Shingle House, c. 1880, Cherokee County, GA

Yellow Creek Road, photographer facing SE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photographer facing NE

  It can be said that the term "house" is used rather loosely in this case. Aptly named due to the oak shingle siding, this structure has been used as a commissary, an administrative office, a post office, the second floor used as a hotel, and a boarding house. It also contained a small stamp mill used in the extraction of gold where local residents could participate in cashing in on one of the area's natural resources.

The building sits on the site of, and is the only remaining structure of the Creighton/Franklin Gold Mine complex. According to the Cherokee County Historical Society, the mine was active for more than 70 years (1830s-1907) as the property blossomed into a complex that eventually included a mining plant with a large stamp mill, a chlorination plant, assay laboratory, blacksmith shop, stables, miners' cottages and a dam with 2 large turbines to generate power for the site.

Like all land in this part of Georgia, it was obtained in the Cherokee Land Lottery in the 1830s by Mrs. Mary Franklin. At one time, the property ballooned to 1,280 acres. By 1883 it was owned and operated by J.M. Creighton.

Photographer facing north

Today, the Shingle House sits alone in an open hayfield, slowly decaying under the cover of climbing vines, the only remnant of the once thriving village of Creighton Hills.

The structure is part of a list of twelve "Sites Worth Saving", compiled by the Cherokee County Historical Society. Privately owned, there is no indication that any preservation attempts will be made.