Historic Macon

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In 1851 the state established the
Georgia Academy for the Blind in
Macon. It was originally housed in
this building facing Orange Street,
and the grounds occupied almost an
entire block between that street
and College Street. In 1905 the
school was relocated to its present
location in Vineville.
worked with Elam Alexander to plan a house for
his family. It was a Greek Revival cottage that
experts called one of the finest small houses in
the South.
Cowles’ arrival marked the beginning of a
period of great activity and success for him and for
Macon. He was an original investor in Macon’s first
insurance company and an original member of its
first businessmen’s club, The Merchant’s Meeting,
which was the seed for the Rotary Club. He took
part in efforts to bring the Central Railroad to
Macon and on to Forsyth. Cowles’ dream was to
make Macon the center of a vast network of
railroads. His efforts toward that goal earned him
the title, “irrepressible railroad man of the age.”
In 1833, Jerry Cowles and Elam Alexander
went to Milledgeville to convince the legislature
to grant a charter for a Macon to Savannah rail
line. Their success helped Cowles become
president of the Central Railroad and Banking
Company. In 1835 Cowles was Macon’s acting
mayor while the elected mayor led the Macon
Volunteers in the Seminole War in Florida.
Also in 1835 Cowles started the project of
which he said at the end of his life he was most
proud. He led a committee which convinced the
city council to grant five acres of land on
Encampment Hill for a female college. He led the
drive to raise money for the school with a pledge
of one thousand dollars. The Georgia Methodist
Conference agreed to sponsor the school which
later became known as Wesleyan College.
Encampment Hill was a reserve owned by the
town and used by the Macon Volunteers for
training camps. When the college was built lots
were sold nearby. Houses built on the hill had
the benefits of views and breezes. One of those
houses was Jerry Cowles’ new home.
In 1835, Cowles sold his cottage and bought
fourteen acres atop what came to be called
Cowles’ Hill. Elam Alexander designed for him
an elegant mansion with a colonnade of eighteen
columns around three of its sides. When the
house was completed in 1840 people in Macon
referred to it as “the palace on the hill.” It is now
owned by Mercer University and called
Woodruff House.
As the building of his house began, Cowles
set out on horseback with Judge Tracy and two
colleagues for Knoxville, Tennessee. Their
20 ✦ HISTORIC MACON