Restoration work on Georgia’s oldest brick schoolhouse, the Chattooga Academy in LaFayette, is regarded as an asset for development of tourism.

From among 40 applicants, LaFayette was one of 10 selected to share $90,000 in development grants being awarded by the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

The $10,000 awarded to LaFayette will go toward work to allow the building’s use as a tourism center, according to Stefanie Paupeck, spokeswoman for the Department of Economic Development.

“The submitted cost was $34,720 to complete plaster, wood trim and other interior repairs,” she said.

The two-story structure was completed in 1836 and served as a schools house until the 1920s. It is and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Located adjacent the city’s antebellum Marsh House, the reddish-brick structure is also known as the John B. Gordon Hall, honoring a man who was a pupil at the academy before serving as a soldier, a U.S. senator and governor of Georgia.

During the Civil War, Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg used the building as his headquarters from Sept. 10-17, 1863, while planning for the Battle of Chickamauga.

In a prepared statement Bruce Green, tourism product development director for Georgia, said, “We are very excited about the opportunity to provide stimulus funding for our communities as they develop new tourism products in Georgia. We look forward to these projects coming on line by the end of this year.”

Other recipients of this year’s grants are:

Atlanta Development Authority for Atlanta Landmarks; Augusta Canal Authority, Carroll County Board of Commissioners; city of Kennesaw for the Kennesaw Museum Foundation; city of Roswell for the Historic Roswell Convention & Visitors Bureau; Clay County Board of Commissioners, for the Fort Gaines Historical Society; Development Authority of Warren County for the Georgia Civil War Heritage Trails; Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority for The Big House Foundation; Savannah Economic Development Authority, Savannah Music Festival; and White County for Sautee Nacoochee Community Association.

Comments