Bellevue
LaGrange, Troup County, Georgia
Marker Inscription
Bellevue. Bellevue, home of United States Senator Benjamin Harvey Hill (1823-1882), was built in 1854-55 and typifies the Greek Revival architecture popular in the Old South. Jefferson Davis and other Confederate celebrities were frequent guests here. At the urging of Senator Hill, lawyer, one of Georgia's foremost orators and champion of the South during Reconstruction days, President Hayes withdrew Union occupation troops. In 1942 Bellevue was presented to the LaGrange Woman's Club by the Fuller E. Callaway Foundation. It is now maintained by the Club. 141-8 GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1955
Erected by Georgia Historical Commission
The Story
Bellevue, completed in 1855, was the Greek Revival home of U.S. Senator Benjamin Harvey Hill, a leading orator who hosted Jefferson Davis and other Confederate figures. Hill became a fierce champion of the South during Reconstruction, and it was partly at his urging that President Hayes withdrew federal occupation troops. The LaGrange Woman's Club has maintained the house since 1942.
Why it matters
Bellevue links the architecture of the Old South to the political struggles of Reconstruction, embodied in a statesman whose advocacy helped bring the era of federal military occupation to a close.
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Related people
- · Benjamin Harvey Hill
- · Jefferson Davis
- · Rutherford B. Hayes
Related events
- · Reconstruction
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Bellevue, Home of Sen. Benjamin Harvey Hill
LaGrange, GA
Benjamin Harvey Hill rose from a Troup County farm to become one of Georgia's foremost orators — a Whig legislator who opposed secession yet became a staunch defender of the Confederacy in its Senate. After the war he vigorously fought the Reconstruction Acts and, with Senator John B. Gordon, pressed President Hayes to remove federal troops from the South, later serving in the U.S. Senate until his death in 1882. His home, Bellevue, was built in 1854–55.
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