Nearest city Lexington, Virginia Built 1793 (1793) Added to NRHP August 16, 1977 | Area 3.7 acres (1.5 ha) NRHP Reference # 77001493 | |
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The Liberty Hall Site is where the remains of the early predecessor of Washington and Lee University are to be found. The Liberty Hall Academy was chartered as a degree-granting institution by the Virginia legislature in 1782, and was first located in a wood frame building near Lexington, Virginia. This first building burned down in 1783, as did its replacement in 1790. In 1793 a new three-story stone building was constructed, as was a steward's house; these buildings were followed in subsequent years by additional buildings. The roof of the main school building caught fire in 1802, and the ensuing blaze gutted the building's interior. It was declared unfit to restore, and the institution relocated into Lexington. The university conducted excavations of the site in the 1970s.
The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.