Macon Historic District

Macon's historic district covers about 420 acres on the west bank of the Ocmulgee River in central Georgia. It includes the downtown grid laid out in 1823 by James Webb, with broad avenues, park-like medians, City Hall and the 1916 Terminal Station. North and west of downtown lies College Hill, the town's first residential area, which holds a large concentration of pre-Civil War Greek Revival mansions, many designed by Elam Alexander. Orange Terrace and the streets near Mercer University add late 19th-century Victorian houses and cottages, and Tattnall Square is a park designated in 1852. Mercer's Administration Building, built 1872-74, is a prominent landmark. The district was listed because Macon grew with river and railroad transport and then avoided rapid postwar development, so much of its 19th-century architecture and planning survives. It is also associated with Wesleyan College, chartered in 1836 to grant degrees to women, and with architects Ayres, Carter and Neel Reid.