Herndon House

Approx. Time: 1 hours
Activity Level: Easiest

Completed in 1910, the Herndon Home, was the residence of Alonzo Herndon and his family. Herdon was a former slave raised in a sharecropping family after the Civil War. Herndon studied barbering, and owned and managed a string of barbershops in downtown Atlanta after the Civil War, one of which was considered to be the most elegant in the country with marble floors and chandelier. Investing his income into real estate, Herndon became the largest black property owner in Atlanta by 1900. Later, Herndon founded the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, located in the Sweet Auburn Historic District, and became Atlanta's first black millionaire. The home was primarily designed by Adrienne Herndon, Alonzo's first wife and a teacher at Atlanta University. The couple had one son, Norris. Adrienne died of Addison's disease just three months after the home was completed. In 1912 Alonzo married Jessie Gillespie.

Text courtesy of The National Park Service. For more information on the Fox Theatre Historic District and the National Register Travel Itineraries, click here.