Montpelier Springs, GA College Fire, Dec 1897

MONTPELIER COLLEGE.

FIRE COMPLETELY DESTROYED IT EARLY THURSDAY MORNING.

There Was No Insurance and the Loss to Mr. Hall, Its Owner, Will Be $5,000 – Origin of the Fire is a Mystery.

The old college building at Montpelier Springs, about fourteen miles from Macon, was burned to the ground Thursday morning at 3 o’clock.
The building belonged to Mr. J. W. Hart, and was uninsured. Its value was about $5,000, although it cost a great deal more to erect it. It container twenty-fove rooms and was two stories high, of old fashioned architecture.

The origin of the fire is unknown, but the building was in flames before the negro who lived in two rooms of the house discovered it. There was no means of putting out the fire, and the few people who saw it were compelled to stand by and see it burn without being able to render assistance.

The old college was build before the war, and was founded by Bishop Elliott. For many years it was a famous college and flourished. Many of the leading men of the state have attended school there, but since 1878 the school has been discontinued. In 1880 Mr. J. W. Hart bought the property and 5,000 acres of land.

Everybody who had visited Montpelier Springs remembers the old building, and the magnificent oak end hickory trees around it. Nearly all of these trees were killed by the fire.

The Macon Telegraph, Macon, GA 26 Dec 1897
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Transcribed by Jenni Lanham.