Wren's Nest

The Wren's Nest was the home of Joel Chandler Harris from 1881 until 1908. The structure is one of only a few remaining Queen Anne Victorian homes in Atlanta. It's a unique example of upper middle class living around the turn of the 20th century. Today the home features most of the Harris family's original furniture and belongings. The house was named after wrens made a nest in the mailbox 120 years ago. If you visit in the spring, you might see that wrens still make nests in the mailbox. The museum officially opened as a house museum in 1913, with financial support from Andrew Carnegie, President Theodore Roosevelt, and the fundraising efforts of kids from Atlanta Public Schools. Joel Chandler Harris recreated the oral tradition of the Brer Rabbit tales in print between 1876 and 1908.

The success of the Uncle Remus stories made Harris one of the most popular American writers in the 19th and 20th centuries. His first collection, Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings, has been translated into more than 40 languages and has never gone out of print. Harris collected 194 stories that gave voice to African-American folklore and jumpstarted the folklore movement throughout the world.