Tag Archives: Architecture of Ellamae Ellis League

Porter Memorial Gym, 1938, Porterdale

Built as a gift to the people of Porterdale by James H. Porter in memory of his father and Porterdale founder Oliver Saffold Porter (1836-1914), the Porter Memorial Gym was one of the main gathering places in the community until the decline of the mills. It was designed by one of Georgia’s first female architects, Ellamae Ellis League.

Though a 2005 fire destroyed much of the structure and collapsed the roof, the foundation and walls remain were re-enforced and the site is occasionally used for gatherings and community events.


Porterdale Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Hutchinson-Parham House, 1940, LaGrange

This imposing landmark of the Mediterranean Revival style was built for Robert and Florence Hutchinson in 1940*. It is notable in that it was built by one of Georgia’s first woman architects, Ellamae Ellis League (1899-1991) of Macon. Ms. League was the first Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in Georgia and one of only eight in the nation at the time of her death. She designed high schools, hospitals, gymnasiums, and other public facilities, as well as numerous residential commissions. She oversaw the renovation and restoration of the Grand Opera House in Macon.  Her daughter and a grandson also became architects.

Of Ms. League, Bamby Ray writes: League became an architect by necessity. In 1922, divorced at age twenty-three with two small children, she entered a profession for which she had no training. Her husband of five years had left her with no financial resources, and she needed to find employment. Six generations of her family, including an uncle in Atlanta, [Charles Ellis Choate, one of Georgia’s most prolific architects in his lifetime] had been architects. She joined a Macon firm as an apprentice and remained there for the next six years, as she managed both office and child-rearing duties. During that time League also took correspondence courses from the Beaux Arts Institute of Design in New York City.

*- Travels through Troup County: A Guide to its Architecture and History dates the house to 1916, but I believe this to have been an oversight.