Forestry Resources Building 1 – UGA 1040 (1938, Category 2). The Forest Resources Building was constructed in 1938 and opened in 1939. It was known at the time as the Forestry Building. Today it is home to the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. The University’s forestry program was established in 1906 with the financial support of philanthropist George Foster Peabody. The Forestry Building was planned and designed by Rudolph Driftmier and Roy Hitchcock as part of the New Deal-era expansion of the campus with funding from the federal Public Works Administration.
When constructed, the Forestry Building was sited on the east side of Agricultural Drive (later D. W. Brooks Drive), which is on axis with the center of Conner Hall atop Compton Hill. Construction of the building at this location, along with the adjacent Dairy Science Building (1939, now the Environmental Health Science Building), established the formal layout of South Campus, replacing the informal layout of earlier agricultural buildings there. The drive that the buildings faced was more recently changed to a pedestrian mall. According to a 1942 plan of the campus, tennis courts were located on the east side of Agricultural Drive at that time, at the current location of the Pharmacy Building. New buildings were connected to the rear of the Forestry Building in 1968.
The Forest Resources Building is a three-story brick building with its primary floor at the second floor level, reached by a steep flight of concrete steps. The central entrance feature is a tall, narrow projecting portico with square limestone columns and cut limestone facing on the building wall. The wood half-round window above the entrance door appears to be original. The wood doors below are replacements. A bronze plaque above the door documents the building’s 1939 opening. Copper lanterns are located to each side.
The building’s ground level is painted stucco. The upper floor walls are brick with limestone string courses, cornice, lintels, sills, and other detailing. Modern aluminum awning windows have been installed, replacing the building’s original windows. The new windows appear generally to replicate the historic steel windows, which were probably similar to those still present on the adjacent Environmental Health Sciences Building. A hipped asphalt shingle roof is located behind the building’s brick and limestone parapet. The Forest Resources Building retains integrity, is significant to the New Deal-era period of the University’s development, and appears to contribute to a National Register- eligible historic district. It is assessed as a Category 2 resource.
