MACON, Ga. — Mercer University opened its doors in 1833. The law school followed 40 years later, in 1873. That means it turns 150 years old this year.
It has quite a history that touches some classic places in Macon.
"It's been here forever. Everyone knows the bells that ring on the bell tower at the school every hour," said Karen Sneddon, the law school dean. "We're the second oldest law school in the state of Georgia and really one of the oldest law schools in the country."
She says at first, Mercer Law didn't have degrees; they had apprenticeships to become lawyers.
The whole program took a year to complete, and they moved all over Macon to meet.
"We started with our first classes in the Bibb County courthouse. Then we moved to the professors' houses because the class sizes were only five to seven to eight students," Sneddon said. "We even had a stop at the Hay House on the ground floor."
A couple of times in their history, the law school shut down for a good bit of time during World War One and World War Two.
"I think it was an issue of personnel that you would need to teach the students at the law school," she said.
In the 19th century, women didn't become lawyers, but today's post office site was the campus of the old Wesleyan College.
"I've heard stories of sneaking into the campus at night to meet up with their friends; I've heard stories about skinny dipping in the Wesleyan pool," Sneddon said.
"I think it's cool to be a part of something that has a lot of roots and goes so far back and to be a small part of that's awesome." recent graduate Rebecca Lindsey said.
Lindsey grew up with technology, so it's hard to relate to what life looked like 150 years ago.
"Probably a lot harder because they didn't have computers, and they had to do all of their research on books," Lindsey said. "If we were using this for a courtroom back here, this is where the judges would sit."
Today the school is much more interactive, with a mock courtroom on campus.
They are more diverse; women make up 63% of the enrollment. They are attentive to students' needs in the 21st century.
It's a school with its fabric wrapped up in Macon, a landmark with a chiming clock tower looking toward the future.
In the 1800s, it wasn't uncommon to have just one graduate a year, but a couple of weeks ago, Mercer Law graduated 400 future lawyers.