The Shivers-Simpson House, also known as Rock Mill, on the west bank of the

Ogeechee River The Ogeechee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 26, 2011 blackwater river in the U.S. state of Georgia. It heads at the confluence of its North and South ...

Hancock County, Georgia Hancock County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,735. The county seat is Sparta. The county was created on December 17, 1793, and named for John Hancock, a Founding Father of the Amer ...

, near

Jewell, Georgia Jewell (also Jewells, Jewells Mills, Rock Factory, and Shivers) is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Warren County, Georgia, Warren County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It lies along Georgia Piedmont Scenic Byway ...

, was built around 1820. It was 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 ...

in 1970. (Could it be the building located at exactly ?) It is a three-story rectangular house, about in plan, which William Shivers arranged to have built around 1820. Its first floor is a high basement, built of Salmon-colored brick laid on one course of granite blocks, and topped by a narrow course of the same. The house is late

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

in style, with "strong overtones of 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 ...

. As of 1970, it had only been modified significantly once, back in 1890, when an original raised

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

at the main entrance was removed and replaced by a second-story porch. The main entrance retains its original glass-panelled

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. Th ...

, wide double doors, and side lights. In 1970, plans were underway to re-create the portico, which would again resemble a Greek

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

temple. A broad stairway would rise to the portico/entrance. The restoration was being guided by

Edward Vason Jones Edward Vason Jones (August 3, 1909 – October 1, 1980), a neoclassical architect and member of the Georgia School of Classicism, began his career in 1936 with the design and construction of the Gillionville Plantation near his hometown of Alb ...

. With The "story of Rock Mill" begins with William Shivers' father, Jonas Shiver, who was born in 1750 and fought in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. Jonas married in 1772, and by 1809 had migrated from Virginia to this area, and was living on the east bank of the Ogeechee River in Warren County, and was a mill owner and presumably a slave owner. His home was at the center of the small community then named "Shivers", now Mayfield. It also had a

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

, a woolen mill, a store, a tavern, and a stage-stop and post office on the Augusta-to-Milledgeville stagecoach line. William Shivers, the son, built a grist mill on the west side of the river, in Hancock County, and then this frame house named for the mill, before 1820. His mills "manufactured 'cotton goods and wool yarns,' and carded wool for the local people", and he became rich and had many slaves. The house is located on Mayfield Road, on the

north of the community of

; Jewell is at the intersection of Mayfield Road and

Georgia State Route 16 State Route 16 (SR 16) is a state highway that travels west-to-east through portions of Haralson, Carroll, Coweta, Spalding, Butts, Jasper, Putnam, Hancock, and Warren counties in the western and central parts of the U.S. stat ...

. The road may now or also be called Hamburg St. Park Rd., which goes north to Mayfield. A church, the Rock Mills Methodist Episcopal Church, about to the west, on three acres of Shivers' land, was the "lord-of-the-manor's church". (Could the remains of this church be the single surviving wall and church bell, apparently from some historic structure, now at the Jewell House, a wedding venue? Probably not.Jewell House photos
/ref>)

References

National Register of Historic Places in Hancock County, Georgia Federal architecture in Georgia (U.S. state) Greek Revival architecture in Georgia (U.S. state) Houses completed in 1820 {{GeorgiaUS-NRHP-stub

See also

References