Bainbridge Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Tag Archives: South Georgia Institutional Architecture
Old City Hall & Firehouse, 1914, Bainbridge
This Spanish Colonial Revival landmark was designed by William Augustus Edwards as a combination City Hall and Firehouse, and over the years has also served as the library and public safety center. It is now known as the Firehouse Center & Gallery and is home to the Decatur County Council for the Arts, featuring gallery and event space.
Bainbridge Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Filed under --DECATUR COUNTY GA--, Bainbridge GA
Old Post Office, 1914, Bainbridge
This is presently home to the Decatur County Board of Education office.
Bainbridge Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Filed under --DECATUR COUNTY GA--, Bainbridge GA
Walker Grove School, Newington
It was common practice in many African-American communities in early 20th century Georgia for churches to construct schools. This was due to the fact that the state was notoriously negligent in the construction and upkeep of schools for black students. The Rosenwald Foundation and the American Missionary Association were two outside concerns that contributed to the cause of African-American education, but I haven’t been able to link either group to Walker Grove and therefore believe that it was built by the members of Walker Grove Baptist Church. It’s located on the same property. I believe this was built in the 1910s or 1920s.
Filed under --SCREVEN COUNTY GA--, Newington GA
Patton Hill Courthouse, 1880s, Schley County
The community now known locally as Concord has also been known as St. Elmo, Nubbin Hill, and Patton Hill over the past two centuries. This precinct/court house dates to the 1880s, according to a wooden sign on the property.
Filed under --SCHLEY COUNTY GA--
Wetherington-Robinson Elementary School, Circa 1956, Delmar
After a long history of operating substandard schools for African-Americans, Georgia began building modern schools for black students in the early 1950s. This effort to delay desegregation was a knee-jerk response to Brown v. Board of Education, and while the state spent a small fortune building these schools, desegregation was a done deal and implemented fully by the early 1970s. Many of these schools still stand throughout Georgia.
Filed under --LOWNDES COUNTY GA--, Delmar GA
Quitman Elementary School
The old Quitman Elementary School was designed by noted Valdosta architect Lloyd Greer. It was last used as the alternative school.
Thank to Chuck Ramsey for the identification and background.
Quitman Historic District, National Register of Historic Place
Filed under --BROOKS COUNTY GA--, Quitman GA
Old Brooks County Jail, 1884, Quitman
This Romanesque style jail was built by Simeon A. Remington to replace an 1867 wooden jail that burned in 1880. It was used until 1980.
National Register of Historic Places
Filed under --BROOKS COUNTY GA--, Quitman GA
Old Screven County Jail, Sylvania
Conversations with several people in Screven County have led me to identify this as the old county jail. It was replaced in the 1930s or 1940s by a newer structure and the date of this one is unknown but likely late-19th early-20th century. Dale Reddick writes: The observation about the second story trap door placed in the floor really does suggest this was a jail and also a hanging facility (if necessary), when the open field public hanging space further along W.T. Sharpe Drive couldn’t be used. Rabun Alex Lee, Larry Waters, and I had some ‘fun’ pulling up the history of this building. There’s a very similar structure found less than a quarter-mile distant. Perhaps the same designer/ builder constructed both. These structures most probably were built following Sylvania’s Great Fire of 1897 when many new brick structures were erected.
It was also used as apartments in the mid-20th century.
Filed under --SCREVEN COUNTY GA--, Sylvania GA
Calaboose, Sylvania
A local gentleman and two others have identified this as the old calaboose. Dale Reddick confirms: It is known as the “Caliboose,” per both Larry Waters and Rabun Alex Lee – who know Sylvania and Screven County better than most.
As discussed on the website before, calabooses were essentially holding cells/drunk tanks. The structure is in poor condition and the roof has collapsed on one side.
Filed under --SCREVEN COUNTY GA--, Sylvania GA
