Macon Historic District (Macon, Georgia)


The Macon Historic District is a historic district in Macon, Georgia that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and was expanded in 1995. The original listing covered and included 1,050 contributing resources; the increase added and 157 contributing resources.
Macon was founded in 1823 in Bibb County on the bank of the Ocmulgee River. Many buildings reflect the 19th-century Greek Revival and Victorian styles of architecture. The district has commercial, government, educational, and residential buildings. The majority of their architectural features have been preserved.
A total of 1047 buildings, two structures, and one object contribute to the Macon Historical District. Several of the contributing properties are separately listed on the NRHP.

History

What is now downtown is part of the original 1823 plan of James Webb. In 1836 Macon chartered the first college in the world to grant degrees only to women - originally named Georgia Female College, it is now called Wesleyan College. The original building is located on what is now College Street. Mercer University moved to the area in 1871. The original residential area is known as "College Hill". While many buildings were constructed after the American Civil War, the district includes one of the largest collections of antebellum Greek Revival architecture in the U.S. These still exist because William T. Sherman bypassed Macon in his March to the Sea.

Historic Macon Foundation

The revitalizes communities by preserving architecture and sharing history. The foundation won the 2018 Trustees Award for Organizational Excellence from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In 2019 the Foundation held a community meeting to kick off discussion for the Scenic Preservation Index to identify priority places for preservation.

Contributing buildings

The historic district includes 34 buildings that are separately listed on the National Register:
  1. Judge Clifford Anderson House
  2. Captain R.J. Anderson House
  3. Ambrose Baber House
  4. Thomas C. Burke House
  5. Cannonball House
  6. Christ Episcopal Church
  7. Cowles House
  8. Dasher-Stevens House
  9. Domingos House
  10. Emerson-Holmes Building
  11. First Presbyterian Church
  12. Goodall House
  13. Grand Opera House
  14. Green-Poe House
  15. Hatcher-Groover-Schwartz House
  16. Holt–Peeler–Snow House
  17. Johnston-Hay House
  18. Sidney Lanier Cottage
  19. Lassiter House
  20. W. G. Lee Alumni House
  21. Mercer University Administration Building
  22. Militia Headquarters Building
  23. Monroe Street Apartments
  24. Municipal Auditorium
  25. Munroe-Dunlap-Snow House
  26. Old Macon Library
  27. Old U.S. Post Office and Federal Building
  28. Raines-Carmichael House
  29. Randolph-Whittle House
  30. Rock Rogers House
  31. Slate House
  32. Solomon-Curd House
  33. St. Joseph's Catholic Church
  34. Willingham-Hill-O'Neal Cottage
Other selected properties include:
Architects involved include: