Aiken County · Marker 02-83
Palmetto Lodge
North Augusta Public Safety Headquarters, Georgia Ave. and Butler Ave., North Augusta
Front inscription
In 1903 a clubhouse was built on this site to serve guests of the newly opened Hampton Terrace Hotel. N.Y. lawyer John W. Herbert and future local art patron Olivia A. Herbert purchased the building in 1904 and had it extensively renovated to be their winter home, named Palmetto Lodge. One local writer said the Tudor-style half-timbered house was “one of the most notably handsome and distinguished” of the many Augusta-area homes then being developed by wealthy northerners.
Reverse inscription
The house’s elevated siting offered sweeing views across early North Augusta down to the Savannah River. The 6-ac. property included a keeper’s lodge, stable, barn, garage, and gardens. In 1928 best-selling writer and adventurer Edison Marshall bought the tract and renamed it Seven Gables. He lived here a number of years before moving to Augusta. A motel opened on the site after World War II. The main house burned down in 2008. The rest of the property was later razed.