History of the Cobb House
The extravagant Federal style home was built in the 1830's. It was a wedding gift in 1842 from Joseph Henry Lumpkin, the first chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, to his daughter Marion and T.R.R. Cobb.
As one might expect of a man who had accomplished so much before turning 30, Cobb decided his house needed some significant changes. By the mid-1850's, Cobb had enlarged the home by adding two octagonal wings and changing the orientation of the front door from Pulaski Street to Prince Avenue.
In 1873, the Catholic Bishop of Savannah, William Gross, purchased the part of the Cobb property holding the buildings that had formerly housed the law school. He converted the school building to a mission church. The Archdiocese of Atlanta purchased the house in 1962, after it had served as a rental property and a fraternity house. It was used as the rectory for St. Joseph's church until the early 1980's, when expansion plans threatened the historic building.
The Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation worked with the church for over a year to find a buyer who would be willing to move the house to a suitable location and renovate it in the tradition and architecture of the era. When they were unsuccessful, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association bought the house and in 1984, moved it to Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta. The move cost the house its National Register designation, awarded in 1975.
The newsletter of the Archdiocese of Atlanta in January, 1984 said, "Father Kieran will be relieved when the Cobb House is finally relocated…Father Kieran expresses no real sorrow in relocating his offices [to the new building at St. Joseph's]. However, he may miss the birds that have camped out in the fireplace for so many years in this old historic T.R.R Cobb House."
The Stone Mountain Memorial Association was never able to raise the funds for restoration, and the house sat on the same cinder blocks it had landed on in 1984. The privatization of the park dealt a final blow to its ambitious plans. Now, after almost 20 years of uncertainty, the old house is on its way home to its old neighborhood.