Joseph Henry Lumpkin House: Georgia's First Chief Justice

The Greek Revival house at two forty-eight Prince Street in Athens was purchased in eighteen forty-two by Joseph Henry Lumpkin, who three years later would become the first chief justice of the newly established Georgia Supreme Court. Lumpkin held that position for more than twenty years, until his death in eighteen sixty-seven, shaping the legal foundations of the state during its most turbulent period. He significantly expanded the house around eighteen fifty, nearly doubling its size, adding the two-story wraparound porch and Doric columns that give it its current appearance.

After his death the house served as a finishing school for young women run by Madame Sophie Sosnowski. It is now home to the Athens Woman's Club and remains one of the most historically significant antebellum residences in a city full of them.