History of Piedmont College In 1897, opening a college in the
wilderness of northeast Georgia must have seemed to some like a
prescription for failure. The area was accessible by few roads -
mostly crude dirt strips paved with sapling trees. A narrow-
gauge railroad did make a waterstop in the frontier town of
Demorest, but it was laden with passengers and freight bound for
points further north. For a youthful band of entrepreneurs
trying to forge a community of businesses, factories and schools
in Demorest, however, a college was just what they needed. Under
the direction of a Methodist minister, the Rev. Charles C.
Spence, they obtained a charter from the State of Georgia,
organized a board of trustees, bought books, hired a faculty,
and secured space for classes and dormitories. On the first
Wednesday of September 1897, amid much fanfare and ceremony, the
opening exercises for the J.S. Green Collegiate Institute were
held in downtown Demorest, and the entire student body, from
first grade to college juniors