City Spotlight on Russell: Blink and You Just Might Miss this Tiny Slice of Georgia History

Surrounded on all four corners by Winder to the North, Fort Yargo to the West, the Northeast Georgia Regional Airport to the East and Ga. Highway 316 to the South, you may very well have driven through the tiny hamlet of Russell on more than one occasion without even realizing it.

Comprised of just a pinch more than one square mile of land area, according to the most recent estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau, Russell boasts a whopping population of zero. However, that was not always the case.

With a home built in the early 1900s by a former chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court at its core, the Russell Historic District has been listed on the National Register for Historic Places since October 1984. The simple, two-story country house with an L-shaped porch, beveled siding and shingled low-pitched roof was also the birthplace of Georgia governor and U.S. senator Richard B. Russell Jr. and his 14 brothers and sisters.

The home is located on the south side of U.S. Highway 29, a tenth of a mile east of Russell Cemetery Road. A historic marker that bears the seal of the Barrow County Historical Society and was erected by the Winder Lions Club and Auxiliary in 1977 is situated about five miles east of Winder on Athens Highway. The marker reads:

Russell House

The Russell House was built in 1912 by Richard Brevard Russell, Sr., B. 1861 - D. 1938, and his wife, Ina Dillard, B. 1868 - D. 1953, who were married June 24, 1891. Fifteen children were born of this marriage. Judge Russell was elected Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Georgia in 1922, and served in this capacity until his death. Mrs. Russell was Georgia's Mother of the year in 1950. In 1954, the late Senator Richard B. Russell, Jr., the oldest son, became the owner of the house and made it his home until his death in 1971.

Russell Memorial Park and Cemetery is located to the south of the house.

In addition to the historic sistrict, several places bear the name of Russell throughout the great state of Georgia, including a number of elementary and middle schools, Russell Hall dormitory and Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Sciences at the University of Georgia, the Richard B. Russell Federal Building in downtown Atlanta and Richard B. Russell Dam and Lake on the Savannah River, among others. A bronze statue of Russell also stands on the lawn of the Georgia State Capitol. Following his death due to complications from emphysema in 1971, he was buried in the family cemetery behind the house.

So, the next time you’re passing through Russell, you might just want to slow down a little and take a good look around at a true piece of Barrow County history.

Sources

Barrow County Comprehensive Plan 1998-2018: Chapter 5 Historic Resoures; Northeast Georgia Planning (negplanning.org ); authored by the Preservation Planner on behalf of the Barrow County Comprehensive Plan Citizens Advisory Committee. http://www.negplanning.org/documents/32 (June 14, 2011)

Richard Russell, Jr.; Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Russell,_Jr. (September 13, 2011)

Russell House Historical Marker; GeorgiaInfo: http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/gahistmarkers/russellhistmarker.htm (September 13, 2011)

Check back next Wednesday when we return with a new City Spotlight on the Town of Carl.