Anderson House Museum | Fort Valley, Georgia
1005 State University Dr.Fort Valley GA 31030
Phone: 478-825-6445
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The Anderson House Museum is Fort Valley State University’s oldest building and houses the Biggs Collection. The house was the residence of F.W. Gano, one of Fort Valley State University’s founders and is believed to have been constructed in the late 1800’s. This colonial Dutch revival style was a popular architectural design for rural cottages of that era. The house was renovated in 1918 and served as the family home for principal Henry A. Hunt, President Horace Mann Bond, and President Cornelius V. Troup. It was named in memory of Benjamin S. Anderson, who served as Professor of Agriculture during the institution’s early years.
The main exhibits and displays come from the Biggs Collection of period furnishings, silver, glassware, china, quilts, linens and civil war memorabilia. The majority of the items date from about 1860 to 1900. The English Victorian furniture outfitted the parlor, dining room and bedrooms of an antebellum home in Box Springs, Georgia, which still stands today. The contents of the home were bequeathed by the plantation owner to Mr. Biggs’ grandmother who was a slave. Biggs donated the entire collection to Fort Valley State University in 1991.
