Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
In this episode of Adventures Into History, I’m joined once again by local historian Charles Hartley as we document one of the last remaining antebellum plantation houses still standing in Harris County, Georgia. This home, believed to have been built in 1851, was originally constructed by the Passmore family before being sold to the Hollis family. In 1929, the Watson family purchased it—and eventually, Mr. Tebe Burlinson, who married into the Watson family, became the final resident.
Mr. Burlinson lived here until his passing in 1998. Since then, the house has remained abandoned—largely untouched. We explore its structure, layout, and interior, finding everyday items and family artifacts left behind. As always, we leave everything exactly as it was and document only—our goal is to preserve history through observation and respect.
The house’s construction includes a story-and-a-half dogtrot design, which raises some questions. While the Harris County history book calls it nearly 200 years old (even though it was published in the 1960s), Harris County itself wasn’t settled until after the Washington Treaty of 1826. That makes a pre-1826 build date historically unlikely. It does make us wonder: could this house have been built even earlier than 1851?
This is a rare surviving piece of Harris County’s early plantation history. Join us as we explore what’s left behind—and preserve it through documentation.
In this episode of Adventures Into History, I’m joined once again by local historian Charles Hartley as we document one of the last remaining antebellum plantation houses still standing in Harris County, Georgia. This home, believed to have been built in 1851, was originally constructed by the Passmore family before being sold to the Hollis family. In 1929, the Watson family purchased it—and eventually, Mr. Tebe Burlinson, who married into the Watson family, became the final resident.
Mr. Burlinson lived here until his passing in 1998. Since then, the house has remained abandoned—largely untouched. We explore its structure, layout, and interior, finding everyday items and family artifacts left behind. As always, we leave everything exactly as it was and document only—our goal is to preserve history through observation and respect.
The house’s construction includes a story-and-a-half dogtrot design, which raises some questions. While the Harris County history book calls it nearly 200 years old (even though it was published in the 1960s), Harris County itself wasn’t settled until after the Washington Treaty of 1826. That makes a pre-1826 build date historically unlikely. It does make us wonder: could this house have been built even earlier than 1851?
This is a rare surviving piece of Harris County’s early plantation history. Join us as we explore what’s left behind—and preserve it through documentation.
