1852–1878. 261 E. Center St.
Canton’s most imposing antebellum house was begun by planter Wiley Lyons in 1852 but remained unfinished when the Civil War began. In 1878, the owners of Mosby Drug Store on the courthouse square purchased the property and became the first occupants. Combining classical forms with picturesque ornament, the two-story brick house terminates the north end of Lyon Street, its square belvedere rising above the trees as a ventilation chimney. The two-tiered, three-bay portico has monumental fluted columns with Egyptian lotus capitals and its pediment is enriched by Italianate paired brackets. The first-floor entrance is an 1870s alteration, recessing heavy paneled doors behind the original frontispiece.