The house was built around 1798 and played a key role in the Battle of Augusta, as the home and office of Col. Joshua Taylor Bradford, the leader of the Augusta Home Guard.
Bradford was a noted Ovariotomist and abdominal surgeon, known worldwide for his innovative techniques. He served as brigade surgeon on the staff of General William “Bull” Nelson. Bradford rallied the militiamen to protect Augusta from Confederate raiders led by Col. Basil Duke on Sept. 27, 1862. Outnumbered and realizing that he couldn’t win the battle, Bradford waved a white flag of surrender; but some members of his home guard continued fighting. Enraged Confederates bombarded homes with cannon and set houses on fire in retaliation. Bradford was captured and later released. He died in 1871 in Augusta. This house and its neighbors are noted for the “Piedmont” entrances but they aren’t original. The doorways are lost to history; these are reconstructions, built in 1978 for the mini-series Centennial, filmed in and around Augusta.