In 1787, the state of Georgia granted George Walton 100 acres outside Augusta for his services to the state. Walton had "College Hill" built on this land in 1795, moving there from Meadow Garden. The house has been in the hands of his descendants (named Harper) since then. Walton served the state in a variety of important capacities: trained as a lawyer, he served in the Continental Congress (1776–81) and in the Georgia militia, in whose service he was captured by the British during the 1778 Capture of Savannah. Exchanged and released, he was soon afterward elected Governor of Georgia, an office he held from November 1779 to January 1780. He also served as the state's Chief Justice, and in a second term as Governor 1789-80. He died at College Hill in 1804.