Collins Avenue

D.H. Collins Home

Around Acworth is delighted to share a series of articles by Becca Kienel that focus on Acworth’s fascinating history.

By Becca Kienel

In the March issue, we visited the John Collins Home located in the Collins Avenue Historic District. Today, let’s continue our stroll down Collins Avenue and take a look at the D.H. Collins Home and some of its residents.

The home at 4624 Collins Ave. is a frame, one-and-a-half story Queen Anne cottage-type house on a 1.25-acre lot. It features Folk Victorian details, including a wraparound porch with square posts, decorative balusters and scrollwork. Much of the glass, including the original front door, has been preserved. One of the interesting features of the home is the secret room in the attic over the living room that was used for shortwave radio communications in World War I.

The home is believed to have been built by James Felix Collins circa 1892. J.F. Collins was the grandson of John Collins, and is known as the man who started J.F. Collins and Sons Funeral Home, as well as a furniture store on Main Street that bore his name and served residents of Acworth until 1997. His son, Daniel H. Collins, was one of the first and primary residents of the home. Daniel operated the furniture store until he became clerk of the Superior Court of Cobb County. He also served as Acworth’s postmaster.

Daniel Collins’ widow, Sadie, sold the home to Howard and Irma Henderson. Howard served for many years on the Acworth City Council. His wife, Irma, operated the first kindergarten in Acworth and was also a well-known artist, specializing in painting china. Their daughter, Judy Scharf, remembers that the home was originally a two-bedroom, central-hall cottage with a large kitchen, where her mom made her famous caramel cakes and lemon meringue pies. The kitchen also had a huge fireplace, one of three in the home.

The Hendersons eventually added a large room for the kindergarten, which is now the master bedroom.  Later on, as more children were enrolled, a building behind the home was added to house the kindergarten.

This home is currently owned by Ben and Sylvia Flanagan, who purchased it in 1990. They lived in the former kindergarten building for four years while renovating the house. Today, the home is open and airy but retains much of the original charm. The kindergarten building has been enlarged and converted to a three-bedroom pool house.

In May, we’ll take a look at the relationship between the Collins Avenue Historic District and women’s history in Georgia.