The Woodrow Wilson Boyhood Home 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 419 7th Street 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. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Geor ...

. Built in 1859, it was a childhood home of

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

(1856–1924), the 28th

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

and proponent of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...

. The house is owned and operated by Historic Augusta, Inc., and was designated 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 liste ...

on October 6, 2008.

Description and history

Woodrow Wilson Boyhood Home, Augusta, GA, US (04)

First Presbyterian Church, 642 Telfair Street, Augusta, (Richmond County, Georgia)

The Wilson Boyhood Home is located in downtown Augusta, at the northern corner of Telfair and 7th Streets. It stands adjacent to the Joseph R. Lamar Boyhood Home, which now serves as the visitors center for the house, and diagonally across the street corner from the First Presbyterian Church, for which it served as a

manse A manse () is a clergy house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and other Christian traditions. Ultimately derived from the Latin ''mansus'', "dwelling", from ' ...

. It is a two-story brick structure, with a side gable roof, five-bay front facade, and a pair of end chimneys. Located behind the house are a service building and carriage house, built about the same time of the house, also out of load-bearing brick. The main facade has a center entrance, sheltered by a portico supported by paired Tuscan columns. The entry is framed by sidelight windows and topped by a transom window. The interior has been restored to a c. 1860 appearance, and is decorated with period furnishings and Wilson memorabilia. One of the bedroom windows has the name "Tom" etched in it; this is believed to have been made by Wilson, whose first name was Thomas, and he was called "Tom" or "Tommy" as a child. The house was built and occupied by the Wilsons in 1859. Until 1872 it was the home of Dr. Joseph Ruggles Wilson, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, and his family, which included his son Thomas, born 1856 in Virginia. The younger Wilson spent his formative years here, experiencing the

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

and the

Reconstruction Era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

that followed. Wilson, later U.S. president from 1913 to 1921, was profoundly affected by these experiences. The property remained the manse of the church, housing its ministers, until 1929, by which time the building had undergone a number of alterations and modernizing updates, but was in poor condition. After passing through a number of owners and uses, the property was purchased at auction by Historic Augusta in 1991, which then spent 10 years painstakingly restoring it to its 1860 appearance. It was opened as a house museum in 2001.

References

External links

*
Boyhood Home of Woodrow Wilson, at Historic Augusta, Inc.
official site {{Augusta, Georgia National Register of Historic Places in Augusta, Georgia Historic house museums in Georgia (U.S. state) Museums in Augusta, Georgia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) Houses completed in 1840 Woodrow Wilson

Wilson Wilson may refer to: People *Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender * Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson R ...

Houses in Augusta, Georgia Presidential museums in Georgia (U.S. state) National Historic Landmarks in Georgia (U.S. state)

Description and history

See also

References

External links