Parkside District Walking Tour Locations

Acworth’s Parkside District is the greenspace at the heart of downtown. Rich in history, Parkside is home to historic churches, schools, and businesses, including Doyal Hill Park (home of Acworth’s Rosenwald School), which tells the stories of Acworth’s rich African American heritage.

Acworth Christian Church

Acworth Christian Church was established in 1858 under the name of Mt. Zion Church of Christ by Nathan Smith, an established evangelist. The church was originally located on Mitchell Hill. Smith was one of the first schoolmasters in Acworth, and the first worshipful master of the Acworth Masonic Lodge. The church thrived until the Civil War, when the building was dismantled and used as shanties for Union soldiers. The Federal Government reimbursed the church the sum of $400 for this loss in 1915. The church re-established in 1875 at its current location on Northside Drive. Tragedy struck again in 1899, when a fire destroyed the church. Nathan Smith died that same year, so he never got to enjoy the rebuilt church, which opened its doors in 1901. The church’s original brick exterior was covered by stucco in the 1980s.

Roberts School

Roberts School was built on School Street on the original site of the Rosenwald School, with the contract to build the school for $62,000 awarded to a Cedartown construction by the Cobb County Board of Education during the 1948-1949 terms. Construction began soon thereafter. The segregated facility housed grades K through 7. Schools of the type were common, seen by locals as a reasonable response to the “separate but equal” educational facilities. The school is named for Norman Roberts, killed during World War II. Norman’s father, Luther, had been active in achieving a public school for Acworth’s black community. After integration of Cobb County schools in 1967, the building housed the City’s Public Works and Water Departments, and the Cobb County Health Department. Community Development Block Grants and the City of Acworth provided funding to renovate Roberts School into a Community Center in 2002. The community and City work together to provide after-school programs and other classes here.

Bethel A.M.E. Church

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Bethel A.M.E. Church is significant in architecture as an excellent example of a late 19th century use of the Romanesque Revival style for a church in a small Georgia town. On the exterior, the heavy massing of brick masonry construction, asymmetrical front towers with octagonal steeples, simple detailing, and rounded arched windows and door openings are important elements of this style. While a few of its outstanding interior features include the beaded, tongue-and-groove coffered ceiling; the original plaster and wainscoted walls, the historic pulpit and balustrade and the intact church bell. This building remains the oldest church structure in the City of Acworth that has retained most of the original design and materials. The main section of the church, the sanctuary, was built between 1871 and 1882. The 1871 deed recorded the land purchase; however, the actual structure does not appear on a deed until 1882. The front vestibule and bell towers were added in 1895. The church was created, and the structure built within the first two decades after the Civil War. It represents one of the first forms of a social institution that was built by and for the freed black community.

McConnell House

The McConnell house is thought to have been built circa 1902. The original owner, Jeff McConnell did not have a formal education, but was able to read, write, and managed several businesses in the Acworth area. He is believed to have been the first African American business owner in Acworth, a shoe repair business in the basement of the residence. The McConnell home stayed in the family until the death of his daughter, Ella McConnell Payton in 1982. A fire swept the front rooms of the house in 1980.The home was repaired and continued as a residence with the help of a Community Development Block Grant. The city of Acworth purchased the house in 2016 and completed renovations in 2017, making it ADA compliant and a structure sound for commercial purposes.

Rosenwald School

The Acworth Rosenwald School, circa 1924-25, was one of the over 5858schools (242 in Georgia) built with the assistance of the Julius Rosenwald Fund. Originally the school was sited on School Street, where the Roberts School Community Center is located today. Slated for demolition by the Cobb County Board of Education in 1948-49 to make way for the new Roberts School, the structure was donated to the African American community in Acworth. Dismantled by volunteers, each timber and board was numbered, the nails were straightened, and even roofing shingles salvaged. In 1953, the property was deeded to the Acworth Colored Community, and the structure was re-built for use as a community center. All the original materials were used when the school was re-assembled bu tthe orientation was reversed, rear to front. Later, a shed addition was added to the rear for bathroom and kitchen facilities. Known as the Community House, since its rebuilding in 1953, the School has been in continuous use by the African American community, hosting parties, dances, family gatherings, reunions, and holiday celebrations. The School, linked to the community for over 80 years, still serves as both a social hall and an extension of the locals’ homes and churches.

Logan Farm House

Known for years as the McCollum Farmhouse, the home, built in the mid to late 19th century, sits upon a land lot designated as Land Lot 31, in the 20th District of the 2nd Section of those lands ceded by the Cherokee Nation. In the 20th district, there were 342 Land Lots. Each of the land lots comprised 160 acres. This was not unusual in the scheme of things: normally, all lands distributed by land lotteries in Georgia were comprised of 160-acre plots. In the 1832 Land Lottery, this was not the norm. In the land that would become Cobb County, District 20 would be the only district distributing 160-acre plots. The remainder of lots distributed would be 40-acre plots, the reason being that unlike past lotteries, the 1832 Land Lottery was designated as the Gold Lottery. Gold Lottery recipients, according to the state would receive 40-acre plots. The original structure was two rooms, separated by a hallway. The hallway was probably considered a small room originally until stairs were added in the late 19th century for the upstairs addition. From 1897 to 1912, the McCollum family lived on the property that is now Logan Farm Park. Y.D.“Young Daniel”, his wife Mary Jane Kitchens, and other McCollum family members are photographed on the porch of the home.

Zion Hill Baptist Church

The Zion Hill Baptist congregation was first organized in September 1864. The Baptist and the Methodist used the same building. The structure was of rough lumber, with shutters as windows, but no windowpanes and rough benches for pews. After a few years, the members built a church one mile from town on Southside Drive. In 1914, under the leadership of Rev. Jackson, the congregation moved into their present building without any debt. The church still shares a close relationship with Bethel A.M.E. Church and often holds joint services.