Bellevue Plantation Home of Senator Benjamin Harvey Hill
Bellevue, 204 Ben Hill Street, LaGrange, Georgia
Bellevue is the beautifully restored Greek revival mansion built for Senator Benjamin Harvey Hill in the early 1850's. Senator Hill, his wife Caroline Holt, and their children, moved into Bellevue in 1854. The rosewood piano he gave his wife as a wedding present is the only piece of original furniture now in the mansion. The elaborate woodwork around the doorways and large windows were hand carved by slaves. The main entry and the doors from the ballroom to the outdoor porch show some of this beautiful craftsmanship. All the original fireplaces were made of Italian black marble. Many donated antiques of the period now furnish the house, including a half-tester bed in one of the upstairs bedrooms.
Situated atop a gently sloping hill, the home was originally on a 1200 acre plantation. The carriage drive was lined with flowering crepe myrtle. Four large magnolia trees flank the manor house which faces Broad Street. A historical marker points the way.
B.H. Hill served as Senator for the Confederate States of America, 1862-1865; Senator for the United States of America, 1877-1882. He was considered one of the most influential men in the South during and after the Civil War. When Jefferson Davis was asked by a newspaper reporter whom he considered to be his staunchest supporter, the President of the Confederacy answered without hesitation, "Benjamin Harvey Hill." He often visited the Senator at Bellevue along with other prominent men of the day. Portraits of B. H. Hill and his wife, Caroline Holt, hang in the main drawing room. In the main entry there is a large oil portrait of the Senator as well.
The Callaway Foundation purchased Bellevue in the 1930's and donated it to the LaGrange Woman's Club in 1942. It was restored in 1974-1975 and is open for tours Tuesday through Saturday from 10AM to Noon and from 2PM to 5PM. There is a $4.00 fee.
Benjamin Harvey Hill was the seventh child of nine born to John J. Hill and Sarah Parham on September 14, 1823 in Hillsborough, Jasper County, Georgia. His family moved to Troup County, GA when he was ten years old in 1833, where his father built a large plantation home in nearby Long Cane. The John Hill House is still in use and has a historical marker in the yard denoting it as the boyhood home of the Senator.
A small family Hill Cemetery is on the property of the John Hill House behind the barn. Eleven family members are buried there, including the Senator's parents, John J. Hill and Sarah Parham Hill.
Senator Hill and his wife Caroline Holt are buried in historic Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, where the Senator died of cancer August 16, 1882 at the age of 58 at home in his large Victorian home.
The Senator and his wife also had a large plantation in Athens, GA. This beautifully restored mansion (photo taken at dusk) is now used as the residence for the President of the University of Georgia, the very university from which Sen. Hill graduated. A fifty foot statue was unveiled in Atlanta in 1886 and now resides in the State Capitol Rotunda along with a larger-than-life portrait in the Hall of Fame.
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