1847 UGA antebellum faculty residence relocated on campus in 1903, where the family of Professor Joseph Lustrat said they could see the spirit of Dr. Charles Morris in his favorite chair by the fire.
Lustrat House, UGA North Campus, Athens, GA 30602
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free exterior viewing. Active UGA Office of Legal Affairs; interior access is restricted to staff and appointments.
Access
Limited Access
Antebellum brick residence southeast of Old College; exterior is on a pedestrian quad.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1847 · Surviving Antebellum UGA Faculty Residence · Relocated on Campus in 1903 · Home of Dr. Charles Morris and Later of Professor Joseph Lustrat · Now the UGA Office of Legal Affairs
The Lustrat House is a two-story antebellum brick residence built in 1847 to house University of Georgia faculty. It originally stood farther north on what is now the Northeast Quadrangle and was relocated on campus in 1903 to make way for the construction of the present-day Administration building.
The house was originally known as the Morris residence after Dr. Charles Morris, a UGA English professor and head of the Greek Department from 1872 to 1878, who lived there with his family in the early 1880s. The building was later renamed for Joseph Lustrat, who served as chair of the Department of Romance Languages for many years. It also briefly served as the office of the university president.
The Lustrat House is one of only two surviving former faculty residences on the UGA campus. Today the building houses the Office of Legal Affairs and remains an active university office building. The exterior is visible on UGA's North Campus southeast of Old College, with the primary entrance facing the South Quadrangle and a private garden behind the rear porch.
Sources
According to the UGA Libraries' ghost-stories research guide, the Red & Black's haunted-halls reporting, and the Southern Spirit Guide's 'Town and Gown' essay, the haunting tradition at the Lustrat House centers on Dr. Charles Morris. Morris was a UGA English professor and head of the Greek Department from 1872 to 1878 who lived in the house with his family in the early 1880s.
The Haunted North Campus Walking Tour script, drawn from the book 'Through the Arch: An Illustrated Guide to the University of Georgia Campus,' relates that Morris, embittered, refused to move with the house when it was relocated in 1903 and died shortly afterward. After his death, when the Lustrat family had taken up residence, family members reportedly saw Morris rocking back and forth in his favorite chair by the fire.
A secondary recurring report describes a gray mist that gathers in the front room and forms the silhouette of a Confederate Army officer's uniform. Morris was a Confederate veteran, and the visual cue is generally attached to him. The lore is firmly established in UGA student journalism and in regional ghost compendia but has not been the subject of a formal published paranormal investigation.
Notable Entities
Visit the exterior of the two-story antebellum brick residence southeast of Old College, ideally as part of a self-guided UGA Haunted North Campus walk. The building's primary entrance faces the South Quadrangle; the rear features an open wood porch and private garden.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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