(Editor’s note: The structure was demolished Oct. 20, 2025)
The peril has arrived.
In 2024, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation listed Cedar Grove in Martinez as one of the state’s “10 Places in Peril.” Now, some 170 years after it was built, the “stately white house” behind Our Savior Episcopal Church on Columbia Road is in imminent danger of destruction.
The two-story Italianate-style home, now called Stuart Hall, was built in 1855 by a Georgia planter named Benjamin Berry, on land he purchased in 1851. The home was named Cedar Grove after the rows of cedar trees Berry planted along the home’s carriage road.
Berry’s wife, Emily, inherited the property after his death, and though she later remarried, an unusual prenuptial agreement for that era ensured the property would remain the property of Emily and her daughter, Mary.
Common historical lore attributes the name of the Evans community to the man Emily married in 1864, Confederate Gen. George Washington Evans. That’s unlikely, in part given that Cedar Grove is in Martinez. In any event, after Gen. Evans’ death in 1876, Emily and Mary began selling off the Cedar Grove land in pieces. John Bivens at last purchased the family home in 1908.
That same year, then-Secretary of War William Howard Taft visited Cedar Grove for a barbecue hosted by Richmond County Tax Collector Charles Bohler. That meant Taft, who later became president, visited the white house in Martinez before moving to the White House in Washington, D.C.
Over the years, a prevalent myth about the home listed it as the residence of Gen. Clement Evans and referred to him as the namesake of the Evans community. But in 1926, Clement Evans’ son, prominent Richmond County educator Lawton B. Evans, put that tale to rest in a letter to The Columbia News:
“I do not know much about the family of Evanses who lived in that neighborhood,” Evans wrote, “though I recall the stately white house which was pointed out to me as the home of the family.”
That would have been the family of Emily Berry and Gen. George Washington Evans, though the latter died when Lawton was just 14 years old.
As for Cedar Grove, the property changed hands over the years until Rev. Albert Stuart bought the property on behalf of the Episcopal Church in 1965. The church initially used that “stately white house” as a sanctuary for its Columbia Road campus, and later as a preschool facility, and in recent years the use of the building has dwindled because of concerns about its structural integrity.
Now, after 60 years of owning and in recent years struggling to maintain the building, and after pleas for help in preserving the mold-infested structure, Church of Our Savior has scheduled the old home for demolition. Unless an unforeseen savior steps forward, the home John Berry built during Columbia County’s infancy soon will fade into history.
Barry L. Paschal, former publisher of The Columbia County News-Times, adapted this article from a 2022 presentation to Leadership Columbia County
I served on the fundraising committee with other church & community members who saw value in saving & preserving the property & offering solutions to its future use & preservation. We were ready to begin our efforts with our plans & budget in place waiting for vestry approval. However, the vestry voted against our proposal, disband the committee, & voted to demolish the building primarily because it didn’t want to be responsible for its preservation & use. I am ashamed of their actions & embarrassed by their behavior.
A “mold-infested structure” built by slaves that nobody wanted to save when “pleas for help” were made to the community for over a year? Sure sounds like it’s time to take it down.
I believe something with so much history should be saved. If I could do anything to help others save the historic structure, I would be glad to help.
Agreed
Thanks, Barry, for the history of the property. It brought back pleasant memories of growing up nearby. I knew Mrs. Zelma Parker who owned the property and lived there until she sold to Julian Roberts. Roberts sold to the church. Mrs. Parker was a very nice southern lady, a good neighbor and friend. She was the last owner to live in the home.