Clark–Chalker House
Clark–Chalker House | |
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| Location | Middleburg, Florida |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 30°4′7″N 81°51′37″W / 30.06861°N 81.86028°W |
| Built | 1835 |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 88001701[1] |
| Added to NRHP | October 5, 1988 |
The Clark–Chalker House is a historic home in the Middleburg Historic District located on 3891 Main Street in Middleburg, Florida. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on October 5, 1988.
History
[edit]Antebellum Period
[edit]The Clark-Chalker House was built in 1835 in Garey's Ferry, a settlement located along the North Fork of Black Creek and along the route of the federal road, which passed through the settlement.[1] Under construction upon the breakout of the Second Seminole War, the Clark-Chalker House and surrounding area was quickly enveloped within a hastily-erected stockade palisade that was called Fort Heileman. It has been surmised that the house may have served as a hospital for soldiers during the war.
The site of the home was directly along the federal road, which allowed residents of Garey's Ferry to access the nearby, neighboring settlement of Whitesville, which was located along the South Fork of Black Creek and would have also been a town through which the federal road passed. The federal road was funded by the United States Congress and constructed between 1824–1827, crossing Black Creek where the North and South forks joined, and ran north, allowing travel all the way to Camden County, Georgia, where it ended in the village of Colerain, Georgia; likewise, people could travel from Garey's Ferry, Fort Heileman, or Whitesville southwest to Tampa, Florida.
The Clark-Chalker House was purchased by Isaac Varnes in 1845. Whitesville merged with Garey's Ferry to become Middleburgh in 1851, and Clay County separated from Duval County in December 1858.[2] In 1859, Varnes sold the house to William Sims Bardin.
After the American Civil War
[edit]The Clark-Chalker was one of many homes that were eventually built in this area, and saw frequent commercial trading as cotton and other agricultural produce from the Alachua Prairie area was carried over the Black Creek Trail through Garey's Ferry, and the surrounding area became an important cotton-shipping port following the Second Seminole War until the mid-1860s, at which point Garey's Ferry and Whitesville had both grown significantly in population and influence, and the fencing of Fort Heileman had long been dismantled, destroyed by a flood in 1842. During the American Civil War in 1864, Union Army raided and burned the entire area surrounding the Clark-Chalker Home, and the town (by then, known as Middleburgh) had lost its trade monopoly within the area.[3]
Bardin's daughter, Martha Anne, married Albert Chalker in December 1865. Chalker was a Confederate Army veteran of the American Civil War, having served under Captain J.J. Dickison in the Second Florida Cavalry.[4]
Notability as historic landmark
[edit]It was deemed notable as it "was one of the original houses built in the town of Middleburg and was associated with two of the pioneer families of the town for almost a hundred years."[5]
In the 1980s the home was purchased by a local family (Gaudet) and served as their primary residence until the early 1990s. While owned by the Gaudet family, the building was added to the national historical register. During the Gaudet period of ownership, the property was bisected creating the address 3893 Main street. The purpose of this change was to accommodate another historic building being added to the property. The building added was the original Middleburg Masonic lodge that was scheduled for demolition. The then owner of the Chalker house, Larry Gaudet, hoping to preserve the lodge building, purchased the building from the masonic organization and had it moved to the Chalker property. The building was then restored and served as a part-time residence for the family until such time as both properties were sold in the early 1990s.
References
[edit]- ^ a b "National Register Information System – (#88001701)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "Journal of the Military Service Institution of the United States". 1910.
- ^ Vanderhill, Burke G. (1987). "The Alachua-St. Marys Road". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 66 (1): 51 (map), 59–62. ISSN 0015-4113.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Lea Wolfe (June 29, 1988). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Clark-Chalker House". National Park Service. Retrieved March 23, 2018. With 21 photos.
External links
[edit]- Clay County listings at National Register of Historic Places
- Clay County listings at Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
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