Included with GeorgiaRoam+Gordon State College Campus Tour
From a frontier schoolhouse and military college to a modern state campus
Self-guided walking tour in Barnesville · 0.7 mi · walking · ~55m · 6 stops
The Tour
Gordon State College traces its roots to an 1832 Barnesville schoolhouse that became the Gordon Institute in 1872, then Gordon Military College, and moved to this 235-acre campus in 1933. This walk links the college's oldest surviving buildings, its historic green, and its military memorial.
Gordon State College Campus Tour is a self-guided walking tour of Barnesville, built around its campus side.
The walk covers 6 stops over about 0.7 miles and roughly 55 minutes, entirely at your own pace. Each stop's story unlocks on your phone the moment you arrive — GPS-triggered, hands-free, no guide and no tour group to keep up with.
What you'll see
Gordon State's campus is a compact walk through nearly two centuries of Barnesville history. It starts at Lambdin Hall, the columned 1907 administration building named for the Gordon Institute's first president and restored in the mid-2000s. Behind it spreads Lambdin Green, the lawn where cadets once drilled and where commencements and campus gatherings still happen.
The walk passes a state historical marker that tells the school's story in brief: a village schoolhouse, then the Gordon Institute, then decades as Gordon Military College, which drew cadets from across the country and Latin America. You'll see the Military Memorial, dedicated in 2015, which honors the Gordon cadets and alumni who served in the armed forces. You'll also see the renovated Hightower library and learning center and the student center on the newer east side of campus. Along the way, the app tells how the college served as Barnesville's public school and how a crowd came to the college stadium in 1938 to hear President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The loop is under a mile on campus walkways and takes about an hour. Weekday mornings are quiet, and spring and fall are the most comfortable seasons. Downtown Barnesville's historic district is a short drive away if you want to extend the visit. The Georgia Roam app plays each stop's story as you arrive.
Georgia
