Athens Historical Society

08/18/2026

Monday August 24, 2026 Dr. Douglas Young, University of North Georgia Political Science Professor Emeritus, will present the life of Helen Dortch Longstreet, wife of General James Longstreet. Helen was talented, strong willed, beautiful and witty. Her inspiring biography if presented today would be rejected for being unbelievable or fantasy. A program you will not want to miss. The Washington Civil War Round Table meets every fourth Monday of the month except December at The Pope Center, 48b Lexington Ave. Washington Georgia. Cost is $17.00 and includes wine, meal, and speaker contact [email protected]

08/16/2026

Thank you to everyone who came out Friday night for our Cars at Wire Park event! 🚗🎬 We had such a great evening enjoying classic cars, a beautiful sunset, and Cars on the big screen.

A special thank you to Wire Park for partnering with the Athens Historical Society to make this event possible. We loved seeing so many familiar and new faces and appreciate everyone who joined us!

And thank you to those who brought their historic cars for us to see!

07/31/2026

Drive on down to Wire Park on Friday, August 14th at 6pm to watch the sun set, check out some classic cars, and see a screening of Cars on the big screen. This family friendly event is co-hosted by Athens Historical Society and Wire Park.

07/23/2026

First up, we have Park Hall. Named after Robert Emory Park and completed in 1939, Park Hall would originally house the Physics department until the Science complex was built on South Campus. When it would then be handed over to the English department. Park Hall was one of three buildings built as part of UGA's expansion program, the others being LeConte Hall and Baldwin Hall. The trilogy of buildings each had different types of columns, with Park Hall’s columns being fluted Doric columns.

Source - UGA Architects
Ga Historic Newspapers
The Red and Black
Clio

07/23/2026

This week a building on campus that still holds clues to its original purpose Gilbert. Completed in 1943, Gilbert Hall first housed the infirmary replacing the Crawford W. Long infirmary due to the increased attendance of students at the University of Georgia.

The are medical inscriptions located on the façade of the building, hinting at the building's past use.

The building was named after Judge Price Gilbert who helped fund the construction of the building.

07/23/2026

Feel free to DM us your questions! The goal is to tell some of the wonderful stories Athens has to offer, and to learn what topics you all would like to know more about.

07/15/2026

Hello everyone , Ild like to announce a series of posts about New deal programs in Athens Ga. Not only were many of the buildings you see on campus funded by these programs but also many city works projects . Excited to share it all with you - Luis Vicente AHS Board member

06/19/2026

Happy Juneteenth!

Juneteenth is celebrated on the 19th of June, the anniversary of when US troops spread the word of emancipation in Texas, but word got to Athens on May 4th, 1865 over two years after the (Jan. 1, 1863) Emancipation Proclamation.

To learn more about Juneteenth and Emancipation in Athens, we invite you to watch our film by the Athens Film Project:

This video tells the story of how slavery ended in Athens, Georgia,...

06/18/2026

Thankful for the work and time put into this invaluable resource. Check out this great database, particularly for those researching African American ancestors and making family connections.



Please visit the TRR Cobb House website for more information:
https://www.trrcobbhouse.org/cobbs-world

Here is the link to the database:
https://airtable.com/appf6pDHuDCbmHzaT/shrsNExzEMkf6zwEd/tbl6wrxftVtDeR8KP/viw0kobzeOkWFWvQI