The house up the hill from the Chattahoochee River played an important role during the Civil War.
It was here in 1864 that Union Gen. William T. Sherman planned the siege of Atlanta. The nearby area called Mt. Wilkinson or Vinings Mountain provided Sherman with his first view of Atlanta.
Prior to the war, Hardy Pace, operator of Pace’s Ferry, built his home in what was then called Vining’s Station. Federal troops, pursuing Confederate forces as they abandoned Smyrna, occupied Vining’s Station from July 5-17.
During that time, Sherman used Pace’s house as his headquarters. Here, Sherman developed his plan to cross the Chattahoochee River at Pace’s and Power’s ferries and enter the city of Atlanta.
After federal troops left Vining’s Station, the house served as a hospital for soldiers who were wounded during the fighting in Atlanta. Because the house was infected with disease following its use as a hospital, it was eventually burned to the ground.
Following the Civil War, Solomon Pace, Hardy Pace’s son, returned to find the homestead in ruins. Sometime between 1865 and 1874, he built a new home here, using whatever of the old house that could be salvaged.
