College Home/Smith Hall
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Why it's listed
College Home, later renamed Smith Hall, is a two-story red brick building on a hilltop at the center of the LaGrange College campus in Georgia. Built in 1842 as a dormitory for the LaGrange Female Academy, it has a four-column Doric portico, a nine-bay front, and long halls with many rooms opening off them. In 1887 a southern wing more than doubled its capacity, and a small Eastlake-style porch was added around 1891. The hall served as a dormitory until 1956 and now holds offices and student facilities. It is considered significant for its early classical revival design, with columns of brick said to be handmade on the site, and as one of the oldest private college buildings in Georgia. It also recalls the early education of women in the state, since the school was chartered in 1831 as the first for young women in Georgia. The building was renamed in 1911 for the wife of college president Rufus W. Smith.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues it is significant in architecture as an early example of Roman Doric Revival and one of the oldest brick buildings in the region. It is significant in education as one of the oldest private college buildings in Georgia and the only reminder that LaGrange was a nineteenth-century college town. It traces the school's growth from a women's academy to a co-educational college.
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 82002488, listed August 26, 1982. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | LaGrange College campus, LaGrange |
|---|---|
| County | Troup County |
| Listed | August 26, 1982 |
| Reference number | 82002488 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 |
| Architect / builder | Built by Joseph Montgomery in 1842; architect listed as unknown |
| Architectural style | Roman Doric Revival (classical revival), with a Victorian Eastlake porch |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Education, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Occupied and in use; houses the bookstore, post office, infirmary, student center, dean's offices, clubrooms, a formal parlor, a guest suite and a faculty lounge. The first floor has been restored and modernized in part. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 33.03947, -85.04253 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
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 82002488.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q134464350
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.