SANDERSVILLE, Ga. — A nearly 125-year-old sharecropper home will open its doors to the public this Saturday, offering visitors a glimpse into Central Georgia's agricultural past .

The Harper House, located at 1430 Bartow Road, tells the story of Virginia Harper and her ten children who lived there as sharecroppers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Lyle Lansdell, whose family has owned the surrounding land since 1840, has worked to preserve the home and share its history.

"You drive along the two-lane roads of the South and houses like this are just caving in," Lansdell said. "It's a piece of history, it's a long, 100, 150 years of history."

Lansdell's great-great-grandfather purchased the property in 1840. Decades later, the Harper family moved onto the land as tenant farmer

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