Cobb to seek national historic designation for Hyde Farm

Hyde Farm nomination National Register of Historic Places

The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a resolution for the county to submit an application for the Hyde Farm property in East Cobb to be included on the National Register of Historic Places.

What’s officially called the Power-Hyde Historic District contains 136 acres and is what’s left of an 1840s working farm on Hyde Road, located off Lower Roswell Road near the Chattahoochee River.

The national register, which is part of the U.S. National Park Service, was created in 1996 to identify, evaluate and protect historic places “worthy of preservation.”

Nominations for inclusion start with state historic preservation authorities and must include several criteria for consideration.

In addition to the publicity for earning the designation, properties on the register may be eligible for preservation grants and tax credits.

The Hyde Farm property is jointly owned and run by the county (42 acres) and the U.S. government, the latter being the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.

More than 40 acres were sold to the Trust for Public Land in the late 1980s, and 95 more acres were told to the same entity in 2004. Cobb purchased 40 acres and the rest went to the National Park Service.

JC Hyde, the last member of the Power-Hyde families to run the farmstead, died in 2008.

Cobb Parks restored the farmstead in 2013 and conducts monthly walking tours.

Cobb Parks also holds a summer fishing rodeo for kids at Hyde Farm, and the property is used for educational purposes, summer camps and classes.

Tuesday’s action means that the county will submit the application to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Historic Preservation Division for nomination to the national register.

There are more than 40 properties in Cobb that are on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Sope Creek Ruins off Paper Mill Road.

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!