Hyde Farm: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, National Park Service

Wheeler Byrd, Beth

Hyde Farm is a 135-acre vernacular landscape contained within the boundaries of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (NRA). The farm, located along the Chattahoochee River just north of Atlanta, Georgia, is jointly managed and owned by the National Park Service (NPS) and Cobb County. The cultural landscape consists of terraced fields, woodlands, and historic structures dating to the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Hyde Farm is significant as an exceptional example of an upper Piedmont farm in Georgia. The site helps preserve the history of the Chattahoochee River valley by representing early settlement patterns and nineteenth and twentieth century agriculture. The vernacular architecture, terraced fields, and overall spatial organization contribute to a rare instance of a landscape in Cobb County with considerable historical integrity. Periods of significance include the Power period (1848-1920) and the Hyde period (1920-2004); the prehistoric era may also be significant for potential contributions from further archeological investigation. The cultural landscape centers on the Power-Hyde House, a 1840s log house with two twentieth-century additions. A cluster of farm outbuildings behind the house create a U-shaped work yard. Other outbuildings and the remnants of an orchard occupy a pasture to the northwest. Terraced fields to the north and south of the core farm are bordered by woodlands, and the landscape is surrounded by suburban development to the north and west. Hyde Farm includes twelve structures (in addition to the main house), fenced animal pens, and many small-scale features dating to the twentieth century. The site boundaries stretch from the west bank of the Chattahoochee River eastward to the floodplains and upland ridge, matching the boundaries of the farm once owned by Jim Power and later Jesse Hyde. Joseph Power and his family were among the first of a group of Scots-Irish settlers who re-located to the region after the Creek War. The son of Joseph Power, James Cooper “Jim” Power farmed land in Cobb County in the 1840s and built the log house on the property. The family grew cotton and subsistence crops on the floodplains and uplands that now comprise Hyde Farm. The settlement pattern along the Chattahoochee River developed as a network of small farms connected by familial ties, roads, and ferry crossings, extending through the area after the Cherokee were pushed westward. During the nineteenth century, the Power family farm was influenced by surrounding events of the Civil War and the 1873 economic depression. James Alexander Hyde began tenant farming in 1874, and in 1920, his son Jesse Hyde purchased the Power property on the Chattahoochee River. With new ownership and developments in farming, the landscape was altered by the addition of new farm buildings, cleared land, expanded terraces, and diversified production. Significant changes at the farm include increased mechanization and construction of a truck shelter. The present arrangement of buildings and landscape features reflect the character and use during the Hyde Farm period. With the rapid suburbanization of Cobb County in the 1960s, Hyde Farm became an isolated rural enclave amid residential and commercial areas. Preservation efforts began after Jesse Hyde’s death in 2004, and in 2011 Cobb County and the National Park Service created a cooperative management agreement and opened the farm to the public. The farm retains a significant amount of intact resources that continue to illustrate patterns and techniques of settlement and agriculture on the Georgia Piedmont. However, many individual structures of the Hyde Farm landscape are in poor condition. Since a 2008 preliminary assessment, the farm has been minimally maintained, and the potential for vandalism and deterioration remain a threat until management is finalized.

Hyde Farm: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, National Park Service

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