Shirley Hills was once a part of the large estate of U.S. Senator Augustus Octavius Bacon. The Senator donated land for the Masonic Home for orphans, which is still operating at the end of Nottingham Drive.
It was the Senator’s heirs who envisioned a splendid new subdivision on the land upriver from the park with its heavily wooded hills and valleys. They engaged noted landscape architect Leon Hoffman of the famed Frederick Law Olmstead firm to design the subdivision in a new format following the natural terrain. He placed service lanes behind the house sites for utility lines and trash collection. Deeds required that houses built in Shirley Hills (named for the Senator’s granddaughter) cost a minimum of $6,000. Horses and one milk cow were allowed, but no swine! This original portion of Shirley Hills is one of Macon, Georgia’s 12 historic districts and is respectfully listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its rich residential and landscape architecture.
In 1919 Dr. W. G. Lee began building the first house on Nottingham Drive. Long the home of his descendants, the Tifts. Dr. Lee insisted that the land adjacent to his house be made a park (known as Jackson Springs in honor of Old Hickory who camped there in 1819). The road was named for Judge Custis Nottingham, an attorney for the Bacon estate. He built his own house on Oakcliff Road.
In the 1920s other prominent families built houses in the new development. The owners of the two local newspapers were among them – W. T. Anderson built the house at Nottingham and Jackson Springs where the Trey Woods now live; P. T. Anderson built his house at Jackson Springs and Oakcliff (which was originally named Sunset Dive and went straight through to Twin Pines!). S. L. Jacques built the Tudor style house on Nottingham so that his wife Kathleen could indulge her passion for gardening.
Other Shirley Hills houses were designed by a host of talented local architects. Among them were Ellamae Ellis League, Elliott Dunwody, Jr., “Bo” McEwen and, after World War II, Bernard Webb. They provided a variety of architectural styles to grace the matchless natural setting. Those who live here are still proud to say that they live on ”the right side of the river”.
The Shirley Hills neighborhood park was honorably named after General Andrew Jackson, as he was known to often camp in this area with his fellow troops, the Tennessee Volunteers. A nature lover’s paradise, this park is filled with majestic stone bridges, magnificent stone benches, a mossy brook, and beautiful perennials and evergreens. Shirley Hills residents may also plant trees in memorial of loved ones in the park. The months of January and February are a great time to catch the old-fashioned camellias in bloom underneath the hundred year-old hardwood trees. Open to the public, this is a great outdoor retreat for your pet or have a relaxing picnic lunch.
