22. Richards House

585 Old Panama City Highway

Richards House, 2006

Reputed to be the oldest house in Wewahitchka, the Richards House was built around 1890 and was home to Jackson Norman Richards and his family. The Richards family moved to Wewahitchka from a farm on the Chipola River in 1874. Jackson Richards was the son of John Richards who built Fort Place along with his father Thomas Richards.

In the early 1900s, daughter Harriet Amanda, known as Amanda, operated a telegraph office here. Later she returned from Chipley where she had operated a hotel, became assistant postmaster and then postmaster—a position she held for 35 years until her age forced her to retire. Amanda converted the family home into a boarding house where she and her brother Tom lived until their deaths. Amanda Richards died at home September 5, 1958, three days after her 92nd birthday. She is buried in Jehu Cemetery.

The house has been added onto and remodeled several times.

Old photo of Richards House

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