This article was first posted via https://www.axios.com/local/atlanta/2022/03/23/aunt-fannys-cabin-relocate-ashley-limousin-farms
The cabin that housed a restaurant that glorified the antebellum South will soon have a new home.
Driving the news: Smyrna City Council members on Monday awarded a bid to Ashley Limousin Farms to relocate Aunt Fanny’s Cabin from its location next to the city’s history museum.
Why it matters: The decision allows Smyrna to dispose of a building that housed a restaurant that profited from racist stereotypes of Black people.
Catch up quick: Aunt Fanny’s Cabin opened in 1941 and was owned by Isoline Campbell, whose family was among Smyrna’s early settlers.
- The eatery was named after Fanny Williams, a servant of the Campbell family.
- During the restaurant’s early years, Williams — donning a head wrap and calico dress — sat on the front porch and told customers about Gen. William T. Sherman’s burning of Atlanta, the Washington Post previously reported.
Details: Ashley Limousin Farms has been raising Angus and Limousin beef cattle for more than 20 years. According to the company’s proposal, it plans to relocate the cabin and its rear hearth fireplace to its 22-acre farm in Carroll County.
- It also said it would honor Fanny Williams with a commemorative plaque.
Smyrna originally opened the bidding earlier this year to relocate the cabin. After receiving no bids and amid protests from some residents calling on the city to preserve the structure, Smyrna reopened the process.
Along with the Carroll County-based farmer, the Save Aunt Fanny’s Cabin Coalition and Whey To Go LLC also submitted bids for relocation.Axios on facebookAxios on twitterAxios on linkedinAxios on email
