The Story Boasting a congregation that dates back to 1886, when it was founded by freed slaves from southern Taliaferro and northern Hancock counties, Antioch Baptist Church is one of the most striking examples of a religious building in rural Georgia, with its imposing Gothic Revival-style towers flanking a wide doorway. Having acquired four acres […]

The Story With a congregation celebrating 150 years, the Asbury United Methodist Church on Savannah’s Abercorn Street stands as the only African American United Methodist church in the historic Victorian District. The original building dates to 1887 with several modifications through the early twentieth century. After the hurricane of 1896, much of the church had […]

The Story Originally named Sequoyah Elementary School, Cary Reynolds Elementary School contributes architecturally to the mid-century Northwoods Historic District. The school is an early design of mid-century architect John Portman, whose other works include Atlanta’s Hyatt Regency and Peachtree Center. Opened in 1961, the school features several of Portman’s signature stylistic motifs, including the central […]

The Story Central State Hospital was Georgia’s first psychiatric institution, eventually becoming the largest mental hospital in the United States and the second largest in the world. Central State was chartered by the legislature in 1837 with the intent of providing Georgians suffering from mental illness or developmental disabilities with a safe and humane environment. […]

The Story A National Historic Landmark, Fountain Hall was built in 1882 and features an iconic clock tower that still stands over the city. It remains the most prominent building on the original campus of Atlanta University, which was founded in 1865 to educate newly emancipated African Americans. Originally named Stone Hall, the building was […]

The Story Heritage Park is a community space that reflects the efforts to provide education to African Americans in the South during the twentieth century. The park includes a Rosenwald School, equalization school, gymnasium and community garden. Built in 1929, the Rosenwald School was built using funds from the collaborative efforts of Booker T. Washington […]

The Story In the latter half of the nineteenth century, carpenter John Deming moved from Canada to Georgia, where he would establish himself as the preeminent master builder in the rapidly growing city of Valdosta. Deming was responsible for many of the city’s most ornate and imposing houses constructed between the late 1800s until the […]

The Story Masonic Lodge #238 stands at what was once a thriving commercial intersection at the heart of Dalton’s African American community. Featuring distinctive details, the lodge, built in 1915, offered commercial space on the ground floor while the second floor served as the Masonic meeting hall for African American members. The lodge formed a […]

The Story With structures that span nearly a century, the complex of buildings at Nolan Crossroads represent the transition from slavery-based agriculture to the sharecropping economy of the post-Civil War South. The earliest extant house dates to 1817 when the property was part of a large plantation. The Nolan family, which bought the land in […]

The Story Rose Hill is a historically black community in northeast Porterdale that was originally developed in the early 1900s as a segregated residential community for mill workers. The school was built in 1937 by the Bibb Manufacturing Company and also served as a church and a community gathering place. Rose Hill School was the […]