Barrington Hall is an 1842

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

-style

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

home, likely built by enslaved Africans and

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

. It was the residence of Barrington King who, along with his father

Roswell King Roswell King (May 3, 1765 – February 15, 1844) was an American enslaver, plantation manager, businessman, planter, and industrialist. Together with his son, Barrington King, he founded Roswell Manufacturing Company in the Georgia Piedmont, establ ...

, was the founder of the town of Roswell, in northern

Fulton County Fulton County is the name of eight counties in the United States of America. Most are named for Robert Fulton, inventor of the first practical steamboat: *Fulton County, Arkansas, named after Governor William Savin Fulton *Fulton County, Georgia *F ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. The house was designed by Willis Ball. It was held by the family until 1995 and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. Ranked as one of the "50 Most Beautiful Homes in Metro Atlanta" by ''

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

'' magazine, the mansion has been fully restored and furnished with many period and family pieces. It is owned and operated as a

house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a v ...

by the City of Roswell. A variety of events for families are held at the mansion and on the grounds throughout the year, as well as daily tours of the house.

History

was born in Connecticut but settled in

Darien, Georgia Darien () is a city in and the county seat of McIntosh County, Georgia, United States. It lies on Georgia's coast at the mouth of the Altamaha River, approximately south of Savannah, and is part of the Brunswick, Georgia Metropolitan Statist ...

. He worked for the Bank of Darien and was asked to manage the bank's interests in the gold fields of

north Georgia North Georgia is the northern hilly/mountainous region in the U.S. state of Georgia. At the time of the arrival of settlers from Europe, it was inhabited largely by the Cherokee. The counties of north Georgia were often scenes of important eve ...

. He came across this area in the late 1820s and was impressed with its beauty, while realizing the water power potential of Vickery Creek to drive

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

s. In 1836 he returned to the area with his son Barrington and they began planning the mill and the town. Barrington moved his family to the area in 1838, and in 1839 the Roswell Manufacturing Company was incorporated. The Kings invited friends to move to the new town they called the “Colony” and invest in the Roswell Manufacturing Company. Some of these families included the Smiths, the Bullochs, and the Dunwodys. The Colony was named Roswell, for Barrington King's father, in 1854. Barrington King selected the highest point in Roswell for his home, Barrington Hall. It was built by Willis Ball in the

Greek revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

style of architecture. When the house was finished in 1842, Barrington lived in it with his wife, Catherine, until his death in 1866. The Kings had nine children who survived to adulthood: eight sons and one daughter. In 1883 the Kings’ only daughter, Eva and her husband, Rev. William Baker, moved back to Barrington Hall to care for the elderly Catherine King. The Baker family lived at Barrington Hall until Eva's death in 1923. William Baker had died several years before in 1906. After Eva's death, the house and property was left to Evelyn Simpson, Eva Baker's favorite granddaughter, and Eva's seven children. The other heirs wanted to sell the house, but Evelyn was determined to keep it in the family. With the help of her mother Kate Baker Simpson and other family members, Evelyn raised enough money to purchase the house from the other Baker siblings. With limited money and the help of her sister Katharine, Evelyn Simpson preserved Barrington Hall until her death in 1960. Upon Evelyn's death, her sister Katharine Simpson became the owner of Barrington Hall. She left her teaching job in Atlanta and moved to Barrington Hall to manage it on a full-time basis. In 1970 Katharine met a woman named Lois Carson; they became good friends and Katharine adopted her, so that she would inherit Barrington Hall after Katharine's death. Katharine died in 1995, just before her 100th birthday. Lois Carson continued to live at Barrington Hall until her death in 2003. Before Carson died, she entrusted Barrington Hall to her friend Sarah Winner. The new owner, Sarah Winner, spent two years restoring the property. She had all of the original furnishings and paintings restored. Craftsmen also painstakingly restored the horse-hair plaster walls, ceilings, heart-of-pine floors, and moldings. Her efforts won the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation's Outstanding Restoration Award. In 2005 she sold the property to the City of Roswell, with legal agreements designed to ensure the home would be permanently protected and open to the public for historic, educational, and cultural purposes.

Present

The historic home is now owned and operated as a house museum by the City of Roswell. Located in the Historic Roswell Square on Barrington Drive, it is open for tours. Monday through Saturday, the first tour is at 10 am and the last tour is at 3pm. On Sunday the first tour is at 1 pm and the last tour is at 3 pm. The home has been fully restored and furnished with many original family possessions. The surrounding seven acres of grounds feature the only

antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum ar ...

public garden in the

greater Atlanta Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Alpharetta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the ...

area. Barrington Hall is listed on the

individually and also as a contributing building in the Roswell Historic District. It was included in ''

'' magazine's list of the "50 Most Beautiful Homes in Metro Atlanta."

References

External links

Barrington Hall
- Southern Trilogy
Barrington Hall
historical marker {{National Register of Historic Places Antebellum architecture Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) Houses completed in 1842 Historic house museums in Georgia (U.S. state) Museums in Fulton County, Georgia Roswell, Georgia Tourist attractions in Roswell, Georgia National Register of Historic Places in Roswell, Georgia Houses in Fulton County, Georgia Greek Revival houses in Georgia (U.S. state)