FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 18, 2010

Contact:  Robert Preston, Jr.,
              912.260.4276
              robert.preston@sgc.edu

Eleventh District A & M School/South Georgia College Listed in National Register of Historic Places

The Eleventh District A & M School/ South Georgia College Historic District, located on West College Park Drive in Douglas, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on May 21, 2010. The campus was listed at the state level of significance because of its association with the statewide development of a system of Agricultural and Mechanical (A & M) schools at the beginning of the 20th century.

Historically named the Eleventh District A & M School, the campus is significant for its role in Georgia higher education as one of the original 11 (later 12) state-supported regional high schools created by the Georgia General Assembly through the Perry Act of 1906. The act provided for each congressional district to have an A & M school for rural secondary education. The initial curriculum focused on practical demonstrative coursework (primarily farming for boys and home economics for girls). Localities had to furnish at least 200 acres of land along with buildings, livestock, and farm implements. The Eleventh District A & M School evolved into a junior college, among the first state-supported junior colleges in Georgia. It was known as South Georgia State Junior College (1927-1929), South Georgia State College (1929-1936), and finally South Georgia College (1936-present).

There are 10 contributing buildings, dating from 1907 to 1958, which form the central core of a larger 190-acre campus, as well as a designed landscape characteristic of other Georgia A & M schools. The landscape features a 1907 semi-circular drive with a large lawn surrounded by symmetrically arranged buildings, plus a second open area associated with a 1920s loop road. Six of the campus buildings were constructed in a classically inspired architectural style. These include Peterson Hall (formerly the Academic Building, 1907) and the flanking Davis Hall and Powell Hall (originally the Girl's Dormitory and Boy's Dormitory, both 1907). Noted Atlanta architect Haralson Bleckley designed all three of these buildings. The College Dining Hall (now the IT-Nursing Building) was constructed in 1927 with similar brick materials and design elements. What is now the Golf Shack was built circa 1927 as a tobacco barn with saddle-notched round log walls. It was moved from another location on campus to its present location in the 1980s.

Clower Gymnasium (now Clower Center) was built in 1936 with Public Works Administration (PWA) assistance. It has a stripped classical design, but was also the first building on campus to display elements of the Modern Movement in architecture. Another PWA-funded building was the 1939 Thrash Hall, a library and office building whose design returned to the traditional classicism of earlier campus buildings. New housing and academic buildings constructed after World War II to meet increasing enrollment required the campus to extend beyond the original semi-circle (Quincy Circle) and perimeter loop road (Child's Circle). The Alumni House (President's House, 1953) is a ranch house located on a diagonal to the central campus green space. Tanner Hall (1956) and Stubbs Hall (1958) all reflect a more modern institutional form in their architecture. Abreu & Robeson Associates of Atlanta designed the last two. The exteriors of the above buildings have all remained largely intact, while each has had some interior modifications to keep them functional.

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States’ official list of historic buildings, structures, sites, objects, and districts worthy of preservation. The National Register provides formal recognition of a property's architectural, historical or archaeological significance. It also identifies historic properties for planning purposes and insures that these properties will be considered in the planning of state or federally assisted projects.

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About South Georgia College

South Georgia College (www.sgc.edu) was founded in 1906 and is a two-year institution in the University System of Georgia. Located in Douglas, Ga., the college's environment gives students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty.