Bowman-Pirkle House
The Bowman-Pirkle House is a historic two-story log home near Buford, Georgia. Built in 1818 by John Bowman with help from Cherokee neighbors, it was a sign of friendship with Cherokee Chief Major Ridge. The house sits on land that was part of Cherokee territory before being ceded to the United States, making it one of the earliest white homes in the area.
Bowman lived there until 1890. His daughter Amanda married Noah Pirkle, a Confederate soldier, and the property stayed in the family until 1969. In 1977 Golden Pirkle gave the house to the Hall County Historical Society, and around 2003 it was returned to Bowman's descendants. The house has been moved several times; the original site on Friendship Road is now a parking lot near a bank, Zaxby’s, and a Holiday Inn Express. Today the house sits on private property near Sardis Church Road and West Rock Quarry Road in Buford.
The Bowman-Pirkle House was once moved to the Lake Lanier Natural History Museum in the 1980s to protect it after vandalism at the original site. The original Bowman plantation covered about 7,200 acres and once included Lanier Islands. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places since August 14, 1973.
Architecturally, it is a plantation-style, two-story home with a double front porch, later a one-story rear “cottage” addition, and weatherboarding over a log frame. A stone chimney remains from the original 1818 structure, with another later chimney added to the rear. Inside, the central hall leads to two main rooms, and there is a mix of original and later woodwork. The site also includes a well house, barns, and a grape arbor. Notable visitors in its early days included Andrew Jackson and Major Ridge. In 1861, ten enslaved people lived on the Bowman plantation.
Today the Bowman-Pirkle House remains a historic link to Buford’s early settlement and is maintained on private property by descendants.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 14:14 (CET).