Black-owned home in Georgia town gets historic marker, others to come

Oscar Carter and Sarah Young purchased the house in 1944 in then-segregated Marietta.

Two Marietta, Georgia, historic preservation groups have recently placed a historic marker on a Black-owned home located downtown that honors the contributions the family (The Carters) made to the community, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting.

The Marietta History Center’s Diverse Cobb Committee and Cobb Landmarks are the managers of a seed grant fund that Marietta residents Jo-Evelyn and Jim Morris established “to erect historic markers in Marietta’s historically Black neighborhoods,” Cobb Landmarks officials said in a press release.

Oscar Carter and Sarah Young, who purchased the house in 1944 in then-segregated Marietta, raised their four children in the house, which was built in 1909. It remains the last private residence on Cole Street in what was once one of the largest Black neighborhoods in the city, according to The AJC.

After Sarah died, her son Kenneth Carter purchased the house. Kenneth taught in the Marietta school system for 48 years. His wife Jeanie Carter, also a teacher in the Marietta schools, was instrumental in helping the school system integrate. She also served for 16 years on the Marietta City School Board, making history as the first Black woman elected to the body. 

According to Cobb Landmarks, the Carter family refused to sell the home to the Marietta Housing Authority, which owns the land south of it.

“As a family, we are taking this time to reflect on the significance of this place and the Carter family’s legacy in the City of Marietta, and to express appreciation for this honor,” Marcus Carter said, The AJC reported.

“Today, the Carter House stands as a reminder of the legacy of the Carter family and as a symbol of the vibrant Black community which once surrounded it,” the press release reads.

The first home to receive a marker through the grant program was the one that pioneering entrepreneur and restauranteur Charlie Hunter, Sr. owned. Members of the Hunter family, who still own the home, attended the marker unveiling in July. 

“He became a fixture in the community, an anchor, and was probably the epicenter of African-American business activity in Marietta, if not the entire county,” Curt Hunter said of his father to The AJC in August.

“One of the reasons my father was so successful was because African Americans had no place to go,” Hunter said. “Those restaurants had a built-in clientele because African Americans could not go to established restaurants.”

The Diverse Cobb Committee has been asked to identify other historic homes in the Black community, according to the press release.

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