlexander

Saturday, September 25 at 10 am

Saturday, October 23 at 10 am

Dearing Street is the quintessential old Southern neighborhood of gracious homes and gardens. The land was originally part of the 633-acre tract that John Milledge purchased and donated for the University of Georgia, portions of which were sold over the years to raise money for the college. Dearing Street was laid out in the 1830s into four-acre squares and sold over a 50-year period. Most of the homes were built between the 1820s and 1910 in a wide range of architectural styles including Folk Victorian, Colonial Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, Neoclassical and vernacular cottages. The street was named for William Dearing, a wealthy plantation owner who was among the elite that came to Athens to educate their sons at the University and build great mansions. A list of the street’s former residents—among them the Deuprees, Barrows, Erwins, Cobbs, Rutherford, Childs and Harrises—reads like a who’s who of Athens. Subsequent owners subdivided their lots and later-period structures filled out the street. One of the early residents was Malthus A. Ward, a physician and botanist who was the university’s first professor of natural history. He created an 8-acre botanical garden for the university—the first in the South—which extended from his home eastward to Tanyard Branch. The Dearing Street Local Historic District is home to two charming local favorites, Finley Street, which is the last remaining street to feature Belgian Block paving, and The Tree That Owns Itself. Dearing Street was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. This tour will last approximately 2 hours.

Your tour guide:

Hubert H. McAlexander, Josiah Meigs Professor of English, Emeritus, is a native of Mississippi but a resident of Athens since 1974. Trained in American literature at the University of Mississippi and the University of Wisconsin, and the author of nine books, McAlexander has been a longtime supporter of preservation in Athens and long interested in the history of his adopted town and historic street. Dearing Street, located on the next hill west of the University, has always been home to leaders of town and gown. He was the impetus behind and researched material for Historic Dearing Street by Frances Taliaferro Thomas, the only book to be dedicated to a single street in Athens.