Johns Homestead: On the Slow Road to Recovery

On Lawrenceville Highway outside of Tucker, you may have noticed an old house—derelict and falling down with age—just next door to Rehoboth Baptist Church and across the street from Rehoboth Cemetery. It doesn’t look like much, so you’d be forgiven for not realizing that it’s among the oldest homesteads in DeKalb County. The Johns Homestead was built by John B. Johns, likely around 1820.  The DeKalb County Natural Resource Management Office acquired the land in 2004, so last fall, we went down to meet with Dave Butler to talk about the county’s plans for the property.  We were also joined by Harry Powell with the Tucker Historical Society to find out more about the original land owner.