Orange Hall (St. Marys, Georgia)

Orange Hall St. Marys, Georgia
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Orange Hall
Location	311 Osborne St., St. Marys, Georgia, United States, within the St. Marys Historic District
Coordinates	30°43′28″N 81°32′53″W / 30.72431°N 81.54811°WCoordinates: 30°43′28″N 81°32′53″W / 30.72431°N 81.54811°W
Built	1830
Architectural style	Greek Revival
Part of	St. Marys Historic District (Georgia) (#76000609)
NRHP Reference #	73000613[1]
Added to NRHP	May 7, 1973

Orange Hall c. 1830, is located at 311 Osborne St., St. Marys, Georgia, United States, located within the St. Marys Historic District in Camden County and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 7, 1973.^[1] In 2011, Orange Hall was added to the list of the state of Georgia's ten most endangered historic sites by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.^[2]

Historical significance

A good example of the temple-form Greek Revival dwelling. It has been said that Orange Hall was the first example of Greek Revival design in America.^[3] There is no more shining example of this style, so favored in the Antebellum South, than Orange Hall. The name originated from the orange trees that surrounded the house. She reigns in a grandeur as you make your entrance into the historic district of St. Marys. Worthy of magazine covers and movie sets, Orange Hall holds a special place in the hearts of all St. Mary' citizens and is a beacon to history buffs who appreciate the grand beauty of this era. It is a frame building with clapboard siding. Other details include: two stories, gabled roof, interior chimneys, front center entrance with side lights and transom surmounted by low pedimented lintel, front tetrastyle prostyle Doric pedimented portico supported by projecting basement, rear center recessed 2-story porch.

Historic American Buildings Survey

The Library of Congress, Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record has the following data recorded regarding Orange Hall.^[4] Owner in 1934: S.C. Townsend, Date of Erection: 1810-1815, Architect: No record, Builder: No record, Built for the Rev. Horace Southworth Pratt, a Presbyterian minister.

Architectural notes

This building of the Early Republican period is a Doric prostyle temple. The pediment is flattened and the columns are widely spaced. At the rear end is a superimposed inset portico, one porch above the other.

The brink basement storey is stuccoed and has stucco quoins of inch projection. In the basement used to be the old kitchen, now marked by its whitewashed walls, a herringbone brick floor pattern and a Dutch oven. The old Dining Room was under the front portico.

Orange Hall
Orange Hall c.1838  Historic district sign near Orange Hall  Front view from 1934  Side view from 1934  Bedroom  Interior stairwell  Rear view from 1934  Decorated for the holidays  Sign at Orange Hall

See also

• St. Marys, Georgia
• St. Marys Historic District (St. Marys, Georgia)
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Camden County, Georgia
• Cumberland Island

References

1. National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Oct. 26. 2011
3. St. Marys Convention & Visitors Bureau
4. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hh:@field(NUMBER+@band(GA0296))

Further reading

• Gleason, David King (1987). Antebellum Homes of Georgia. Louisiana State University Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-8071-1432-2.

External links

• Media related to Orange Hall (St. Marys, Georgia) at Wikimedia Commons

Orange Hall Board of Directors official site. www.orangehall.net