Good Morning TD friends! It’s been so beautiful and warm and the leaves are beginning to change color, so it’s time for a roadtrip!  Today, we are traveling to Roswell, Georgia, just a few miles from Atlanta, to look at the antebellum properties and there are plenty to see. I was hoping to get some photos of really good doors here, but most of these properties were plantations at one one time and sit a far piece from the main road! And, then there is the long driveway to it! So, as my title suggests, I have what I call a Thursday Door. I have lots of little doors and One Good Close Up Door!

First, we went to the visitors center and got the map of Roswell and found the closest (within walking) properties. I noticed these big homes were called Halls.  Hall was a British term that meant a large country house, especially one with an estate.  In 1830, Roswell King, a wealthy land owner from coastal Georgia was riding back from a business trip when he came upon the roaring  Vickery Creek and land he thought would be good to grow cotton on, right beside it. He could not get that land out of his mind and when the Cherokee Nation was moved out, the land was sold by lottery to white men. In 1832, King bought all the property from the men, who had bought it through the lottery and brought Negros from his plantation in the South, to construct a cotton mill, the Hall, the slaves quarters, the mill quarters and all the buildings in the town. King encouraged other plantation owners to move there too and invest in the mills.

Today, you can tour two of the Halls of the founding fathers. Barrington Hall is the home of Barrington King, son of Roswell King, and the other is the Smith Plantation, home of Archibald Smith. The third Hall is Bulloch Hall, the childhood home of President Theodore Roosevelt’s mother, Mittie Bulloch. All are open to the public and you will learn how all three founding families and the rest of the larger planters made up the “Roswell District.” So, let’s go up the hill to the Hall at the top!

I had to stroll the gardens too.

This was the smoke house at Barrington Hall.

This brick structure close to the Hall was the Ice House, where they also took their baths in Summer………….

Walking down the hill and down a long street and then up a long driveway……we came to Bulloch Hall.

Read the sign and take it all in…………there will  be a quiz at the end. Ha Ha!

and their gardens looked like this……..

A group of volunteers was at both Halls that day tidying the gardens.

Off the main street to Bulloch Hall was this smaller property, but just as important.

Jimmy Carter’s Roswell Whitehouse. I really liked this place. It looked doable.

Following Mimosa Street we walked along what I would call Church Row. Churches, churches and more churches with large mansions thrown in too. Be sure to read all the signs. They tell you who owned what. Most of these mansions are now used for wedding venues. They would all make a lovely place for a wedding reception!

Then we came to Canton Street. One restaurant after another and all unique in their fare…..

and ta-da, my one good door!

As we walked along the streets we met the residents of Roswell too……..

And I’m showing one small house to show not all the homes are Halls here!

I hope you enjoyed our walk through Historic Roswell……we are headed over to the old cotton mill, known as the Roswell Manufacturing Company, to see how well the mill fared. Won’t you join us ? See you there!

PS My featured photo was taken in Atlanta, where we spent a week! My what a difference in these two places!

Look here to see what others are doing for Norm’s Doors!

It’s easy to do Norm’s Doors. Photograph some doors and post them to Thursday Doors on Thursday!

PS All photos were taken on our IPhones …….we are traveling lighter!