The centerpiece of Alexander H. Stephens State Historic Park, Crawfordville, Georgia, is Liberty Hall the home of Alexander Hamilton Stephens, a United States Congressman, Governor of Georgia, and Vice President of the Confederate States of America. Stephens bought the estate in 1845 and made his home here until his death in 1883. He once owned several thousand adjoining acres.
The "Big House" has eight bedrooms - four on each level. It is now a National Historic Landmark and is maintained by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Behind the main house is a smaller building which contains many of Stephen's books and other personal items. He is said to have spent most of his time here after the War Between the States. During that time he wrote his classic two volume work: A Constitutional View of the Late War Between the States: its causes, character, conduct and results; presented in a series of colloquies at Liberty Hall.
Stephens was a constitutional scholar and authority who maintained vigoriously - and I believe correctly - that it was the Confederacy and not the Union which was the true defeneder of the Constitution of the United States. Some historians credit Stephens with popularizing the name "War Between the States." The home is open for tours and I have personally taken the tour on a couple of occasions. The tourguides speak of Stephens as though they are old family friends - and perhaps they are - a few generations removed. Anyone with even a modicum of interest in history will find a visit here and the tour extremely interesting.
Behind the Big House are other outbuildings that were a part of the old homestead. Beside the house is a small but very interesting Confederate Museum.
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