Hooper-Turner House
The Hooper-Turner House,
located at 5811 Oakdale Road,
sits on approximately one acre on a ridge line that borders the Chattahoochee River. The Hooper-Turner House is a significant landmark connecting people in our community with Georgia land lottery pioneers, the Civil War, and the evolution of our modern society. With appropriate rehabilitation, the Hooper-Turner House can be a focal point of the River Line Historic Area, as featured in the River Line Historic Area Master Plan.
Built about 1850, this modest house witnessed the growth of a frontier community along strategic transportation routes, the construction of unique Civil War fortifications by enslaved African-Americans preceding the Battle of Atlanta, the growth of Atlanta and Marietta, 20th century industrialization, the Great Depression and World War II. Throughout this 150-year history, the house provided functional modest shelter for its owners and their families. Today, the house stands empty, ready to tell us stories of the past.
The house carries an oral legend that it was used as a Civil War hospital. The Marietta Daily Journal, May 13, 2007, quoted next-door neighbor Kathleen DeLay as saying, “It was the place where soldiers stopped to be taken care of and given medicine.” In 2003, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners accepted the house to the Cobb County Historic Register.
The Cobb Landmarks and Historical Society has designated the Hooper-Turner House as one of its Preservation Priorities. MIC's Chattahoochee River Line Committee, in cooperation with the River Line Historic Area group, is working to secure the future of this important landmark, currently owned by the City of Smyrna.
Primary among MIC's accomplishments has been the completion of an Adaptive Reuse Feasibility Study for the house. The Study examined the house, the site, governing regulations, and current market demand to determine the most feasible and appropriate potential uses for the property.
A Preliminary Architectural Investigation Report by Georgia State University Professors Richard Laub and Laura Drummond presents architectural evidence in dating the home to about 1850. This gives credence to the home's Civil War hospital oral legend. The Civil War battlefront moved through here in July 1864.
For information on the Mableton Improvement Coalition, please email info@mableton.org
Copyright 2001-2012 Mableton Improvement Coalition All Rights Reserved
For more information about the Hooper-Turner House, please contact Roberta Cook at 404 699-2326 or at the River Line Historic Area website. Volunteers are always welcome to help us secure the future of this important part of our history.
