Washington and Lee University - Calyx Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

Page 7 text:

Although Liberty Hall was actually constructed in 1793, this building is im- portant because it represents the first permanent roots of an institution which has long since outgrown the slight boundaries of its decaying stone walls. This era may be said to have truly begun with the coming of Reverend William Graham in 1776 to assume the direction of Augusta Academy at Mount Pleasant. The Hanover Presbytery had previously decided to establish a permanent school at Timber Ridge. Samuel Houston, Alexander Stuart, and other public spirited citizens do- nated the necessary land; and the college trustees, imbued at the time with the spirit of the Revolution, changed the name of the school from Augusta Academy to Lib- erty Hall Academy. Understandably, the unsettled years of the Revolution put a handicap on the initial development of the institution. Both students, teachers, and trustees were very much involved in the war; and the course of affairs at Liberty Hall Academy was, at most, of minor importance to them. Under Graham ' s lead- ership, however, the institution was finally given a firm foundation with the construc- tion of the first permanent buildings. Three years after Liberty Hall was raised in 1796, William Graham left the Academy to go west. His impetus, however, was a vitally important one, and one which should not be forgotten. Liberty Hall constructed in 1793