Twenty years ago, the city of Kennesaw purchased one of Kennesaw’s oldest homes and the gardens that surround it. Now known as Smith-Gilbert Gardens, visitors go there to see the plant life, but the house at its center is just as important in understanding the gardens’ history.
Hiram Anderson Butler was born in 1833 in Gwinnett County, and at age 16, he began working on construction of the Western & Atlantic Railroad through north Georgia. The railroad connected Atlanta and Chattanooga and spurred development in the Kennesaw area. Butler worked for the railroad in Cobb County for more than 50 years.
During the Civil War, the railroad was a strategically important transportation corridor. When The General locomotive was stolen by Union soldiers in the Great Locomotive Chase, Butler was part of the group that pursued the soldiers through the woods near Ringgold.
After the war, Butler — who became known as Maj. Butler, but it's unclear if that was an actual military rank or an honorary title — settled in Acworth, but tragedy struck in 1876 when his home was lost in a fire. Though it took a few years, he eventually found new land to settle. He purchased property in Kennesaw in 1880 and began building a house with thick brick walls to deter fire. In fact, the walls are a full foot thick. According to some accounts, the bricks were made from clay on the property.
The house Butler built stands at the center of Smith-Gilbert Gardens. Visitors are likely familiar with its entrance. On the short end of the house, there are two curving staircases leading up to a small portico and front door. This door originally was for a much larger side porch, with the home’s entrance being an open space on the longer side of the house. This space was later enclosed with glass.
In 1904, Butler retired from the railroad, and in honor of his decades of service, he was presented a chest of silver. He was, at the time, the oldest employee of the railroad and one of the last workers who remembered the railroad’s first engine. He spent his last years in Kennesaw and died in 1913. He was laid to rest in Acworth’s Liberty Hill Cemetery.
A series of owners lived in the home during the next few decades. After Butler’s death, it was sold to Robert B. Moon, who sold it to C.J. Beach in 1919. Clyde P. Dameron from Lynchburg, Virginia, moved into the house in 1926. The Dameron family made many significant changes to the house, including adding electric lights, toilets and indoor plumbing. When the Damerons sold the property in 1952, it was purchased by Bill and Helen Thornton. It was the Thorntons who turned the front entrance into an enclosed porch and shifted the front door to where it is today.
After being owned briefly by Steve Frey, the house was purchased by dentist Dr. Robert Gilbert in 1970. It was Gilbert and his longtime partner, Richard Smith, who realized the gardening and historic potential of the home. For the next few decades, they worked to preserve the Hiram Butler House and turn its grounds into an impressive garden that included plants and artistic works. They also were able to list the house on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
After Smith died in 2002, Gilbert decided to sell the home, and in 2005, it was purchased by the city of Kennesaw. Initially known as the Smith-Gilbert Arboretum when it opened, it became known as Smith-Gilbert Gardens in 2009.
Later this year, the gardens will reopen after undergoing a major enhancement project. Soon, everything from new restrooms to accessible trails to improved exhibits will be ready for visitors.
The Hiram Butler House will continue to watch over the gardens, ensuring that the property’s long history is spotlighted for future generations.
(Gilbert and Smith) worked to preserve the Hiram Butler House and turn its grounds into an impressive garden.