Giddings Hall, originally called Recitation Hall, is a

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

building located on the campus of Georgetown College in Scott County, Kentucky. Georgetown was the first

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

college founded west of the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

, and Giddings Hall was the first permanent structure constructed after the college was formed. The building is named after Rockwood Giddings, the third president of the school. The property was added to the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on February 6, 1973.

History

In 1829, the

Kentucky Legislature The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets annually in t ...

chartered the Kentucky Baptist Education Society with the purpose of establishing a Baptist college in the state. The town of Georgetown was selected for the site of the school because the community agreed to raise $20,000 and to donate the assets of Rittenhouse Academy, a failed land grant school in the town that had recently closed. In 1839, Rev. Rockwood Giddings became the third president of the college. During his tenure as president, Giddings began construction on Recitation Hall, the first permanent building for the school. College tradition states that Jonathan E. Farnam, professor of mathematics, drew the original plans for the building, and that

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

A.T. Rice drew the final design. A local African-American mason laid the foundation, and a local brickmason named A.L. White built the walls. The structure is currently used as the main administrative building for the campus. Previously, rooms in the building have been used as a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

, a

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

classroom A classroom or schoolroom is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other places where education ...

s, and a

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

Architecture

Giddings Hall, Georgetown College; view from Memorial Drive

Giddings Hall is a two-story rectangular temple-style Greek Revival brick building situated at a prominent central campus location at the head of Giddings Circle. The building has four levels, including a stone basement and a deep attic. The brick is laid in Flemish bond on all four sides, and wide

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s delineate the bays on all facades. The central front facade is a two-story pedimented

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

with six brick graduated

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

s with Ionic capitals. The college's early association with

Elijah Craig Elijah Craig (November 15, 1738 – May 18, 1808) was an American Baptist Religious minister, preacher, who became an educator and capitalist entrepreneur in the area of Virginia that later became the state of Kentucky. He has sometimes, althou ...

, who historically is linked to inventing

Bourbon whiskey Bourbon () is a type of barrel-aged American whiskey made primarily from corn. The name derives from the French Bourbon dynasty, although the precise source of inspiration is uncertain; contenders include Bourbon County in Kentucky and Bourbo ...

, has fueled a local legend claiming that "a quart of bourbon reposes under each of the six Ionic columns of the portico". The double windows and Italianate style hoodmolds were added in 1879 when Pawling Hall was constructed.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places School buildings completed in 1839 National Register of Historic Places in Scott County, Kentucky Buildings and structures in Georgetown, Kentucky University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky Georgetown College (Kentucky) Greek Revival architecture in Kentucky 1839 establishments in Kentucky