A. H. Stephens State Park is a

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...

located in Crawfordville. The park is named for

Alexander H. Stephens Alexander Hamilton Stephens (February 11, 1812 – March 4, 1883) was an American politician who served as the first and only Vice President of the Confederate States of America, vice president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865, and l ...

, the

Vice President of the Confederate States of America The vice president of the Confederate States was the second highest executive officer of the government of the Confederate States of America and the deputy to the President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States. ...

, and a former

Georgia governor The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard, when not in federal service, and State Defense Force. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to eithe ...

. The park contains Stephens' home,

Liberty Hall Liberty Hall (), in Dublin, Ireland, is the headquarters of the Services, Industrial, Professional, and Technical Union (SIPTU). Designed by Desmond Rea O'Kelly, it was completed in 1965. It was for a time the tallest building in the countr ...

, which has been fully restored to its original 1875 style. The park's museum houses one of Georgia's largest collections of

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

artifacts. The park also offers several mill ponds for fishing and nature trails. The park is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as A. H. Stephens State Park. It includes four contributing sites, twelve contributing structures, and one other contributing object. It includes

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...

and Rustic Style architecture.

History

Alexander Hamilton Stephens once owned the land of A. H. Stephens State Park. After he died, the property came under the control of the Stephens Monument Commission, a group chartered to protect Liberty Hall and its surroundings. The state received the land in 1933 to establish Georgia's third-oldest state park. The U.S. Government later acquired several hundred acres of land adjacent to the property. The current boundary of the park was completed by transferring ownership of this area to the state. The museum was established in the 1950s after work by Horace Holden, Stephens' niece and a United Daughters of the Confederacy member, who assisted in creating it. The park's civil engineering was built during the 1930s by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

and Works Progress Administration. The state acquired 15 acres of Taliaferro County Board of Education-owned property in 2001, which increased the park's current acreage.

Liberty Hall

The

, also known as ''Bachelor's Hall'', built in 1834, is one of the structures on the site and is separately listed on the NRHP. It is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

maintained by the

Georgia Department of Natural Resources The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is an administrative agency of the U.S. state of Georgia. Structure The agency has statewide responsibilities for managing and conserving Georgia’s natural, cultural, and historical resource ...

. A. H. Stephens bought the estate in 1845 and lived in this house until 1875 when he tore down the main structure to construct Liberty Hall. The two-story "big house" is a traditional 4 × 4 with four rooms on each level. Many of Stephens' books are housed in a smaller structure behind the facility, where he spent much of his time after the war. After Stephens died in 1883, Liberty Hall, owned by his surviving relatives, served as a boardinghouse until 1932, when it was donated to Georgia. Stephens' grave is on the front lawn, beneath a marble statue.

Facilities

*21 Tent/trailer/ RV campsites *4 Cottages *30 Horse stables *18 Horse campsites *1 Group camp *1 Pioneer campground *2 Picnic shelters *1 Group shelter

Annual events

*Junior/Senior Fishing Rodeos (June) *Christmas on Lake Liberty (December) *Victorian Christmas Program (December)

References

External links

A.H. Stephens State Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:A.H. Stephens State Park State parks of Georgia (U.S. state) American Civil War sites Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) Colonial Revival architecture in Georgia (U.S. state) American Civil War museums in Georgia (U.S. state) Historic house museums in Georgia (U.S. state) Museums in Taliaferro County, Georgia Protected areas established in 1995 Protected areas of Taliaferro County, Georgia National Historic Landmarks in Georgia (U.S. state) Houses completed in 1834 Houses in Taliaferro County, Georgia National Register of Historic Places in Taliaferro County, Georgia Alexander H. Stephens