Historic Preservation
View the USG Campus Historic Preservation Plan Guidelines
Historic Resources Within the USG
In 1784, Georgia became the first state to charter a state-supported university when the General assembly set aside 40,000 acres of land to endow a college or seminary of learning. Today, the University System of Georgia (USG) is comprised of its flagship university; the University of Georgia, plus an additional 33 colleges and universities.
Candler Hall,
University of Georgia (1904)
Current historic resource surveys indicate that the USG has well over 700 buildings that are fifty years old or older and potentially eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. A 1993 study on state owned buildings, Held in Trust: Historic Buildings Owned by the State of Georgia, found that the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia owned approximately 40% of all historic buildings owned by the state of Georgia.
Historic resources vary from entire campuses having been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, such as Fort Valley State University — one of three USG Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's), to individual buildings at individual campuses such as Price Hall--the former United States Mint Building-c.1879.
Historic resources are primarily concentrated at 22 of USG's 35 institutions comprising of a range of approximately 64% (37 of 57 buildings) of the buildings at Augusta State University to approximately 24% (54 of 225 buildings) at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The largest concentration of historic buildings is at the University of Georgia (UGA). The University of Georgia also has the largest concentration of antebellum structures---with approximately 22 buildings being constructed there between 1801 and 1850.
All or portions of six USG institutions are listed within existing National Register Districts. Four institutions have individual National Historic Landmarks (NHL's) including the Old Governors Mansion (c. 1838) at Georgia College in Milledgeville, Benet Hall (c. 1826) at Augusta State University, the Dixie Coca-Cola Bottling Company Building (c. 1892) at Georgia State University in Atlanta, and the Old Medical College Building (c. 1834) at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.
Historic Preservation Links
Georgia & Federal Agencies
- Georgia Historic Preservation Division
- Georgia Register of Historic Places Fact Sheet (PDF 166k)
- National Park Service – Heritage Preservation Services
Grants & Incentives
Organizations
Regulations & Standards
Sample Campus Preservation Plans
- The University of Minnesota Preservation Plan (PDF 48.7mb)
USG Master of Heritage Preservation (MHP) Programs
Who to contact
For more information about historic preservation within the USG, contact Michael Miller.