This Home was built by the founder of North Augusta SC

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An example of Greek revival architecture, Rosemary Hall was built for James Urquhart Jackson, founder of North Augusta and influential leader in the growth and development of the town during the first decades of its existence. The house stands today as a North Augusta landmark.

Rosemary Hall is a well-preserved example of a turn-of-the-century Greek revival home, reflecting the increasing popularity of this domestic style after the Columbian Exposition of 1893.

Befitting Mr. Jackson's prominence in the community, the structure has elaborate architectural details, including rosemary pine paneling throughout the interior. There have been very few alterations to this structure since its completion.

As president of the North Augusta Hotel Company, Mr. Jackson was influential in the construction of the Hampton Terrace Hotel, a distinguished winter resort that was built in 1903 and attracted such notable guests as John D. Rockefeller and William Howard Taft. (It was destroyed by fire in 1916.)

To insure the development of North Augusta, a bridge was needed to connect the proposed site with Augusta, on the Georgia side of the Savannah River. As president of the North Augusta Land Company, Mr. Jackson influenced the firm to provide $85,000 for the construction of a steel bridge which, after dedication, was presented to the city of Augusta. In 1939, the original bridge was replaced and the new span was dedicated to James U. Jackson.

Mr. Jackson was also responsible for the opening, in 1902, of an extended trolley line between Augusta, Georgia, and Aiken, South Carolina, via North Augusta. This marked the inaugural service of an interurban trolley line in the South. The line was abandoned in favor of motor buses in 1929.

As founder and president of the North Augusta Land Company, Mr. Jackson directed the purchasing of the land and the laying out of the streets upon which North Augusta developed, leading to its incorporation in 1906.

Building Description

Rosemary Hall (constructed 1900-1902) is a two-story white clapboard house in a Greek revival motif. Surmounting a low brick foundation, the front facade is highlighted by a wide L-shaped verandah that extends across the front and down the left elevation.

Twelve fluted Corinthian columns support a wide entablature accented by a frieze of acanthus leaves. A rectangular window bordered in colored glass and framed by scrollwork accents the porch pediment. Formerly shingled, the tin roof is punctuated by corbel-capped chimneys.

Floor-length windows with louvered shutters open onto the porch from the parlors of the first floor with 2/2 lights on the second story. The double doors are recessed within a projecting entryway. The engaged Corinthian columns, each hand-carved from a single tree, and cornice with balustrade create an arcaded effect with a false balcony on the second-story level. An additional feature is the Italian colored glass that has been used in the fanlights and sidelights of the entrance.

The wide expanse of the left facade is broken by two shallow bays extending onto the porch. The block and dentil molding of the portico continues under the overhang. A small one-story addition has been added to the rear section of this elevation.

The rear elevation features a two-story kitchen and pantry wing extending from the main body of the house. A two-tiered porch with square bracketed columns and wooden balustrade opens off the right side of the kitchen wing.

The right facade, basically unadorned, has 2/2 lights, two shallow bays and a continuation of the block and dentil molding under the eaves. A first-floor breezeway separating the pantry from the kitchen in the rear has been enclosed to provide additional bathroom facilities.

The center hall plan of the first floor has the principal rooms opening off a paneled hall with a staircase of rosemary pine rising up to the rear wall and a landing. From the landing, the staircase divides and twin flights rise to the second-story hall. The focal point of the landing is a colored glass window topped by an ornamental shelf. The fourteen-foot ceilings of the ground floor are paneled in a coffered English style with decorative knobs. The coal-burning fireplaces have columned overmantels with beveled glass mirrors.

The second-story rooms are arranged around a hall area whose spaciousness is emphasized by a columned balustrade surrounding the stairwell. Ceilings are paneled with thin strips of rosemary pine.

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