3rd Congressional District Jack Form 10-300 UNITED STATES DEPAR ( ML: NT OF.THC JNT£RJOR STATE: (Julyl9o9> NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Georgia COUNTV.- NATIONAL R£G/STER OF HISTORIC PLACES Troup INVENTORY - NOMINATION FOSM FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER DATE (Type all entries ~ complete applicable- sections) JL NAME ' : ' • '•-''''•. ' '-••' '•. "•". •.•.'^«.V-:/-: ""\; : -"- •' ! COMMON; • • 1 Beilevue \\l^^^// j ANO- O« HiSTORlC: 1 Former homo of Benjamin'' Harvey Hill |2. LOCATION '-.'•..-. : .' ' • -•• •'•;•:••:: . :. V..;: .•.'•• i [ 204 Ben Hill Street CtTV OR TOWN; . LaGranqe jSTArt: j coot- COUNTY-, | CODE I Gaoraia 13 TroL[p 235 (.3. CLASSiflCATiCb; •'-•''•' ; ; . : V^ STATUS ACCESSIBLE «/X | CATEGORY OWNERSHIP J (Check One) TO THE PUBLIC Q District £5 Building O Public Public Acquisition: 2£ Occupied YcS: , , . , KB R«s*rietpd ° D Sit* Q Structure JS Pnvow '. Q In Process D Unoccupied ^^ r-, 0 , Q Unrestricted Q Object D Soth D Soin9 Considoroci Q Preservation vvorfc in progress •— *
PRES&MT USE (Check One- or More as Appropriate) LJ Aaricijltural Q (Jovernment Q P&'k Q Transportation D Comments Pj Commcrcia! O Industrial Q p^Jvata Ras.i
Excellent Gijod f^| |r oif I ) Deteriorated Q] Ruins Q Unoxposo ;SCKi 13£ THt PRCSUNT AND OKICIN Al_ (if known) PHYMCAUAPPCARANCE Believue, an example of the domesticated temple form used in the j Greek Revival style, was built between 1853 and 1855. Ionic columns with forward projecting scrolls on the: capitals support a heavy entablature and . form a wide two-story portico on three sides of the house. These projecting or turned capitals here are unusual as generally they appear only at a corne of such a colonnade. On the front facade heavy decorative bracketing for a second story balcony emphasizes the main entrance and the two flanking windows. Tho closely spaced turned bannisters make up the balustrade of this balcony that extends only along the front facade. The interior of Bellevue features immense hallways and outstanding plaster cornices. Behind the house was a kitchen. Far to the rear were the slave quarters orchards, and vegetable gardens. The kitchen which was once removed from m the house, now has a serving and pantry area connecting it. to the main • house. A back porch has also been added. m The grounds originally covered 1200 acres and were enclosed by a stone wall and massive gates, replicas of gates at the White House and said to • 1 cost $12,000. n H 10 (••> i; K i o o t' £Vi»jfJ» O/io or Moro as Appropriate) 23 Pic-Columbian! CD 16th Century D 18th Century Q 20th Century 2j 15th Century Q 17th Century |XJ 19th Century SPECIFIC OAT Hi) (:/ Applicable and Known) 1853—5 AREAS OF Sta.NI FIC AN C E (Chock Ono or Moro an Appropriate) Abor iginal [~1 Education Q Political Urban Planning PI Prehistoric Q Engineering Q Religion/Phi. Other (Spoclly) CD Historic Q Industry losophy History Qj Agriculture Q Invention Q Science Q2 Architecture O Landscopo Q Sculpture D Art Architecture f^j Social/Human- [ j Commerce Q Literature iforjon j | Communications Q Military H] Theater [ 1 Conservation Music Q Transportation STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Bellevue, the Greek Revival style home of the powerful orator and close constitution thinker, Benjamin Harvey Hill, presently serve.s as the clubhouse for the LaGrange Woman's Club. Built .in two years and said to be designed by a Mr. Taylor, Bellevue is an outstanding example of the Greek Revival style. The house, superbly sited on a slight rise, was introduced by an entrance lane, now called Ben Kill Street, lined with crepe myrtle and juniper trees. Each feature of u detail and design is manifested in an elegantly elaborated form. 'The heavy ID entablature above the columns and the window frames exaggerate the details and form. The scrolled bracketing above the front facade windows arid the unusual turned Ionic capitals add an almost baroque quality to this classical form. Benjamin Harvey Hill had. Bellevue built for his wife, Catherine Holt, sometime between 1853 and 1855. Hill was reared in Troup County from the Hi age of ten, attended the University of Georgia at Athens and returned to LaGrange to practice law* He was elected to the Lower House of Georgia's LJ General Assembly in 1851; was elected a member of the State Senate in 1859? elected to Congress from the 9th District in 1875; and elected to the j United States Senate in 1877. Especially noted for his oratorical abilities, Hill, a Unionist and a Fillmore supporter, debated Robert Toombs and Alexander Stephens on the issues of the 1856 presidential campaign. These well-known heated debates precipitated Stephens' duel challenge to Hill, which was refused and followed by a fiery correspondence. Hill worked hard against secession, but once secession became a reality, he supported diligently the Confederacy when original secessionists deserted. After the war, although ardently opposed to the Reconstruction Acts, Hill again altered his policie: with the altered circumstances and worked once more for the Union. Bellevue, now preserved by the LaGrange Woman's Club , serves as a ^meeting place as well as a memorial to one of Georgia's outstanding • statesmen. • . .• ' .'' ' • . • • ! Coulter, E. Morton. "Alexander II. Stephens Challenges Benjamin H; Hill to a I Duel/1 Tho Georgia Historical Quarterly, Summer, 1972, Vol, LVI, No. 2. I Dictionary of American Biography, "Benjamin Harvey Kill," pp. 25-7. I Davidson, William II., Pine Log and Crook Revival. i Hill, Benjamin Harvey, Jr. Benjamin Harvey Hill - His Life and Speeches. i Hunter, Mrs, Cliff, Jr.,. President LaGrange Woman ''s Club. Presented first draft j of National Register nomination form; on file at the Georgia Historical i Commission. I Smith, Clifford. History, of Troup Couircy. UATlTUDu AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES DEFINING A KilCTANOm LOCATING ThC PROPERTY DEFINING THE CENTER POINT OF A PROPERTY OF LESS THAN TF.N ACRES TUC£ LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGI TUDE tcs Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds ' " 0 • » 33 ° 02 ' 30" 35° 02 '. 24" ' O t n ... O .1 - . O i » APPKOXiMATt: ACKUAGu OF NOMINATED PROPERTY: 2 1/2 l_!ST Ai_L STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES rn j; S T A T E : CODE COUNTY CODE •I m \ STA TE: CODt COUNTY: CODE i j JSTAT^: coot: COUNTRY: CODE 1 ——— .(STATE: CODE: COUNTY: CODE i n Xitchell, Jr., Director, Georgia Historic Sites Survey ! o K c A N i r A • DATE -i i i Georc-i^ Historical Commission Aug. 16, 1972 o • j lie Xi tche 11 S t. , -SW 2: iCITY OK TO.VN: STATE CODE j Geor.cn' a i ^ ! ;2. STATE'LiAISCN OFFICER CERTlFICA'I ION NATIONAL REGISTER VERIFICATION • . i the designated State Liaison Ofticer for the Na- | I hereby certify that this property is included in the nal Historic Preservation Act of i960 (Public Law n65), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion National Register. the National Register and certify that it has been II .luated according to the criteria and procedures-set |i th by the National Park Service. The recommended Chief, Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation el of significance of this nomination is: National '~/^ State ["] Local ATTEST: iaison Officer Keeper of The National R August IS, 1972 i l! Dau GP 0 & 0 1 .0 3 7 Form 10-300o UNITED STATE^EPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STATE (July 1969) NA JAL PARK SERVICE Geor NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES COUNTY Troup INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER (Continuation Sheet) (Number mil »ntrl«a) NATIONAL LANDMARK STATEMENT OF ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE BELLEVUE In LaGrange, superbly sited on a slight rise and introduced by a lane of crepe myrtle and juniper trees, is the High Style, two-story Greek Revival mansion, Bellevue. With its massive Ionic columns on three sides and elaborat* door and window treatments it is as powerful visually as its original owner, Benjamin Harvey Hill, was verbally and .politically. It is said to have been „ built by a Mr. Taylor over a period of two years, 1853-5; each feature of ^ detail and design is manifested in an elegantly, elaborated form. On the front facade heavy decorative bracketing for a second story balcony emphasizes the main entrance and the two flanking windows. The immense hallway features elaborate cornice work and massive, garlanded door treatments. Few changes have been made; only simple rear additions have been made to the original structure. Bellevue, beautifully preserved and maintained by the LaGrange Woman's Club, is one of the most exceptional Greek Revival style houses in a state well-known for its "White Columns". A perfect high style architectural expres sion of the historical importance of Senator Hill, it is the Greek Revival at the height of the South's power to express that style. (In its elaboration, it verges on a Victorian baroque interpretation of neo-classicism which pre figured things to come.) GPO 921.724