1226 Rock Chapel Rd
Lithonia, GA, USA

National Register of Historic Places - Bond Family House

Statement of Significant:

The locally significant Bond Family House was constructed c.1872 as the home of one of DeKalb County's leading citizens, Eason Jackson Bond (1834-1893). It remained in his prominent family for several generations until 1985. The house is significant under Criterion C in architecture as a good example of a Plantation Plain house type, and because it retains much of its original form and materials. Minor alterations to the rear do not impact the integrity of the historic house. According to Georgia's Living Places: Historic Houses in Their Landscaped Settings, the Plantation Plain house has a two-story block at the front (usually gabled) and a one-story range of rooms at the rear (usually shed-roofed), and typically has a full-width one-story front porch. It was mostly a rural phenomenon, and most surviving examples date from c.1820 to 1850. This portion of DeKalb County was a rural farming community in the 1870s, and a house of this size would have stood apart from many of the rest. The house displays significant intact features from its date of construction, including chimneys, walls, windows, doors, floors, mantels, staircase, balustrade, moldings, and hardware. Family descendants believe that the wood used in the house was milled at the Bond family lumber mill. The house is significant under Criterion A in social history for its associations with the Bond family. Eason Bond was the son of an early DeKalb County pioneer who moved to the area c.1834. Eason served as Chairman of the DeKalb County Commission, was a Justice of the Peace, and was very involved with Rock Chapel Methodist Church.

There is little left in the Rock Chapel area that relates to any of the pioneer families. Joseph Ballard Bond (1790-1863), originally of Virginia, moved to the area from nearby Hall County c.1834. He constructed a house that no longer exists, which had been located just south of where the Bond Family House now stands. He also donated the land for nearby Rock Chapel Methodist Church in Land Lot 190 of the 16th District, and is buried in the church cemetery. Joseph and his wife Sarah had six children, including Eason Jackson Bond who was born in 1834. Eason and his wife Mary Eveline Nail Bond had the house-built c.1872 on what was a larger tract of land. The family also owned what would become an early 20th century granite quarry located at Rock Chapel. Eason's five sons who lived in the Bond Family House included Joseph Bryan (J. B.) Bond (1872-1952), and four others who were most commonly referred to by the initials A. Y., G. R., I. A., and W. A.

Joseph Bryan Bond (known as "Uncle Joe") was best known as a long-time correspondent for the DeKalb News Era newspaper, and a chronicler of the area's history. Various family members owned other tracts of land in the vicinity. Brothers and sons founded several local enterprises in the Lithonia area, such as the W. A. and J. B. Bond Sawmill, a photography business owned by J. B. and I. A. Bond, and the Bond Brothers Store, which was once a popular stop across the road from the Bond house. Joseph Bryan Bond eventually built a house next to his family store (neither is extant), and the Bond Family House was passed down through subsequent generations through his brother William A. Bond. William's great-granddaughter Rachel Bond Sorrow Sheppard lived in the house until 1985. The house retains its significance as an important part of the social history of DeKalb County.
The architecture reflects the county's rural roots. The Plantation Plain house type is one of the earliest forms in Georgia, and is almost strictly a rural phenomenon. Agricultural land once surrounded the Bond Family House. Located between Stone Mountain and Lithonia, the area was rocky and most farms were not large. Bond family members were likely early subsistence farmers who eventually earned most of their livelihood from other enterprises. Because they also owned a lumber mill, the family would have been able to build the relatively substantial house with manufactured pieces on both the outside and inside. While there are still a few similar houses remaining in parts of DeKalb County, the Bond Family House is a good example of an early type.

National Register Criteria

The Bond Family House is significant at the local level under Criteria A and C as a good example of a late-19th-century Plantation Plain house that was associated with a prominent DeKalb County family.