Right in front of you, you'll spot Giddings Hall by its grand brick exterior, six massive columns with curly Ionic tops, and that classic white triangular roof - just head for the tall, temple-like building at the top of Giddings Circle.
Imagine the year is 1839 in Georgetown, Kentucky. The air is filled with excitement - and probably a few hammer swings - because a dream is taking shape right where you’re standing. Giddings Hall, originally called Recitation Hall, rises up in Greek Revival style, the first solid sign that a brand new Baptist college really is here to stay. Georgetown College was the first Baptist college west of the Allegheny Mountains, and what you see before you was its first permanent building, thanks to the big plans of Rev. Rockwood Giddings, the school's third president, after whom the building was later named. But here’s a twist: legend has it that a Georgetown math professor, Jonathan E. Farnam, drew up the first sketches, and a mysterious local architect, A.T. Rice, polished it off. Local hands built this place - an African-American mason laid the foundation while brickmason A.L. White crafted these thick walls.
Imagine students in the past wandering these halls, shuffling their books as they headed to class or chapel. Some say the building even doubled as a library and theater over the years. Oh, and see those chunky Ionic columns? According to campus lore, thanks to the college’s early connection to Elijah Craig, the guy who allegedly invented bourbon whiskey, there’s a quart of bourbon under each column. If only those columns could talk - or pour a drink! Today, Giddings Hall runs the whole college show as the main administrative building, standing like a proud sentinel over the campus. From its stone basement to its deep attic, every brick tells a story of ambition, community, and a little bourbon-inspired mystery.
