The

Historic District A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from cer ...

of the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part ...

, also known as the Old Campus of Georgia Tech or the Hill District, is significant in the areas of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

and

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...

, as well as

landscape architecture Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...

. The area is a Registered Historic Place and part of the central campus of Georgia Tech. Located in Midtown

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 498,7 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, it is roughly bounded by North Avenue on the South,

Bobby Dodd Stadium Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field is the football stadium located at the corner of North Avenue at Techwood Drive on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. It has been home to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets foo ...

, a 55,000 seat football

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

on the East, Bobby Dodd Way on the North and Cherry Street on the West.

Environs

The Georgia Institute of Technology Historic District is situated on and around the crest of "The Hill," the highest elevation of the school's original nine-

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...

campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-li ...

. Comprising 12 buildings, the Old Campus is a landscaped cluster of mixed-period classroom, dormitory and administrative brick buildings. Buildings of the Old Campus include the Carnegie Building, which was the campus library until 1953; the Georgia Tech President's Office is now located there. Lyman Hall Laboratory, named after

Lyman Hall Lyman Hall (April 12, 1724 – October 19, 1790) was an American Founding Father, physician, clergyman, and statesman who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Georgia. Hall County is named after him. He ...

, one of Georgia Tech's earlier presidents, was the school's first Chemistry Building. The YMCA Building, funded by John D. Rockefeller in 1910, now houses the Georgia Tech Alumni Association Offices. The random placement of these buildings around the centrally positioned Administration Building ("

Tech Tower The Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Administration Building, commonly known as Tech Tower, is a historic building and focal point of the central campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Locat ...

") has created unique urban spaces. Hundred year-old trees shade the red brick buildings and enhance the sense of special enclosure. UncleHenieWay

A brick roadway, Uncle Heinie Way, wraps itself around the Administration Building forming a "loop" and provides both service and vehicular access to the buildings in this portion of the Campus. A new plaza, Harrison Square, (1968), which both a hard surface of brick and concrete as well as an open green space, was created after the demolition of the Old Shop, the successor of the original (a near-twin to the adjacent Administration building which burned down shortly after its completion).

Style, Form, Planning

The Old Campus of Georgia Tech is significant for more than just the design of the buildings of which it is comprised. As is evident in the placement of the buildings, little thought was actually given to the future expansion of the then young technological school. Instead, the site planning was carried out in such a manner as to meet the immediate and pressing needs of the school. This practical approach has created the significant quality of space. The harmony found within the Old Campus is attributed to the fact that almost all of the buildings were built within a short span of time—from 1885 to 1923. Though all exhibit a consistent approach in design and construction, none include a repetition of style or form.

National Register of Historic Places

In 1978, the area 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 ...

. Near the entrance to Tech Tower, an

historical marker A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

maintained by th
Georgia Historical Society
commemorates this listing as well as the early history of the Georgia Tech campus.

The twelve buildings

* Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Administration Building (1888) * Clarence Knowles Dormitory (1897–1992) * Aaron S. French Building (1898) * Electrical (Engineering) Building (1901), renamed the Domenico Pietro Savant Building * Janie Austell Swann Dormitories (1901) *

Laboratory of Chemistry (1905) *

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in ...

Library Building (1907) * Joseph Brown Whitehead Memorial Hospital (1911), renamed the Lloyd W. Chapin Building in 1987 *

John Davison Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

Building (1912), renamed the Lawrence W. "Chip" Robert, Jr. Alumni/Faculty House in 1979 * David Melville Smith Building (1923) * William Henry Emerson Building (1925) * John Saylor Coon Building (five units completed between 1911–1938) The Old Shop could be considered a "thirteenth building." Erected in 1888, it was destroyed by a fire in 1892 and a replacement was built in the same year. The second shop building was demolished in 1968.

References

Bibliography

* * *
Atlanta, Georgia, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary

External links

Aerial Photographs

Georgia Tech Building List

Georgia Tech Campus Map
* Pictures of Original Shop and Administration Buildings circa 188
Photo1
http://history.library.gatech.edu/items/show/1411 Photo2] {{Historic Districts in Metro Atlanta Georgia Tech buildings and structures Buildings and structures in Atlanta Historic districts in Atlanta Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) National Register of Historic Places in Atlanta