MEBANE NUCKOLLS HOUSE

Approximately three miles southwest of Macon, hidden bv a forest of trees, sits a lovely old brick mansion known as the Mebane-Nuckolls Place owned by Willie and Jim Ann Perkins. The house is located on a fifteen acre tract, part of an 886-acre farm tract on Nuckolls Road. The land was first owned bv Starkey Hare, who built a log house for himself east of the present house, as well as several outbuildings and cabins of logs.

The present home was built between-1848-1860 by John Howe Mebane, who bought the property from Mr. Hare. In 1884, Mr. Nathan Blaine, grandfather of Julius W. Nuckolls, bought the place from Mr. Mebane and gave it to his daughter, Maggie, Mr. Nuckolls' mother, as a wedding present. The price paid was $4,500 in gold. It was at this time that the mansion passed into legal possession of the Nuckolls family and was maintained until Mr. and Mrs. Perkins purchased it and l5 acres in 1984. The Mebane-Nuckolls House has been entered on the National Register of Historic Places, Nov. 20, 1985.

The house is constructed of red brick made by slaves and burned in a kiln located back of the old orchard. Ornamental masonry scrolls decorate the eaves about the dentals which adorn the upper limits of the outer walls. The four white columns across the front are square double columns on a single base. All outer doors are double doors, approximately nine feet high, having four panels. Beautiful scroll lintels surmount the windows, all of which have green shutters.

The floor plan is in the shape of a T, the front part (the top of the 7) being two stories high. The back part is one story in height, and has a long porch running down each side of it. Onto these two porches double doors open at two places, providing easy access from one side to the other. Two cisterns built by Mebane are on the grounds, one on each side of the brick yard. Brick conduits carrv the water underground to the house. The north cistern formerly had a lattice-work covering, but that has been removed. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins are in the process of restoring the house; they are presently living in the finished one story back part of the house.

Mr. Nuckoll made a recording on his 82nd birthday as he was sitting on the front veranda looking out over the tree-shaded lawn. reminiscing over his past. In this recording, he recalls the way the place looked when he lived there as a boy. This was a typical old southern plantation with all the necessary outbuilding including stables, carriage house, smokehouse, cornmissary, gin, meat houses, potato house, chicken house, ice house, blacksmith shop, granary, and woodworking shop.

Capt. John W. Mebane, son of the former owner, was killed during the War Between the States at the battle of Lost Mountain. His body was brought back home and buried in the family plot a short distance behind the house. This Kelsey Mebane plot contains the remains of several members of the Mebane family, as well as Starkey Hare and other members of the Hare family who first settled here.

Although their stay in Fayette County was of short duration, the Mebanes' story is as classic as Gone With The Wind. Their appearance on the scene was during that turbulent era which led up to the War Between the States. They left the known quantity which was North Carolina, much like their ancestors who removed from Ireland to the Colonies to re-establish themselves in the West which was for them, Fayette County. They overcame the obstacles of nature, distance, disease and death to build a cotton plantation second to none. They built the most beautiful home, which stands today as a reminder and a symbol of the romantic antebellum period of the Old South. They gave two sons to the Confederate Army in defense of their home and way of life. When the war was decided, one had made the supreme sacrifice, while the other had lessened his hold on life. The stories these old brick walls could tell of the glory that was Fayette County.

The home on Nuckolls Road is all that remains. By preserving it, we preserve our history; it is a legacy which may not be recaptured once destroyed. She is Fayette County. She is Tennessee. She is the Old South. She is American History.