Penfield, Georgia, United States was established shortly after 1829 in Greene County, and named in honor of Josiah Penfield (c. 1785 – 1828), a

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

merchant and silversmith, who bequeathed $2,500.00 and a financial challenge to the Georgia Baptist Convention to match his gift for educational purposes. The convention, led by Billington Sanders, organized a

manual labor school A manual labor college was a type of school in the United States, primarily between 1825 and 1860, in which work, usually agricultural or mechanical, supplemented academic activity. The manual labor model was intended to make educational opportuni ...

which opened in 1833 as Mercer Institute (renamed

Mercer University Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,000 ...

in 1837), in honor of Rev.

Jesse Mercer Jesse Mercer (1769–1841) was an American Baptist minister and eponym of Mercer University in the U.S. state of Georgia. Early life Born in the Province of North Carolina on December 16, 1769, he was the son of Silas Mercer, a Baptist minister w ...

of Greene County, a major contributor to the

matching gift Matching funds are funds that are set to be paid in proportion to funds available from other sources. Matching fund payments usually arise in situations of charity or public good. The terms cost sharing, in-kind, and matching can be used interc ...

request. As the university grew, a Female Academy (1838), post office, bank, mercantile stores, print shops, Male Academy Preparatory School (1847), hosiery mill, and cotton warehouses opened on the 450 areas that surrounded the campus. Residential housing, influenced by the requirement that homes provide housing for students, added to the charm of this typical southern community. Before long, the ''Christian Index'', ''Temperance Banner'', ''Georgia Illustrated Magazine'' and ''The Orion'' were all being published in Penfield. Hard times brought on by the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, however, initiated the school's move to Macon in 1871 and the village of Penfield survived on the strength of the

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

industry. Today, the village of Penfield is distinguished by the

Greek Revival architecture 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 ...

of Old Mercer Chapel, community churches, town cemetery, and Victorian homes that flourished until 1919 when the prosperity built during the "Cotton Era" was ended by the

boll weevil The boll weevil (''Anthonomus grandis'') is a beetle that feeds on cotton buds and flowers. Thought to be native to Central Mexico, it migrated into the United States from Mexico in the late 19th century and had infested all U.S. cotton-growing ...

. Ruins of the town's mercantile buildings, bank, post office and Mercer Institute's (science building, dormitory, Phi Delta Literary Society Hall, Ciceronian Hall and others) can be seen next to the still-functioning chapel located just above the old town square along East Main Street. Penfield Cemetery, located a short distance from Penfield Road, on the North end of Cemetery Road, holds the remains of many community leaders. One is noted Baptist minister

, namesake of the university. Another is (Frances) Etta Colclough Whelchel, a member of the first class of women to graduate from the University of Georgia, who was instrumental in founding the university's first Y.W.C.A. branch and served as its first president, and later ran the Colclough family's Penfield farm. In 1976, the village of Penfield was added to 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 recognition of its contributions to architecture, education and religion from 1825 to 1874. The area now known as the Penfield Historic District comprises 305 acres (1.2 km), including Old Mercer Chapel (now Penfield Baptist Church), Sanders Chapel, Penfield Presbyterian Church, Penfield Cemetery and over a dozen notable houses. Behind the wall of the Penfield Cemetery, lies a Slave Cemetery, that desperately needs attention. There are some markers still standing, mostly indentations on the ground, and unless you walk down and look over the fence of the nice manicured lawn, you wouldn't even know it's there. The road to it has been blocked. The Penfield Historic District is located seven miles (10 km) north of

Greensboro Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

on GA 5925 (commonly known as Penfield Road). Directions: From

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

travel east on

Interstate 20 Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with Interstate 10, I-10 in Scroggins Draw, Texas, and ending at an interchange with Interstate 95, I-95 in Flo ...

approximately 73 miles (117 km) to Greensboro (exit 130). Exiting the interstate, turn left onto GA-44/

Lake Oconee Lake Oconee is a reservoir in central Georgia, United States, on the Oconee River near Greensboro and Eatonton. It was created in 1979 when Georgia Power completed the construction of the Wallace Dam on the Oconee River. Lake Oconee runs through ...

Parkway. Follow GA-44 2.7 miles (4.3 km) into Greensboro. Turn right at the first traffic light onto East Broad St./ GA-12/GA-15. Turn left at first traffic light onto N. East St. for 1.5 miles (2.4 km). N. East St. becomes Penfield Rd./GA 5925. Follow Penfield Rd. 5.8 miles (9.3 km) into Penfield.

References

* ''History of Greene County, Georgia'' 1786-1886 by Thaddeus Brockett Rice and Carolyn White Williams(

Washington, GA Washington is the county seat of Wilkes County, Georgia, United States. Under its original name Heard's Fort, it was briefly designated as the state capital during the American Revolutionary War. It is noted as the place where the Confederacy ...

: Wilkes Publishing Co., Inc., 1973) * ''Penfield Driving Tour'' brochure produced by Penfield House and Gardens for the Greene County Chamber of Commerce, 118 North Main Street, Greensboro, GA 30642 *

.com - Registration #76000637 http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/ga/greene/state.html * ''Greetings from a co-ed''by Carol Bishop, Beyond the Pages, Volume 20 Fall 2014, page 16. https://www.libs.uga.edu/development/newsletter/beyondthepages_f14_final_lo.pdf {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Greene County, Georgia Unincorporated communities in Georgia (U.S. state)