Elisha Winn House Gets National Grant

DACULA, GA -- The site of the Elisha Winn House in Dacula will be getting a little sprucing up, thanks to the Daughters of the American Revolution.

The national society announced that it will be donating $766 to the Gwinnett Historical Society to help seal the exterior of two outbuildings on the site of the early-1800's, plantation-style house.

The funding was made sponsored by Philadelphia Winn Chapter of the DAR, located in Lawrenceville.

The Elisha Winn House is a plantation style house, built in 1811, and is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Gwinnett County.

Early sessions of Gwinnett County Superior Court were held in the Winn family's barn and the inferior court and first county elections were held in the parlor of the house.

The first Gwinnett County jail also was built on the property.

The Gwinnett Historical Society acquired the house and 9.5 acres of land in 1979. Members have been working to restore the property since then.

"The plantation is on the National Register of Historic Places, so these funds will be put to good use ... ," said Edward Williams, treasurer of the Historical Society. "We feel fortunate that the DAR has chosen to assist us in preserving these two important buildings."

The two buildings that will be treated are a schoolhouse from around 1875 and a barn from around 1915. Neither structure has ever been painted or otherwise treated, the historical society says.

They are among the structures, including the plantation house itself, open to free tours throughout most of the year. A fair is held each October at which the buildings are occupied by Historical Society members demonstrating period activities.

Classes are held in the school building.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 to promote patriotism, preserve American history, and support better education for the nation’s children. Its members are descended from "patriots who won American independence during the Revolutionary War."

(Photo via Gwinnett Historical Society)