Spotlight: The Old Governor’s Mansion

Georgia  College’s oldest building on campus, the Old Governor’s Mansion has seen a lot of history of the years.

Built in 1839, the mansion served as the official residence of Georgia governors until 1868. During the Civil War, the mansion played host to numerous parties, during which many Confederate soldiers would give riotous speeches.  Despite such campaigning, union soldiers ended up camping in the front lawn of the mansion during Sherman’s stay at the mansion before resuming his March to the Sea.

After the capital moved, the mansion remained abandoned for many years until it was converted into barracks for Georgia Military College, then Middle Georgia Military and Agricultural College, in 1879.

In the late 1800s the mansion was used for dormitories by Georgia Normal and Industrial College, which later became Georgia College.  An annex dormitory was built in 1893, the basement of which held one of the two campus dining halls.  The presidents of the college and their families stayed on the main floor of the mansion from 1891 to 1987.

The Old Governor’s Mansion went without restoration for many years until 1990 when initiatives began to return the mansion to its former glory.  For three years, and after extensive research, the mansion was meticulously restored, right down to the proper lighting and coloring of its beginnings.