Hooper-Turner House Demolished

A part of Cobb County’s 19th century history is no more following the demolition of a historic home in Smyrna earlier this weekend.

The Hooper-Turner House, which was rumored to be a hospital during the Civil War, was torn down on Wednesday after the city proved unable to sell the property and preservation groups proved unable to raise enough cash to save it.

The home was purchased by the City of Smyrna in 2004 for $145,000 in order to keep it from being torn down, but the city couldn’t offload the home as a result of the economic downturn. Concerns about the structural integrity of the home, as well as threats of mold, forced the city to cut its losses and demolish the building.

Historic preservation groups like the River Line Historic Area tried to raise enough money to buy the property and the home from the city, but their efforts were unsuccessful, the AJC says.

No documentation ever surfaced to prove that the home was used as a field hospital during the Civil War, but its construction was dated to the 1850s by a team from Georgia State University.