Atkinson Hall, Georgia College
Georgia College campus, Milledgeville, GAAtkinson Hall was built in 1896 to house young women students of the Georgia Normal and Industrial College in Milledgeville. The school was founded in 1889 specifically to enable young Georgia girls with limited means to obtain a practical education. This suggestion came from Mrs. William Yates Atkinson whose husband, later Governor of Georgia, introduced the bill creating the college; he is considered the school's founder and served as President of its Board of Trustees.
The growth of the college was rewarded in 1892 by an appropriation of $22,900; contracts were then let for a new dormitory. (At that time the old Governor's Mansion was the college dormitory.) Designed by Bruce and Morgan, architects, Atkinson Hall, named in honor of the college's founder, was erected in 1896 in Penitentiary Square, the original tract of land deeded to the college at its founding. The dormitory housed 135 students and included a parlor, dining hall, and infirmary. No doubt the new dormitory created many student jobs - waiting on tables, cleaning, etc.; a fundamental principle of the college was for the girls to work while they attended school.
About 1920 large brick buildings were erected on either side of Atkinson Hall. The three were made to appear as one monumental structure by adding to Atkinson a colonnaded portico in the Corinthian style to match similar porches on the new buildings. Atkinson is now the oldest. building on campus and rather desperately needs renovation. It houses the college Post Office and a student dining Hall.
Since its creation, the college has undergone many changes, both in name and purpose. Now called Georgia College at Milledgeville, it is a co-educational school under the University System of Georgia. This growth and the changes which have ensued threaten to make Penitentiary Square a problem area for architects and administrators attempting to maintain the beautiful campus environment long associated with the colonnaded buildings of which Atkinson is the focal point.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.