{"nrhp_refnum":"81000197","name":"Hill Hall at Savannah State College","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Savannah State College campus","address_restricted":false,"city":"Savannah","county":"Chatham County","state":"GA","lat":32.02408066000004,"lon":-81.05652026399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1981-04-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Hill Hall is a three-story painted brick building with a mansard roof and an Ionic-columned portico on the campus of Savannah State College in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia. It was built in 1901 by student workers as a men's dormitory.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant in Georgia's educational history as the oldest surviving building at the first publicly supported state college for Black students in Georgia, built by student labor. It is also significant architecturally as a good example of the Neoclassical style used for a main college building around 1901.","narrative":"Hill Hall, on the campus of Savannah State College in Savannah, Georgia, is a three-story brick building with a mansard roof, dormer windows and eight Ionic columns across its front. Students built it during the first half of 1901 as a men's dormitory, working under an instructor and a head carpenter; the architect is unknown. It was named for Walter B. Hill, Chancellor of the University of Georgia from 1899 to 1905. The college was the state's first publicly supported institution for Black students, and Hill Hall is its oldest surviving building and the only one remaining from the early period. Later it served as the library and student center, and it now holds administrative offices, faculty offices and classrooms. Its Neoclassical details include a pedimented portico, modillioned cornices and a Palladian window. The design is eclectic rather than a copy of any specific building. The nominated property covers only the building and a narrow strip of land around it.","period_of_significance":"1901","architect_builder":"Architect unknown; built by student workers under Instructor Thompson, with a Mr. Lee as head carpenter","architectural_style":"Neoclassical","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Currently used for administration, faculty offices and some classrooms; condition listed as good and altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:41.370341-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/81000197.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000197/337418cace-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000197/337418cace-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Ammodramus","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hill_Hall_(Savannah_State_U)_from_SSW_2.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Ammodramus</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hill_Hall_(Savannah_State_U)_from_SSW_2.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93207312","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_Hall_(Savannah_State_College)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5762146"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/chatham-county/hill-hall-at-savannah-state-college-81000197/"}