Meadow Garden is a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...

at 1320 Independence Drive in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

. It was a home of Founding Father

George Walton George Walton (c. 1749 – February 2, 1804), a Founding Father of the United States, signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Georgia and also served as the second chief executive of Georgia. Early life Wal ...

(1749–1804), one of Georgia's three signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Walton was later elected

governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legisl ...

and also served as a

United States senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

. Meadow Garden was saved by the

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

, who established it as a museum in 1901. The house was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1981.

Description and history

Meadow Garden is located on the west side of downtown Augusta, separated from the

Augusta Canal The Augusta Canal is a historic canal located in Augusta, Georgia, United States. The canal is fed by the Savannah River and passes through three levels (approximately total) in suburban and urban Augusta before the water returns to the river at v ...

by the Augusta Canal Historic Walking Trail, and just east of the Sutherland Mill. It is a -story wood-frame structure, set on a high brick basement. It was built in stages, originally three bays in width, but is now six, with three gabled dormers and two chimneys projecting from the gabled roof. A shed-roof porch extends across the front, supported by slender Doric columns. The facade is irregularly arranged, with two doors and four windows. With It is a

Sand Hills cottage Sand Hills cottage architecture is a modified form of Greek Revival architecture which developed in the Sand Hills area of the U.S. state of Georgia. The form has symmetry, wide entablatures, and classic columns of the Greek Revival style. It m ...

The oldest portion of the house, its right three bays, was built in 1791. The left three bays were added sometime after 1800, and the front porch was also probably added at a later date. Although the property was never owned by him, it was from 1791 to his death in 1804 the home of

, a signer of the

United States Declaration of Independence The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ...

. Trained as a lawyer, he served in the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

(1776–1781) and in the Georgia militia, in whose service he was captured by the British during the 1778 Capture of Savannah. Exchanged and released, he was soon afterward elected

Governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legisl ...

, an office he held from November 1779 to January 1780. He also served as the state's Chief Justice, and in a second term as Governor 1789–80. He died at College Hill, his country house, in 1804. The house passed out of the Walton family in 1812, and is now owned and operated as a museum by the local chapter of the

. It was documented by the

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

in 1934-35. It was listed on the

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 ...

in 1976, and further was promoted to a

in 1981. A historic postcard asserts that it was

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

's "headquarters when near Augusta, Ga."Postcard image of Meadow Garden
Picturing Augusta: Historic Postcards from the Collection of the East Central Georgia Regional Library

References

External links

Meadow Garden
- official site *

* ttp://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/Augusta/meadowgarden.html Meadow Garden - National Park Service articlebr>Postcard image of Meadow Garden
Picturing Augusta: Historic Postcards from the Collection of the East Central Georgia Regional Library {{Augusta, Georgia National Historic Landmarks in Augusta, Georgia Historic American Buildings Survey in Georgia (U.S. state) Houses completed in 1794 Sand Hills cottage architecture Houses in Augusta, Georgia Historic house museums in Georgia (U.S. state) Museums in Augusta, Georgia National Register of Historic Places in Augusta, Georgia 1794 establishments in the United States Daughters_of_the_American_Revolution_museums Homes of United States Founding Fathers

Description and history

See also

References

External links