Young Harris College Historic District
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Why it's listed
At the heart of the Young Harris College campus in Towns County, Georgia, a five-acre district preserves the college's two oldest surviving buildings and a section of historic grounds along Appleby Drive. Susan B. Harris Chapel, built in 1892, has brick corbeling, a denticulated cornice, an arcaded entrance and a two-story bell tower. Sharp Hall, completed in 1912, is a more utilitarian two-story brick building. Rock walkways, a 1945 well house, stone entrance gates and a row of cedars complete the setting. The Methodist Church South founded the school in 1886 for mountain youth, and it was named for benefactor Judge Young L.G. Harris in 1888. It became a junior college by 1912. In 1890 the trustees planned the street layout for both college and town, placing the chapel at its center. The district is recognized for education, religion, community planning, architecture and landscape architecture.
Significance in brief: The district is the historic core of a Methodist-founded college that played a major educational role in an isolated mountain area, and of the town that grew up around it. A 1890 trustee plan laid out the college and town with Harris Chapel as the focal point. The two brick buildings are good examples of vernacular college architecture, and the walkways, trees, stone walls and well house document early twentieth-century campus layout.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 83000245, listed August 22, 1983. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Young Harris College Campus, Appleby Dr., Young Harris |
|---|---|
| County | Towns County |
| Listed | August 22, 1983 |
| Reference number | 83000245 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1892-1940s |
| Architectural style | Vernacular turn-of-the-century college architecture |
| Criteria |
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| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Landscape Architecture, Education, Architecture, Religion |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The property is private, occupied and in educational use as part of Young Harris College. |
| Acreage | 0.5 |
| Coordinates | 34.93267, -83.84659 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 83000245.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q28451035
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.