Tag Archives: National Register of Historic Places

Seney Hall, 1881, Oxford

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In Cornerstone and Grove, Erik Blackburn Oliver notes: “Seney Hall is the most recognized and celebrated building on the Oxford campus, arguably among the most marvelous edifices ever built by Emory College or the University.” The Victorian landmark was designed by the firm of William H. Parkins and Andrew Bruce, the most prominent practitioners in Atlanta at the time.

A beloved symbol of the college to this day, Seney Hall was built to be the most prominent building on campus, replacing Old Main, which originally served that purpose and had been razed in 1872. Its namesake was a Brooklyn banker, George I. Seney. Seney had been so inspired by a sermon by Emory College president Atticus Haygood, urging sectional and racial reconciliation, that he gifted the school with over $130,000 in 1880. It has stood the test of time and now houses administrative offices.

An aside: Like its neighbor, Johnson Hall, Seney Hall also makes an appearance in the opening sequence of the television show, The Dukes of Hazzard.

Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Candler Hall, 1897, Oxford

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Emory College president Warren Candler, concerned about fire vulnerability on the Oxford campus, began lobbying for the construction of a dedicated library building after a fire consumed the old recitation hall in 1891. At the time, the library was housed on the third floor of Seney Hall and this was cause for concern. A committee was formed in 1897, their efforts culminated in the construction of Candler Hall. The architect, Samuel Manning Patton (1857-1897), who had designed several prominent buildings in Chattanooga, sadly died in a fire in one of them the same year Candler Hall was completed. Clad in Tennessee limestone with a foundation of local gneiss, the Stripped Neoclassical building stands in contrast to other buildings on the quad, with a more “modern” feel. It served as the library until 1970 when it was replaced by the truly modern Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library across the quad. Candler Hall is now home to Campus Life offices and the college bookstore.

Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Prayer Chapel, 1875, Oxford

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One of the stated purposes of Emory College was the integration of religion and education and to this end a chapel was built in 1838 to serve the students and by extension the community. It was a simple wooden structure, typical of churches of the time, and was used until the construction of this more formal structure in 1875. When the present chapel was completed, the old prayer chapel was donated to and moved off campus for the use of Rust Chapel, an African-American congregation. When Emory College was founded, nearly everyone in the community was affiliated with the Methodist church, but today, the prayer chapel serves people of all faiths.

Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Jonhnson Hall, 1874, Oxford

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Now known as Johnson Hall, for Oxford alumnus Judge Horace J. Johnson, Jr., this Romanesque structure was traditionally known as Language Hall and hosted classes engaged in English, Greek, and Latin studies. It was constructed of brick and originally had a texture stucco siding, now replaced with a plain stucco.

According to The Dukes of Hazzard Wiki, the building was also seen on the opening of every episode of the Dukes of Hazzard, beginning with the second episode. It served as the backdrop for the General Lee’s famous jump over Sheriff Roscoe P. Cotrane’s police cruiser as the Duke boys made their getaway. The 16-foot high, 81-foot jump saw the General Lee come to rest near Seney Hall, adjacent to Language Hall.

Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Few Hall, 1852, Oxford

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Few Hall, thanks to sensitive design, retains its grand Greek Revival appearance, though it’s now attached to a more modern facility and incorporated into the Tarbutton Performing Arts Center. Completed a year after Phi Gamma Hall, in 1852, it was home to the Few Society, named for Emory College’s first president, Ignatius Few. A literary society which grew out of the original Phi Gamma fraternity, the Few Society spent nearly a century engaged in weekly debates and friendly rivalries with their fellow students.

Few Hall originally housed a library on the ground floor and debate hall on the upper floor. Like Phi Gamma Hall, it also saw service in the Civil War, housing a detachment of nurses and doctors from nearby Hood Hospital in Covington.

Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Phi Gamma Hall, 1851, Oxford

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According to Erik Blackburn Oliver’s Cornerstone and Grove, Phi Gamma was the first literary and fraternal society at Emory College. Their meeting and debate hall, which anchors the northwest corner of the quad, was completed in 1851 and is the oldest surviving academic structure on the Oxford campus. It has been beautifully restored in recent years and is a textbook example of Greek Revival architecture, to my mind a landmark of the form. It also served as a temporary hospital during the Civil War.

Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Allen Memorial United Methodist Church, 1910, Oxford

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Built to replace the Old Church, the sprawling Young J. Allen Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was dedicated in 1910. Its namesake was quite famous in church circles.

Young John Allen (1836-1907), or Young J. Allen as more often written, was born in Burke County, to a father who died before his birth and a mother who died soon afterward, according to Findagrave. He was raised by a maternal aunt in the Primitive Baptist tradition of his family but converted to Methodism at the age of 17. An 1858 honor graduate of Emory College, he married Mary Houston (1838-1927), a native of Coweta, a day after commencement. In 1859, Young sold his land and slaves and sailed for Shanghai with his wife and infant daughter. While taking numerous jobs to support his family during the early years in China, he engaged in missionary work, translated many religious texts, established newspapers and periodicals, and founded several school. He made many trips back to the United States to report on his mission work but would never make a permanent return.

Alexander F. N. Everett, a prominent Atlanta architect, was responsible for the eclectic Beaux Arts design.

Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

The President’s Home, 1830s, Oxford

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This was built as a plain-style Greek Revival cottage by the first president of Emory College, Ignatius Few, and has been home to most of the school’s chief executives. The two projecting front wings were added during the presidency of Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, and the Victorian details during the late 1800s. Longstreet’s daughter Virginia married Emory graduate Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar in the home. Lamar would go on to serve as a congressman, senator, Secretary of the Interior in the first Cleveland administration, and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was also the namesake of Lamar County, in central Georgia.

Young L. G. Harris [namesake of Young Harris College] purchased the home in 1899 and presented it to the Emory trustees for use as a home for the school’s presidents, which it remains today.

Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Branham House, Circa 1840s, Oxford

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Built by a Mrs. Williams in the mid-1840s, this Greek Revival townhouse was purchased by the Branham family in 1855. They owned it for 130 years, willing it to Emory University in the 1980s. The home was purchased by Claude and Eva Sitton in 1990 and they have extensively restored it.

Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Thomas-Stone House, Circa 1837, Oxford

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Edward Lloyd Thomas, who surveyed the town site of Oxford, was paid with four lots by the trustees of Emory College. Thomas built this house, circa 1837-1838. He sold it to George W. W. Stone, Sr., in 1851. Stone was a member of the first graduating class at Emory, and members of his family remained in the house for much of the 20th century. Jack and Jane Atkinson restored it in the 1970s, importantly removing a wider Victorian porch and replacing it with the architecturally correct pedimented entry seen today. The Eady family are the current owners and not only have strong ties to Oxford College, but to the Stone family, as well.


Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places