Self-Guided Tour of Milledge Avenue
This self-guided tour covers a 1.5-mile stretch of historic Milledge Avenue. The first 6 points of interest cover two blocks of North Milledge Ave. and the remaining 25 places are south of Broad Street. The route conveniently ends in the Five Points area, a unique, yet sophisticated atmosphere for nationally recognized dining, drinking, and shopping. Milledge Avenue is referenced as being constructed in either 1856 or 1858. At such time the estates involved parcels many times the size of those found today. The estates were representative of the largely agrarian community of Athens at the time. This route is walkable, bikeable, and drivable.
1. Cheney House - 1893
490 N. Milledge Avenue
This Queen-Anne style house of the Victorian Era was built in 1893 for Mrs. Francis Cheney and her four children. The house has asymmetrical styling with wings, gable porches, a tower, an oriel window, and dormers. It is also interesting to note that the side porch is accessible only through a window and that this was the first house in Athens to have an interior bathroom as part of its original design. Two of the Cheney daughters lived in the house until the late 1960s.
2. Phinizy-Hunnicutt House - 1855
325 N. Milledge Avenue
This Italianate design house was built by John F. Phinizy and is now located in the Cobbham Historic District. The lovely ironwork of the porch was made at the Athens Foundry, and the entire house was built at a cost of $7,500. The house was then sold in 1894 to John A. Hunnicutt, who was one of the organizers of the Athens Electric Railroad Company.
3. Lucy Cobb Institute - 1858
201 N. Milledge Avenue
In 1854, a daring letter to the editor was published in the Southern Watchman (an Athens weekly newspaper at the time) entitled "The Education of our Girls." The letter said that "girls have the same intellectual constitution as men and have the same right as men to intellectual, cultural development" and was signed "Mother." T.R.R Cobb, who later discovered that "Mother" was his sister, Laura Cobb Rutherford, read the article and set out to raise funds for a "College for Girls." The complex was completed in 1858 and named after Cobb’s daughter, who died at age 13 of scarlet fever. The school began its first session in January of 1859 and closed in 1931, having earned the reputation of being one of the top girls’ schools in the United States. There were two interesting rules at the institute: young ladies were not to wave to young men from the second story windows, and students could not wander past the magnolia trees without a chaperone. After the Lucy Cobb Institute closed, the property was leased to the University of Georgia in 1932 and transferred entirely to UGA in 1953. Through the years, it served as women’s dormitories, the Phi Mu sorority house, office space for the School of Environmental Design, and storage space. The building became a part of the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. In 1984, with the building in desperate need of renovation, Congress allocated funds for the Lucy Cobb Institute to be repaired, restored, and turned into the Carl Vinson Institute of Government’s new home – on the condition that state and federal historic preservation offices approve the renovation. The renovation project was completed in 1991.
4. Seney-Stovall Chapel - 1885
201 N. Milledge Avenue
W.W. Thomas began building the chapel in 1882 after Miss Nellie G. Stovall wrote a letter to George I. Seney, a philanthropist in New York, asking for money to build a chapel for the Lucy Cobb Institute. He donated $10,000 for the project, plus a pipe organ for the chapel and paintings for the Lucy Cobb Institute. Seney-Stovall Chapel, which holds 280 people, was dedicated in 1885 and still stands as the only truly Elizabethan theatre in the Southeast. The octagonal, orange brick building served as a lecture hall, theatre and auditorium for the institute. Restoration was completed in 1997 at a cost of $2.5 million.
5. The Varsity - 1963
1000 W. Broad Street, no longer there
"What’ll ya have?" The Varsity is a restaurant famous for that signature greeting, plus its hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, onion rings, milkshakes, orange drinks, and fried pies. The Varsity was founded in Atlanta and celebrated its 90th birthday in 2018. The Varsity craze hit Athens in 1932, when the original Athens location opened across from the Arch at Broad Street and College Avenue. Listening to the employees speaking the Varsity lingo was half the fun of the experience. In Varsity-eze, a plain hot dog, fries, and chocolate milk (always served on ice) become " a naked dog, strings, and a PC." The current location opened in 1963, and the original restaurant closed shortly thereafter. Many times between 1963 and 1964, groups of African-Americans, inspired by the lunch counter sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina, left Ebenezer Baptist Church West on Broad Street to protest the restaurant's policy of segregation. The largest protest was said to have taken place in the spring of 1964. The Ku Klux Klan counter-protested. Many black protesters went to jail, including a few Athenians who would go on to prominent careers in government, law and the academy. Sadly, this Varsity location was demolished in 2021.
6. President’s Corner
Intersection of Milledge Avenue and Broad Street
This intersection is called President’s Corner because traveling south on Milledge takes one to Madison, Ga., west on Broad to Monroe, Ga., north on Milledge to Jefferson, Ga., and east on Broad to Washington, Ga.
7. Harris-Webster-Whitworth House - 1849
125 S. Milledge Avenue
Built on land originally owned by the University of Georgia, part of this house is said to date to the 1700’s. In 1849, Young L.G. Harris purchased the property from UGA for $300. The house was originally built in the Gothic style but a 1900 addition gave it a more eclectic "Gingerbread" style.
8. Hamilton House - 1858
150 S. Milledge Avenue
The Hamilton House is a combination of Federal, Greek Revival, and Italianate architecture and is on the National Register of Historic Homes. Dr. James E. Hamilton had the house constructed and finished just before the Civil War, with the exception of installing the ornamental ironwork on the porch. The iron had been ordered from England and reached Philadelphia in 1861, just in time to make the last train headed to the South before the war ended Confederacy-bound traffic. The house, purchased in 1939 by Alpha Delta Pi sorority, also has foot-thick brick walls, 11 mantles, and solid mahogany trims.
9. Hamilton-Williams House - 1904
224 S. Milledge Avenue
This Colonial Revival house was built in about 1904 with a central hall, Georgian house plan. The house has three gabled dormers in the front as well as Ionic columns on a large front porch that goes partially around one side of the house. Beta Theta Pi fraternity moved into the house in 1999.
10. Hamilton-Phinizy-Segrest House - 1858
250 S. Milledge Avenue
This Italianate and Greek Revival house was built for Colonel Thomas Hamilton, said to be Georgia’s first millionaire. He died before the house was completed, though, and his widow, Sarah Hamilton, finished it in 1858. The ironwork in the front may have come on the same shipment that the Hamilton House’s did, or skilled craftsmen at the Athens Foundry could have duplicated it. Home of Phi Mu sorority since 1964, the house is also said to have had the first bathtub in Athens.
11. Hardeman-Sams House - 1910
255 S. Milledge Avenue
Benjamin Frank Hardeman had this home built in 1910 by famous Athens architect Fred J. Orr. It has the distinction of being in both the Milledge Avenue and Dearing Street Historic Districts. The Hardemans were known for hosting the most elegant social events in all of northeast Georgia in their home. The brick façade is accented by Doric columns, which support the entrance portico and the right side porch. The roof features three dormer windows and the first floor has a fanlight window over the door with sidelight windows coming down from it.
12. Lipscomb House - 1908
285 S. Milledge Avenue
UGA’s first chancellor, Andrew A. Lipscomb, constructed this house for his mother, Mrs. Mary A. Lipscomb. She lived in the home, now belonging to Delta Sigma Phi fraternity, when she was principal of the Lucy Cobb Institute. Its Grecian columns and rounded Corinthian portico are typical of early 20th-century architecture.
13. H.C. White House - 1870s
327 S. Milledge Avenue
Listed on the Historic American Buildings Survey, this home of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity was originally built in the Second Empire style. Professor H.C. White, however, remodeled the house in 1901 and added the porch and four large Ionic columns.
14. A.P. Dearing House - 1856
338 S. Milledge Avenue
Milledge Avenue opened up for settlement the year before A.P. Dearing built this house of red bricks that were made in the Athens area. The outer walls are 16 inches thick. The columns are covered with plaster and fluted. The house is considered one of the most perfect examples of Greek Revival architecture in America. It has been added to the National Register of Historic Places and Historic American Buildings Survey and pictured in "National Geographic." The discerning eye, however, will note that the Doric columns are grouped in pairs in contrast to the equidistant spacing traditionally employed in Greek Revival architecture. This house remained in the Dearing family until 1938, when it was sold to Kappa Alpha Theta sorority
15. Dearing -Wilkins House - 1865
387 S. Milledge Avenue
Built for Alfred L. Dearing during the Civil War, this classic mansion was later owned by professor Leon Charbonnier. John J. Wilkins, the founder of Athens National Bank, purchased the house in 1909 and added the 14 impressive Corinthian columns and the Classic Revival porch. The home was vacated in 1969 and restored in the late 1970s. Listed on the National Register of Historic Homes, this house is associated with an iron dog that graces the front lawn on special occasions. The dog appears in the movie Gone With the Wind when Bonnie Blue is jumping the hedge and falls from the horse.
16. DeFoor House - 1900
397 S. Milledge Avenue
Charles Phinizy had this house built and brought his bride here in 1900. The Classic Revival style features a two-story portico with Corinthian columns and dormer windows. There is an original beveled glass fanlight over the front door, a spectacular sight when looking at the house at night. Gamma Phi Beta sorority purchased the home in 1983.
17. Phi Kappa Psi House - 1890
398 S. Milledge Avenue
This Queen Anne style house was built in 1890 of brick, stone, beveled siding, and shingles. It has a round cupola and columns clustered together.
18. Hancock-Jones House - 1902
420 S. Milledge Avenue
This Tudor Revival style house with stucco and brick wall cladding and decorative half-timbering in its gables was originally built in the Queen Anne Victorian style in the late-20th century. It was extensively remodeled in the 1920s by architect Frederick Orr.
19. Scudder-Lewis House - 1893
490 Milledge Avenue
When Charles and Nina Scudder purchased this property for $3,000 in 1893, a small one-and-a-half room cottage stood on the site. Charles, a jeweler, decided that, instead of taking the cheaper route and demolishing the cottage, he would incorporate it into his new home. Thus, the tiny old structure became a butler’s pantry and a rear entry hall for the new Queen Anne-style home.
20. Thomas-Carithers House - 1896
530 S. Milledge Avenue
W.W. Thomas, one of Athens’ most respected architects, built this home, dubbed the "Wedding Cake House" because of its ornate classic details including ionic columns, garlands, balustrades, detailed cornices, and stylized acanthus leaves on the decorative frieze. The design was influenced by Thomas’ 1893 visit to Chicago for the Columbian Exposition where the Neoclassical Revival style dominated the design of the buildings. This house is Athens’ finest example of Beaux Arts Classicism with its stained glass windows and Tiffany beveled glass doors. The house is said to be haunted by the ghost of Susie Thomas, who hung herself in an upstairs bedroom after her fiancé left her at the altar. The sisters of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority, residents of the home since 1939, say that everyone who lives in the room where the girl died will be engaged before they leave UGA.
21. Sigma Kappa House - 1900
654 S. Milledge Avenue
This Classic Revival brick house has white columns and a portico. Sigma Kappa sorority moved into the home in 1964.
22. Soule House - 1895
846 S. Milledge Avenue
This house was built in 1895 in the Classical Revival style popular in that period. It has some Beaux Arts influence, but the style adds to Athens’ essence as the Classic City. Phi Kappa Tau fraternity bought the home in 1967 and renovated it in the mid-1980s. It is currently occupied by Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.
23. Gunn-Comer-Tinkham House - 1937
857 S. Milledge Avenue
Neoclassical; a full-height porch with classical columns.
24. Eugenia Arnold Friend House ("Arnocroft") - 1903
925 S. Milledge Avenue
Oliver Hazzard Arnold, Jr. had his beloved house constructed as a white frame Victorian with a wraparound porch. In 1933, they remodeled their home in the Colonial Revival style, as was the fashion then. A Federal-style doorway and red brick façade replaced the clapboard exterior and porch. The house was called Arnocroft - "Arno" for the family name, and "Croft" meaning a small plot of land. Arnocroft gives Athenians a rare glimpse into the culture and history of the town, because the house and its furnishings have remained virtually unchanged since mid-century.
25. Alexander House - 1902
997 S. Milledge Avenue
This charming house, which shows influence of the Colonial Revival style in its classical details, was originally built in 1902 for the Ver Nooy family. At the time, it was the only house on the south end of Milledge. The home was sold to the James W. Alexander family in 1952. The sweeping wraparound porch is one of the most charming features of the house, evoking memories of porch sitters watching the activities of people on Milledge Avenue.
26. Lambda Chi Alpha House
990 S. Milledge Avenue
Built around a Neil Reid designed classic revival house of the 1920s, this building has a two-story pedimented portico supported by four fluted Doric columns.
27. Georgia Campus Christian Fellowship Building - 1920
1080 S. Milledge Avenue
This house features Ionic pilasters on a three-bay porch. There is a stained glass transom in the rear and double hung windows with decorative panes.
28. Hillel Foundation - 1914
1155 S. Milledge Avenue
The meeting place of UGA’s B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundation since 1958, this house was found to be in poor condition in 1990. Hillel was faced with the choice of renovating or moving out, so the group spent $27,000 in repair work over the next year. The house is a good example of Prairie style architecture with its square masonry porch supports on a single-story porch.
29. The Park at Five Points (Stiles Properties) - 1925-1929
1660 S. Lumpkin Street
Three apartment buildings sit on the corner of Milledge Circle and S. Lumpkin Street: Milledge Park (1925), Milledge Circle (1926), and Henrietta (1929) apartments. In the buildings’ 34 apartments, one finds hardwood floors, brass hardware, glass doorknobs, real tile bathroom floors, and other remnants of the Roaring Twenties. Being on the streetcar line, these buildings were the center of West Side residential life in their first few decades. The neighbors would mingle at the barbershop and tea room on the ground floor of the Henrietta apartments. Each of the three buildings is a bit different architecturally. Milledge Park and Milledge Circle show elements of the Georgian Revival style, while Henrietta’s round, arched windows, projected cornices, and pronounced brackets are reminiscent of Italianate architecture.
30. Jittery Joe’s
1210 S. Milledge Avenue
Jittery Joe’s owes its interesting layout to the fact that the building used to be a service station – the garage doors are still on the front. The décor of the coffee shop has a vintage atmosphere with its velvet drapes, dim lighting, and cozy tables. Athens’ only coffee roasting company opened this Five Points location in 1995 and also has multiple locations throughout Athens.
31. The Five & Ten - 1920s
1073 S. Milledge Avenue
Now the Five & Ten restaurant, this house was built in 1911 for the Jackson family. Ruth M. Jackson, born in 1881 as the only child of John "Jack" Jackson and Mildred Vincent, lived at this address from 1911 to 1971. "Jack" attended the University of Georgia and graduated in 1872, at which time he began farming before venturing into merchandising. Mildred passed away a year after Ruth's birth. Ruth was educated at the nearby Lucy Cobb Institute. She never married, and is known to have been a kind and generous soul. She rarely ate alone, often inviting others over for meals prepared by her cook, Mattie. Ruth shared this home with, and cared for, many relatives in their declining years. When her own health began to fail, she vacated the house and left it to her cousin, Sarah Matthews, who had been more like a sister than a cousin throughout her life. (Information provided by Vince Matthews)
32. Hub Bicycles (formerly Hodgson’s Pharmacy) - 1984
1220 S. Milledge Avenue
Athens residents have trusted Hodgson’s to fill over one million prescriptions since the pharmacy opened in 1951. Located at 1650 S. Lumpkin Street for its first 33 years, Hodgson’s moved to their current location in 1984 so that it could expand the prescription department, cosmetic area, and soda fountain. Many customers recall making special trips to Hodgson’s for a scoop or two of ice cream. The location is not home to Hub Bicycles.