The Robert Toombs House State Historic Site is a historic property located at 216 East Robert Toombs Avenue in
Washington, Georgia
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 ...
. It was the home of
Robert Toombs
Robert Augustus Toombs (July 2, 1810 – December 15, 1885) was an American politician from Georgia, who was an important figure in the formation of the Confederacy. From a privileged background as a wealthy planter and slaveholder, Toomb ...
(1810–85), a U.S. representative and U.S. senator from Georgia who originally opposed Southern secession but later became a Confederate Cabinet official and then a Confederate general during 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 ...
. Operated as a state historic site, the 19th-century period
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 ...
features exhibits about the life of Toombs. 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 1973.
[ and ]
Description and history
The Robert Toombs House State Historic Site is located on the east side of Washington, on the south side of East Robert Toombs Avenue. It is a two-story wood-frame structure, fronted by a two-story colonnade of fluted Doric columns. Its main entrance is flanked by sidelight windows and topped by a transom. The interior of the house has been decorated to reflect its mid-19th century occupation by Robert Toombs, and includes his private library. The house was built sometime between 1794 and 1801 by Doctor Joel Abbott, and was acquired in 1837 by Toombs. Toombs is credited with a number of alterations, including the front colonnade and the west wing.
Robert Toombs was one of the American South's prominent pre-Civil War orators. Although he supported the extension of slavery into the territories, he also opposed the breakup of the country, and was a major supporter of the
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that defused a political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired in the Mexican–Ame ...
. When 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 ...
began in 1861, he became the
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
's Secretary of State, but resigned over differences with President
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...
, and entered the
Confederate Army
The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
. He fled the country at the end of the war, eventually returning to a successful law practice.
See also
*
List of National Historic Landmarks in Georgia (U.S. state)
*
References
External links
*
Get Outdoors Georgia - Robert Toombs House Historic Site*
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National Historic Landmarks in Georgia (U.S. state)
Historic American Buildings Survey in Georgia (U.S. state)
Houses in Wilkes County, Georgia
Houses completed in 1797
State parks of Georgia (U.S. state)
Historic house museums in Georgia (U.S. state)
Toombs
Museums in Wilkes County, Georgia
Protected areas established in 1972
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state)
National Register of Historic Places in Wilkes County, Georgia
Greek Revival houses in Georgia (U.S. state)