Telfair Center for the Arts

McRae, United States

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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Heritage registerNational Register of Historic Places↗

Built in 1892 in McRae, Georgia, the Telfair Center for the Arts occupies the historic South Georgia College Administration Building, a Late Victorian brick structure now serving as a nonprofit arts center. The two-story load-bearing brick masonry building, reinforced by heavy timber framing, features a third level with an attic room and tower, along with an attached auditorium wing. Its front facade showcases a central recessed two-story entrance with a second-level balcony. Constructed following the Methodist Church's decision in 1892 to establish the college, the building's austere brick construction and simple detailing reflected the church's emphasis on unadorned Christian education. Deemed architecturally significant as the primary building of an early co-educational Methodist institution, it embodies the strict ethical principles that characterized the school when it opened in January 1893 with 65 students. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.