VLR Listed: 1/18/1983 NPS Form 10-900 NRHP Listed: 1/30/1989 OMB No. 1024-0018 (3-82) Eip. 10-31-84 United States Department of the interior National Park Service For NPS use only National Register of Historic Piaces received OCT 1 ( I935 Inventory—Nomination Form date entered See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entries—complete applicable sections 1. Name historic Emory and Henry College (VHLD File No. 95-98) and or common Same 2. Location street & number VA State Route 609 n/a not for publication Emory city, town X vicinity of 51 state Virginia ^^^^ Washington code county 3. Classification Category Ownership Status Present Use X district public X occupied agriculture museum building(s) X private unoccupied commercial park structure both work in progress educational private residence site Public Acquisition Accessible entertainment -X religious object in process X yes: restricted government scientific being considered yes: unrestricted industrial transportation n/a no military other: 4. Owner of Property name The Holston Conference Colleges Board of Trustees, c/o Dr. Heisse Johnson street & number P.O. Box 1176 city,town Johnson City n/-a vicinity of state Tennessee 37601 5. Location of Legal Description courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Washington County Courthouse street&number Main Street city.town Abingdon state Virginia 24210 6. Representation in Existing Surveys titieyirginia Historic Landmarks has this property been determined eligible? yes X no Division Survey File No. 95-98 date 1982 federal X_ state county local depository tor survey records Virginia Historic Landmarks divi sion - 221 Governor Street cuv.town Richmond state Virginia 23219 7. Description Condition Check one Check one 3- excellent -deteriorated -unaltered _X original site -good -ruins 2altered -_moved date n/a- A fair -unexposed Describe the present and original (ifknown) physical appearance SUMMARY DESCRIPTION The Emory and Henry campus consists of a complex of ten academic and residential buildings scattered informally through a pleasantly rolling park studded with many trees. The campus is located in the village of Emory which consists almost entirely of school -related buildings Nestled in the beautiful countryside of Washington County, the grouping forms a classic image of a 19th-century college town. Ten buildings are considered of historic and architectural interest to the school. Interspersed among these early buildings are scven modern academic structures which though harmonizing in scale, color and materials are, because of their recent date (less than fifty years old), not considered essential to the historic integrity of the campus. The buildings of historic and architectural significance consist of three Greek Revival faculty residences built during the period 1847-52: the Charles C. Collins House,-the Emily Williams House, and the J. Stewart French House. All three houses are simple rectangular structures const-ructed of bricks made on the site. The early academic buildings include the following: Byars Hall Fine Arts Center (1889), Waterhouse-Carriger Hall (1904-08), Henry Carter Stuart Hall (1909), Miller-Fulton Hall (1914). Martin-Brock Student Activities Center (1923), and the Ephraim Emerson Wiley Hall (1928). The Tobias Smyth House is a log house, the home of one of the school founders, moved and rebuilt on the campus in 1929. Analysis of Ten Structures Significant in Age, Architectural Style, and Location Following are ten buildings c?ntral..to this nomination. All ten are more than fifty years old and stand on their original foundations, all are in the campus commons area, and most have had few exterior alterations since the initial construction. ARCHITECTUlaL ANALYSIS harles C. Collins House qlvstillThe Charlesstanding C.on Collinsits original House site.is the The oldest brick building residence on wasthe builtEmory andin 1845Henry as campus a home for the college's first president, Charles C. Collins. When Collins left the college in 1852, the new president already lived in another Emory home, so Collins House became a faculty residence. It remained such until 1964 when it was converted to a student residence ha1 1. The two-story house, with a basement partially above ground, is basically rectangular in shape with the rear portion slightly recessed from the front on both sides. The coursed brick walls have no viqible bond. However, it is documented thct the brick was pressed and burned on campus using clay from pits located where the football field now sits. The pressing machine was a six-horsepower dry press mould used to produce all the brick for college buildings constructed prior to the coming of the railroad in 1856. (see continuation sheet 81) 8. Significance Period Areas af Significance--Check and justify below - prehistoric archeology-prehistoric . community planning landscape architecture X religion 1400-1499 archeology-historic . conservation law -- science - . 1500-1599 .. _ agriculture . economics . literature . sculpture - 1600-1699 X architecture X education mllitary - social1 - 1700-1799 art engineering - music humanitarian 1800-1899 . commerce explorationsettlement philosophy theater 1900- _ communications industry -.politics government -transportation invention -other (specify) ~ ~ - . ~ ~ . ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~-~ ~~-~. ~ ~~~~ .- -~~~~--- -- , Specific dates 1845- 1935 Builderidrchitect -~ Unknown before 1927 ~ ~ - - . - ~ ~ ~ Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Emory and Henry College has significance as the oldest college in southwest Virginia and one of the few colleges in the south which have operated under the same name and with continued affiliation to the founding organization for more than 140 years. In Virginia, it is the oldest college west of Lexington. The cornerstone for Emory and Henry's first building was laid in 1836, the first students were enrolled in 1838, and the charter was granted by the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1839. The ? founding organization was the Holston Conference of the Methodist Episco.galChurch, and the college remains affiliated today with The United Methodist Church. The pioneer i days of Emory and Henry and its earliest leaders are remembered on the campus due to the survival of Several structures: Charles C. Collins House, home of the first president; Emily Williams House, home of the second president; and J. Stewart French House, a faculty resident in the early years and later the official president's home for a succession of seven presidents. In addition to these buildings which still stand on their original foundations and have been little altered, the log home of Tobias Smyth has been reconstructed on campus for use as a museum and meeting place. Smyth is considered to be one of the four founders of the College, and his home originally stood about one mile from the campus. Along with these hildir~gsar.d Fmory an:! Henry's distinguished history, the College is significant due to its architectural collection of Georgian Revival buildings: The handsome grouping of these buildings in -a collegi.ate setting gives Emory and Henry great visual appeal and makes it an archetypal small college campus. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The story of Emory and Henry's founding begins in 1825 when Methodists of the Tennessee Valley first considered the need for an institution of higher learning to serve the area's rapidly growing population. The valley was not exactly untamed frontier, but it was a pioneer settlement in need of educational institutions. The political and social climate of the age was much affected by the concept of Jacksonian Democracy, with its ideal of the common man and his great potential for learning. These factors, combined with the healthy state of the economy in the late 1820s, made the Methodists optimistic about the founding of a college. (see'continuation sheet !7 #) 9. Major Bibliographical References .. Virtually all information has been taken from Increase in Excellence: A History of Emory and Henry College 1836-1963 by George J. Stevenson (New York: Appleton-Century- Crofts, 1963). 1. Geogr+pbhical Data Acreage of nominated property approx- 75 - 1 :24000 Quadrangle name Glade Sprins. VA Quadrangle scale ~ UT M References 14I215I919101141017~10fi~j 1 &!I 90: kok 9m Zone Eastlng Northlng Zone Eastlng Northtng cu:14i21515,4!0I 14,0:6,9:260} D bl2fib12~jk0(b9?:1 0: E/117 141215(61910/ 141017Q1015 01 FwLlLLLl I-!--L- I ~wl11l1'111111111l HLLJ I 1,:,,1 , 1 I I --4Sec-Gefl&lu-4) Verbal boundary description and justification Beginning at a point on the E side.of Garnand Dr. where it intersects with the Norfolk and Western Sailroad; thence exte~dingapproximately 500'Salor ;aid side of said drive; thence followin? E side of a maintenance road for a~~roximately 1100' to a point on the N side of the college's golf course (which is not included); thence -. -- List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries state n/a code county n/a code state n/a code county n/a code 4 1. Form Prepared By name~title Patsi Barnes Troll inger, Director of Pub1 ic Relations -- -. - .- --- organization Emory and Henrv Col leg~ date November 1982 -- street & number n/a tele~hone (7031 944-31 21 city or town Emory state Virginia 24327 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: -national x state -local -- As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer 665), 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion in according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the N State Historic Preservation Officer signature -~ H. Bryan Mitchell ,. Director Virginia Historic Landmarks Division - date December 15, 1988 For NPS use only Ihereby certify that this property Is included in the National Register ,I. .., . date Keeper of the National Register NPS Form 10.OW.a OX8 No. 1034-0018 WI Expires 10-11-87 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form EMORY AND HENRY COGLEGE, WASHINGTON COUNTY. VA K I Continuation sheet Item number ' Page 1 7.