St. Elmo is located in MidTown Columbus, Georgia at 2808 18th Avenue, Columbus, Georgia, 31901. Colonel Seaborn Jones

Seaborn Jones

Seaborn Jones was a United States Representative from Georgia. Born in Augusta, Georgia, he attended Princeton College and studied law. By a special act of the legislature, he was admitted to the bar in 1808...

 drew all the plans for his home and called it El Dorado, land of beauty. The house was begun in 1828 and completed in 1833. The materials used to build this house, with the exception of the marble and the mahogany, were taken from the property itself. A small lake now fills the place where the clay was removed. To this El Dorado, Colonel Seaborn Jones brought his wife and children, a daughter and a son, in 1833. In 1833, Henry L. Benning

Henry L. Benning

Henry Lewis Benning was a lawyer, legislator, judge on the Georgia Supreme Court, and a Confederate general during the American Civil War. He is also noted for the U.S...

, an aspiring young lawyer, wrote a friend: “Above all things (I advise if you desire ease and happiness) marry. Marry a lady of accomplishment, i.e. worth $100,000. It will be better than quibbling. I am anxious to experiment at least.” In 1839, Benning, for whom Fort Benning

Fort Benning

Fort Benning is a United States Army post located southeast of the city of Columbus in Muscogee and Chattahoochee counties in Georgia and Russell County, Alabama...

 is named, married Colonel Seaborn Jones’ daughter. Many historic personages were entertained at El Dorado among them were President Millard Fillmore

Millard Fillmore

Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States and the last member of the Whig Party to hold the office of president...

, President James K. Polk

James K. Polk

James Knox Polk was the 11th President of the United States . Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He later lived in and represented Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as the 17th Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 12th Governor of Tennessee...

, Henry Clay

Henry Clay

Henry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...

, General Winfield Scott

Winfield Scott

Winfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852....

, and Edwin Booth

Edwin Booth

Edwin Thomas Booth was a famous 19th century American actor who toured throughout America and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869 he founded Booth's Theatre in New York, a spectacular theatre that was quite modern for its time...

. Also, here Mrs. Jones' niece, Augusta Jane Evans Wilson

Augusta Jane Evans

Augusta Jane Wilson, or Augusta Evans Wilson, was an American Southern author and one of the pillars of Southern literature. She wrote nine novels: Inez , Beulah , Macaria , St. Elmo , Vashti , Infelice , At the Mercy of Tiberius , A Speckled Bird , and Devota...

, finished her celebrated novel, "St. Elmo." In 1878, the home was purchased by Captain and Mrs. James J. Slade

James Slade

James Slade, M.A. , generally remembered as Canon Slade, was the Vicar of St Peter's Church, Bolton le Moors, Lancashire, England from 1817 to 1856....

who changed its name to St. Elmo in honor of the novel which it had inspired.

Fire

At approximatley 2:00pm on October 5th, 2011 a fire broke out in the basement wine cellar of St. Elmo. Apparently started by a single candle, the fire did extensive damage to the structure, but it is believed to be repairable.