United States, Georgia, Muscogee County, Columbus, 32.46098, -84.98771Linley, John1974-08Located at: 1440 Second Avenue, Columbus, Ga.Two-story red brick house on a brick foundation, featuring paired roof brackets, a one-story porch with elaborate ironwork across the front of the house, and a balcony above the entrance. The fence and gate are also cast iron. Construction began before the Civil War by James Rankin in 1859 and was finished after the war in 1867. James Rankin, planter and owner of The Rankin Hotel, immigrated to Columbus from Ayrshire in Scotland. The construction of the house is attributed to Lawrence Wimberly Wall, a native of South Carolina who worked as a brickmason in Savannah before coming to Columbus in the 1850s. In 1968, the Rankin House was donated to the Historic Columbus Foundation, Inc. (HCF) in memory of James Waldo Woodruff, Sr. Fully restored, its first floor is an 1850-1870 house museum and Research Room. On the second floor are the offices of Historic Columbus Foundation, Inc. The fence enhancing the property formerly surrounded the upper Broadway townhouse of General Henry Lewis Benning, the Confederate war hero for whom Fort Benning is named. The Rankin House courtyard was given in memory of Charlie Frank Williams, a prominent Columbus civic and community leader. Mrs. Charles Marion Woolfolk, the interior decorator, and Edward Warner Neal, the restoration architect, both Columbus natives, were particularly instrumental in the refurbishing of this house. For more information see Linley, John. The Georgia Catalog: Historic American Buildings Survey. Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press, c1982, p. 290.Date of structure: 1859.image/jpegForms part of: John Linley Collectionhttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ItalianateBrickCast ironIron alloyMetalHousesDwellingsArchitecture--Georgia--ColumbusArchitecture--Georgia--Muscogee CountyRankin, James--Homes and hauntsWall, Lawrence Wimberly--Homes and hauntsHistoric Columbus Foundation, Inc.Benning, Henry L. (Henry Lewis), 1814-1875--Homes and hauntsWoolfolk, Charles Marion, Mrs.--Homes and hauntsRankin House (Columbus, Ga.)StillImage