John Marlor

Born February 11, 1789, in England, little is known about Marlor’s early years, but it has been speculated that he was apprenticed to a builder or taught himself from house-builders' plan-books.[1] He moved from Charleston to Milledgeville in 1815, and began a nearly 20-year career that shaped the town's architectural heritage.

Marlor's reinterpretation of prevailing Georgian and Federal structures brought about an early classical revival in central Georgia architecture.[1] The sophistication of his creations is more in keeping with that of an architect than an artisan.[2] As he gained experience, his signature architectural features became increasingly complex, as evidenced in his structures preserved in Milledgeville. When builder Daniel Pratt moved to Milledgeville in 1821, Marlor hired him, beginning a collaboration that later grew to include builder Elam Alexander.[1] Marlor’s construction labor was performed primarily by seven enslaved African-Americans, all of whom were trained carpenters.[2] He owned several thousand acres of timber land and a lumber mill, from which he drew for his building materials.[1]

Marlor died on October 13, 1835, in Milledgeville, where he is interred in Memory Hill Cemetery,[3] his tombstone featuring engraved builder's tools.[4] Named to honor his contributions to the city's heritage, Milledgeville's John Marlor Arts Center includes two historic structures, the 1830 John Marlor House, adapted into offices of the Milledgeville-Baldwin County Allied Arts Center and the Elizabeth Marlor Bethune Art Gallery, and the 1911 Allen's Market Building, adapted into theatre, meeting and studio space.[5]

• John Marlor House, built in 1830 as a wedding present for his second wife Ann Carlton, now housing offices and an art gallery as headquarters for a complex of historic structures and an art center.[6]
• Brown-Stetson-Sanford House, built c. 1825 with a Marlor trademark spiral staircase, later converted to a hotel to serve visitors and legislators during the city's years as capital of Georgia and from 1951-1966 into a tea room, before being donated to the Old Capital Historical Society who moved it to West Hancock Street in 1966.[6][7][8]
• Newell-Watts House, a late Georgian, early Greek Revival home originally owned by the same family for more than 100 years.[9]
• Stovall-Conn-Gardner House, "13 Columns", a two story clapboard structure with Greek Revival elements; the thirteen columns are believed to represent the Thirteen Colonies united during the American Revolution.[10]
• Masonic Temple of Benevolent Lodge No. 3, F. & A. M., the oldest Masonic building in Georgia in continuous usage, dedicated on June 24, 1834; considered by many to be Marlor's best work, with an especially fine cantilevered staircase.[11]