Our Heritage Village sits on a corner of Autrey Mill's 46 acres and is comprised of 8 buildings plus a large pole barn. The Visitors' Center, deBray Chapel, Farm Museum, and Program Barn were original to this site . The Summerour House, Warsaw Church, Green Country Store, and Tenant Farmhouse were saved from demolition by Autrey Mill and moved from nearby locations. This village and its related exhibit pieces provide an understanding of this area's proud rural heritage from the mid 1800s to the mid 1900s.
The Heritage Village buildings are not usually open except during special events; however, group guided tours can be arranged.
Visitors' Center
Built in the 1860s as a three-room tenant house for the Summerour plantation, the Visitors Center now houses animal exhibits and information. It's a gathering point for groups and activities.
Summerour House
The Summerour House is a Victorian farmhouse built in the 1880's on today's site of the Spruill Oaks library. In bad shape when moved to Autrey Mill in 1992, the house has been renovated and decorated for use as an event house.
The Summerour House heritage garden was designed and planted by the Master Gardeners of North Fulton. [read the gardener's diary]
Old Warsaw Church
The Warsaw Church began as a campground about 1822. It was started by a group of Moravians from the Savannah River settlement. During the war between the states the Warsaw Campground was used as a meeting place to gather and prepare to fight. The 1860's building was moved to Autrey Mill in 2004 from its original site on Medlock Bridge Road (across from St. Ives). It has undergone a restoration and is used for weddings, meetings, and lectures.
Read Sundays at the Warsaw Church, a County Line Magazine article about this historic building.(presented with the permission of the publisher of County Line Magazine, Sugarcane Communications, LLC)
Green Country Store
The G.W. Green Family Store was built in the 1920's. The store was located at the corner of Old Alabama Road and Buice Road and was moved to Autrey Mill in October 2004. The store operated from the 1920's until 1958 during which time it provided supplies, as well as a gathering place, for area residents. Numerous old items were found in the store, such as a quilt top that is backed in 1929 newspaper and ledgers for all the years the store served the community. A few of these items are on display in the store, but most are stored until there is funding to evaluate, catalog, and properly preserve these historic items.
deBray Chapel
The deBrays were the last residents on the Autrey Mill land. They built the small chapel in the 1960's to be used for piano recitals and plays. The pews came from an old church in the community. The chapel is awaiting renovations after a tree fell on it during Hurricane Ivan.
Farm Museum
The deBrays built this building in the 1960's as a garage. It houses Autrey Mill's farming equipment. As money becomes available it will be renovated and expanded into a better space to protect and display our growing collection of historic exhibit pieces.
Tenant Farmhouse
Originally located on the land owned by Will Summerour, this small 1800's house was occupied by the families of various tenant farmers, who often moved from house to house in the spring to more productive land. The house was relocated from the adjacent Water Treatment Plant property about 1/4 mile to its current site in 1990. It was renovated in 1991 to serve as a house museum. The current furnishings were donated by "Old Timers" from the area and depict how the house might have been furnished in the early 1900's.
Program Barn
Built in 1942 by the Abernathy family, the middle section of the building was the original barn. It was a very small structure, with room for only one mule and one cow. In the early 1970's, Mrs. deBray added the stone wings on either side to use as a storage and guest house for her five visiting grandchildren and friends from Atlanta. The building was renovated in 2004 and is currently used for classes and meetings.
Pole Barn
The Pole Barn is a recent structure but is a type of building common on southern farms in this area. It's used for picnics, retreats, classes, and summer camp.