Now known as Gunter Hall, this house is the headquarters of the Historic Preservation Society of Social Circle, Inc. The house serves as a museum, an education center, and small events center.
Originally located on Monroe Street (now North Cherokee Road), the house was moved around 1911 to Clarke Street to make way for the Presley Stanton Greek Revival House. Gunter Hall’s second location was at 187 Clarke Street (formerly Academy Street). To make way for the parking lot of the First Baptist Church of Social Circle, the house was relocated from Clarke Street to its present site on West Hightower Trail.
Mr. Eberhardt Nebhut, who always signed his name E, came to Social Circle in the late 1840’s and bought the entire block south of the Baptist Church and north of the business block in 1852. In the middle of the lot he built his house, said by some to be Georgia’s finest example of Federal architecture.
Mr. Nebhut was a publisher and three of his volumes, dated 1858, 1859, and 1870, are now part of a special collection at the city’s public library. Mr. Nebhut’s fate is not known to present-day citizens of Social Circle. His house was sold to William Akridge and, before the turn of the century, to the Gunter family, in whose possession it remained until 1990.
Three of Social Circle’s postmasters lived in the house: William Henry Gunter, Mrs. William Henry (Martha Barrett) Gunter, and Miss Jessie Gunter, their daughter.
Although deed records indicate a construction date of 1855, the federal detailing seems possibly to point to an earlier date for the house. Remodeled in the 1890’s, the house retains the elaborate front porch from this period decorated with latticework and Moorish arches.
After relocating Gunter Hall from Clarke Street in 1992, the Historic Preservation Society has made great progress in the renovation of the interior and exterior of the house, acquiring funds to do so through grants, membership drives, auctions, rummage sales, and particularly through the TOURS OF HOMES.