Liberty Hall was the home of Confederate Vice-President and Georgia Governor Alexander Hamilton Stephens, known as Little Aleck for his small stature. Though often associated with the Civil War, the historic house you see today was actually built after the war. The rear ell of the house, partly visible in the next photo, dates to circa 1858.
Stephens moved to the property in 1834 to board with his stepmother’s sister and her husband in the predecessor to this house. They died in 1842 and the never-married Stephens purchased the property in 1845, naming it Bachelor’s Hall. It was later named Liberty Hall.
An extensive renovation was completed in the 1990s by Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites, painstakingly replacing period textiles, wallpapers and paints.
Sculptor Gutzon Borglum‘s imposing marble statue of the statesman, installed by contractor T. Markwalter of Augusta in 1893, keeps guard from the front lawn of the estate. Stephens is buried adjacent to the monument.
National Historic Landmark, National Register of Historic Places
The NRHP file for this site claims that it was probably built c. 1830, and later altered. Stylistically, 1872 doesn’t make sense, with this ultra-conservative Federal detailing. And Georgia is most certainly not vanishing.
When I worked with Parks & Historic Sites the state undertook a full restoration of the house. A very small original section, two rooms at most, were retained, but Stephens himself detailed the rebuilding of the property circa 1872. His goal was to rebuild it as close to its original style as possible. But the house, as it stands now, dates to circa 1872. And no, Georgia is not “vanishing”, but the rural towns certainly need attention.