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A More Perfect Union

The New Georgia Encyclopedia is supported by funding from A More Perfect Union, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Hancock County Courthouse

Hancock County Courthouse

The Hancock County courthouse, in Sparta, was built 1881-83. The architectural style of the courthouse is called Second Empire; it was designed by the firm of Parkins and Bruce.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Millmore Gristmill

Millmore Gristmill

The Millmore gristmill in Hancock County was the site of Georgia's 1786 peace treaty with the Creek Indians.

Image from Neal Wellons

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Plow

Plow

Probably photographed at a Hancock County fair about 1898, this is believed to be the plow invented by the planter David Dickson. He also first used commercial fertilizer in Hancock County.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
han016.

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Linton Stephens Home

Linton Stephens Home

The Sparta home of Linton Stephens, pictured in 1911. Stephens served as a Georgia state supreme court justice from 1859 to 1860 and was a delegate to the Georgia secession convention in 1861.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # han001.

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Glen Mary

Glen Mary

Glen Mary, an outstanding example of a Greek revival-style raised cottage, was built in 1848 about seven miles south of Sparta.

Image from C Smith

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Original Hancock County courthouse after flames destroyed the building. The structure has fencing around it and memorial ribbons attached to the posts.

Hancock County Courthouse

In 2014 the historic Hancock County courthouse, constructed from 1881-1883 was consumed by a fire that raged for three weeks. The flames reportedly became so hot that the 800-pound clock tower bell melted. An important civic center for residents, the courthouse was rebuild and recommissioned in 2016–an effort that resulted in $7.5 million in costs.

Courtesy of Brian Brown

Decatur County Courthouse

Decatur County Courthouse

The neoclassical revival-style Decatur County courthouse was built in Bainbridge, the county seat, in 1902.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Decatur County Traveling Library

Decatur County Traveling Library

This bookmobile in Bainbridge, pictured ca. 1936-38, was reportedly the first one in Decatur County. "Decatur County Traveling Library" is painted on the door of the vehicle.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # dec047.

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Bainbridge, 1923

Bainbridge, 1923

A parade passes down Broad Street in Bainbridge for the Decatur County centennial celebration in 1923.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # dec009.

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Steamboat

Steamboat

The steamboat Getrude, laden with barrels of turpentine, passes a crowd on the banks of the Flint River near Bainbridge, 1910.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
dec060.

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Pike County Courthouse

Pike County Courthouse

The Pike County Courthouse, designed in the Romanesque revival and colonial revival styles, was built in Zebulon in 1895. It is the county's third courthouse.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Pike County Sawmill

Pike County Sawmill

Workers load logs for transport at a sawmill in Pike County, circa 1910. The timber industry continues to be an important economic activity in Pike County, which was created by the state legislature in 1822.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
pik001.

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Tunnel Hill

Tunnel Hill

Tunnel Hill, a city in Whitfield County, was named for the 1,477-foot railroad tunnel exacavated through the Chetoogeta Ridge in 1848-49. The city served in 1864 as a winter camp for General Joseph E. Johnston's Confederate troops during the Civil War.

Photograph by Ethan Geer

Whitfield County Courthouse

Whitfield County Courthouse

The Whitfield County Courthouse, located in Dalton, was completed in 2006. Designed in the modern style, the structure incorporates the previous courthouse, which was built on the site in 1961.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Crown Cotton Mill

Crown Cotton Mill

Crown Cotton Mill No. 2, located on Chattanooga Avenue in Dalton, is pictured in the late 1920s. Established in 1884, Crown Cotton Mill brought much-needed economic activity to Whitfield County and by 1916 employed 1,000 workers.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
wtf014b.

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Mill Houses

Mill Houses

Mill houses line a street in Dalton, circa 1930. The carpet and textile industries in the city began in the late nineteenth century with the tufted bedspreads of Catherine Evans Whitener and by the 1940s had developed into a mechanized industry in Whitfield County.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
wtf013a.

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Wayne County Courthouse

Wayne County Courthouse

The Wayne County Courthouse, designed in the Romanesque revival style, was completed in 1903. Located in Jesup, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Altamaha River

Altamaha River

Kayakers paddle down a stretch of the Altamaha River. The river played an integral role in the county's timber industry during the early nineteenth century as a means for transporting logs to the coast.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.

Altamaha River, Darien

Altamaha River, Darien

Although the Darien economy is dependent on tourism, many locals continue to make a living through offshore fishing and shrimping.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.

Hickory Hill

Hickory Hill

Hickory Hill, pictured circa 1910, was the home of noted senator and publisher Thomas E. Watson. Located in Thomson, the historic home, renovated to its 1920s appearance, is open to the public for tours by appointment.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
cob706.

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McDuffie County Courthouse

McDuffie County Courthouse

The McDuffie County Courthouse, located in Thomson, was built in 1872. Major renovations to the courthouse, the county's first, were made in 1934 and 1970.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Rock House

Rock House

Rock House, built in 1785 near the Quaker community of Wrightsborough in McDuffie County, is considered to be the oldest standing building in Georgia with its original architecture intact.

Image from Jimmy Emerson, DVM

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Old Wilkes County Courthouse

Old Wilkes County Courthouse

The old courthouse in Wilkes County, pictured circa 1890, was constructed in 1817 and served until 1904.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
wlk142b.

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Wilkes County Courthouse

Wilkes County Courthouse

The Wilkes County Courthouse, completed in 1904, is designed with a Richardsonian Romanesque influence. Located in Washington, the courthouse is the county's second.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Wilkes County Cotton

Wilkes County Cotton

A wagon loaded with cotton, pictured circa 1900, stands on West Main Street in Washington, the seat of Wilkes County. Cotton was a major cash crop in the county throughout the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century, ending with the boll weevil invasion.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #wlk011.

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Wilcox County Courthouse

Wilcox County Courthouse

The Wilcox County Courthouse, built in Abbeville in 1903, is designed in the neoclassical revival style. It is the county's second courthouse.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Wilcox County Workers

Wilcox County Workers

Workmen in Wilcox County, pictured circa 1915, stand on white-oak barrel staves, which were shipped overseas for use in whiskey barrels.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
wlc005.

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Joseph Wheeler

Joseph Wheeler

General Joseph Wheeler, born near Augusta, commanded U.S. volunteers in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Wheeler also served during the Civil War and the Philippine Insurrection, and authored several books on military and civil subjects. Wheeler County, in central Georgia, is named in his honor.

From The Conflict with Spain and Conquest of the Philippines, by H. F. Keenan

Wheeler County Courthouse

Wheeler County Courthouse

The Wheeler County Courthouse, built in Alamo in 1917, is designed in the neoclassical revival style. Restored in 1961, it is the county's second official courthouse.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Train Passengers

Train Passengers

Passengers pose for a photograph, circa 1901, at Gallemore, a community in Twiggs County located between Macon and Danville. Railroad construction played a key role in the settlement patterns of Twiggs County in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
bib050.

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Twiggs County Courthouse

Twiggs County Courthouse

The Twiggs County Courthouse, located in Jeffersonville, was completed in 1904. Designed in the Romanesque revival style, the courthouse was renovated in 1979 and expanded between 1996 and 2003.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Byron Depot

Byron Depot

The Byron depot has been restored and now serves as a museum housing photographs and other memorabilia of the city's history.

Peach Harvest

Peach Harvest

Harvesting peaches in Peach County, the self-proclaimed "Peach Capital of the World."

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Andrew Thomas Lee.

Peach Blossom Festival

Peach Blossom Festival

Queen Elizabeth Joyner rides a float from Americus–Sumter County in the Peach Parade, held during Fort Valley's Peach Blossom Festival in the mid-1920s. Fort Valley is the seat of Peach County, the self-proclaimed "Peach Capital of the World."

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
sum095.

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Peach County Courthouse

Peach County Courthouse

The Peach County Courthouse, built in 1936, was designed in the colonial revival style. The courthouse, located in Fort Valley, was expanded in 1970 and again in the 1990s.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Fort Valley State University

Fort Valley State University

Fort Valley State University, located in Peach County, is one of ten historically Black colleges and universities in the state. Since the advent of the HOPE scholarship program in 1993, enrollment by Georgia students at historically Black schools in other states has decreased.

Lincoln County Courthouse

Lincoln County Courthouse

Built in 1915, the Lincoln County Courthouse is designed in the neoclassical revival style. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the courthouse is the third to be built in Lincolnton, the county seat.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Mulberry CME Church

Mulberry CME Church

Mulberry Christian Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1873 and offered church services and a school to Black residents of Lincolnton, the seat of Lincoln County. A congregation of approximately 200 members continues to meet in the church.

Courtesy of Lincolnton-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce

Treutlen County Courthouse

Treutlen County Courthouse

The Treutlen County Courthouse, built in Soperton in 1920, is designed in the neoclassical revival style. The county's original courthouse, it was renovated in 1976 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Telfair County Courthouse

Telfair County Courthouse

The Telfair County Courthouse, built in 1934, is designed in the colonial revival style. It is the second courthouse to be built in McRae, which became the county seat in 1871. At least two other courthouses were built during the nineteenth century in Telfair County's first seat, Jacksonville.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

McLeod Hotel

McLeod Hotel

The McLeod Hotel, pictured circa 1890, was located in Lumber City, which boasted the largest sawmill in the South at the time of its incorporation in 1889. Today Lumber City is one of six incorporated cities in Telfair County.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
tel003.

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Glennville Depot

Glennville Depot

A Register and Glennville train, pictured in 1906, stops at the depot in Glennville, today the largest city in Tattnall County. The R&G Railroad was renamed the East Georgia Railway in 1914.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
tat017.

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Tattnall County Courthouse

Tattnall County Courthouse

The Tattnall County Courthouse, built in Reidsville in 1902, was most recently renovated in 1991. Designed with a Second Empire influence, the courthouse is the county's third.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Tattnall County Sawmill

Tattnall County Sawmill

Workers, pictured circa 1910, pose at the sawmill of Frank Southwell near Mendes, in Tattnall County. The largely agricultural economy of the county in the nineteenth century supported a number of mills, many of which were built by 1849.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
tat054.

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Gordonia-Alatamaha State Park

Gordonia-Alatamaha State Park

Gordonia-Alatamaha State Park, located in Tattnall County, is named for the endangered Gordonia bay tree, a relative of the rare Franklin tree discovered in 1765 by John and William Bartram. The park offers facilities for fishing, boating, and camping, as well as an eighteen-hole golf course.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.

Georgia Historical Commission

Georgia Historical Commission

The Georgia Historical Commission gained national recognition as a pioneer in state historic preservation. The commission erected some 1,800 historical markers. This marker designates the site of the Cedar Creek Primitive Baptist Church, established in 1813 in Tattnall County.

Old Fayette County Courthouse

Old Fayette County Courthouse

Constructed in 1825, the original Fayette County Courthouse, pictured in the late 1880s, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the oldest courthouse in Georgia. The clock tower was added to the structure in 1888.

Courtesy of Fayette County Historical Society

Courthouse Bench

Courthouse Bench

Fayette County's first courthouse (in use from 1825 until 1965) is the oldest county courthouse in the State of Georgia. Today the building houses the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce and the Fayette County Development Authority.

Image from Jimmy Emerson, DVM

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Holliday-Dorsey-Fife House

Holliday-Dorsey-Fife House

The Holliday-Dorsey-Fife House in Fayetteville, designed in the Greek revival style, was built in 1855 by John Stiles Holliday, the uncle of "Doc" Holliday. The city bought the home in 1999, and following renovations, the Holliday-Dorsey-Fife House Museum opened to the public in 2003.

Image from Cdrcody

Old Fayette County Courthouse

Old Fayette County Courthouse

The Old Fayette County courthouse in 2015. Today, this building is used as office space for several organizations, including the Fayette County Development Authority. The Fayette County Superior Court is located at One Center Drive in Fayetteville.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Lula Falls

Lula Falls

Lula Falls and Lula Lake, in Walker County near Lookout Mountain, are protected by the Lula Lake Land Trust. More than 4,000 acres, which lie within the Rock Creek watershed, are owned by the trust.

Image from Rock/Creek

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Lee and Gordon’s Mills

Lee and Gordon’s Mills

Lee and Gordon's Mills, pictured between 1900 and 1915, was a saw- and gristmill built during the 1830s in Walker County. The mill continued to operate until 1967, and during the 1990s it was restored as a Civil War-era museum.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

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Walker County Courthouse

Walker County Courthouse

The Walker County Courthouse in LaFayette, completed in 1919, was designed in the Beaux-Arts classical and Italian Renaissance revival styles. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Warren County Courthouse

Warren County Courthouse

The Warren County Courthouse, built in 1910 and renovated in 2000, is located in Warrenton and designed in the neoclassical revival style. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, the courthouse is the county's third.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Beall Springs Hotel

Beall Springs Hotel

Visitors gather in 1908 outside the Beall Springs Hotel, a popular resort destination in Warren County during the early twentieth century. Built around a mineral springs, the town of Beall Springs developed after the state acquired the springs and surrounding land in 1773.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # wrr001.

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Roberts-McGregor House

Roberts-McGregor House

The Roberts-McGregor House in Warrenton, the seat of Warren County, was a two-story stuccoed brick home built in 1835. The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and was later demolished.

Courtesy of Owens Library, School of Environment and Design, University of Georgia, Hubert B. Owens Collection, #Box 45.

Turner County Courthouse

Turner County Courthouse

The Turner County Courthouse, built in 1907, is the only recorded courthouse in the county's history. Located in Ashburn, it is designed in the neoclassical revival style.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Shingler Home

Shingler Home

The home of J. S. Shingler, pictured in 1918, is located in the historic Shingler Heights neighborhood of Ashburn, the seat of Turner County.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # tur007.

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Towns County Courthouse

Towns County Courthouse

The Towns County Courthouse, built in 1964, is designed in the modern style. Located in Hiawassee, it is the county's third courthouse.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Lake Chatuge

Lake Chatuge

Lake Chatuge, a 7,050-acre reservoir, was created when the Tennessee Valley Authority dammed the Hiwassee River in 1941. It is located in Towns County, in the north Georgia mountains.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.

Taliaferro County Courthouse

Taliaferro County Courthouse

The Taliaferro County Courthouse, built in 1902, is designed in the High Victorian style. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, it is the county's second courthouse.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Liberty Hall

Liberty Hall

Liberty Hall, the mansion of Georgia governor Alexander Stephens, forms the centerpiece of the A. H. Stephens Historic Park in Taliaferro County. The interior of the home, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, is open to the public.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.

A. H. Stephens Historic Park

A. H. Stephens Historic Park

The A. H. Stephens Historic Park, in Crawfordville, is part of the Georgia state park system. The park includes Alexander Stephens's restored home, Liberty Hall, as well a museum containing Civil War artifacts.

Courtesy of Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Photograph from Georgia State Parks.

Liberty Hall

Liberty Hall

Liberty Hall in Taliaferro County, home of Alexander H. Stephens, is pictured in 1936.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Historic American Buildings Survey, #HABS GA,133-CRAWV,1--2.

Woody Lake

Woody Lake

Woody Lake is located near the rural community of Suches in Union County, which continues to operate the Woody Gap School, one of the few remaining rural schools in the state to survive several rounds of consolidation.

Image from John Getchel

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Union County Courthouse

Union County Courthouse

The Union County Courthouse, located in Blairsville, was built in 1978 as an annex to the Union County Office Building, which was constructed in 1976. The county's fourth courthouse, it is designed in the modern style.

Photograph by John Trainor

Blood Mountain

Blood Mountain

Blood Mountain, with an altitude of 4,458 feet, is the highest point along the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail. It is located in Union County.

Image from Lily S

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Brasstown Bald

Brasstown Bald

Visitors to Brasstown Bald, the highest elevation in Georgia, can view four states. The mountain is partly in Union County and partly in Towns County.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.

Old Union County Courthouse

Old Union County Courthouse

The Old Union County Courthouse, constructed in 1899, served as the county's courthouse until 1971. The building, which today houses the Union County Historical Society, was renovated by local volunteers and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Image from Jimmy Emerson, DVM

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Toombs County Courthouse

Toombs County Courthouse

The Toombs County Courthouse, built in Lyons in 1964, is designed in the modern style.

Photograph by OZinOH

Ice Plant

Ice Plant

C. E. Adams's ice plant, pictured in the 1940s, was located in Vidalia, a community in Toombs County. During the years of World War II (1941-45), a number of new businesses sprang up in Vidalia to support a newly built U.S. Army Air Force field.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #tom002.

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Vidalia Onions

Vidalia Onions

Vidalia onions were first cultivated by Mose Coleman, a farmer in Toombs County, during the 1930s and today represent one of the county's most important commodities. The crop is named for the community of Vidalia, which is located in Toombs County and known as the "Sweet Onion Capital of the World."

Image from UGA CAES/Extension

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Toombs County Farming

Toombs County Farming

Vidalia onions grow in Toombs County, one of the counties served by an extension office of the Small Farmer Outreach Training and Technical Assistance Project of Fort Valley State University.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.

Blackshear Depot

Blackshear Depot

The Blackshear railroad depot in Pierce County, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000, houses the chamber of commerce as well as the county's Heritage Museum and genealogical library. The depot was built in 1902.

Courtesy of John Walker Guss and Pierce County Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc.

Pierce County Courthouse

Pierce County Courthouse

The Pierce County Courthouse, located in Blackshear, was constructed in 1902 and remodeled in 1970. Designed in the neoclassical revival style, the courthouse is the county's third. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Cotton Warehouse

Cotton Warehouse

A warehouse in Pierce County stores bales of cotton, one of the major crops grown in the county during the nineteenth century. The boll weevil infestation of the 1920s, however, caused many Pierce County farmers to switch from cotton to tobacco cultivation.

Courtesy of John Walker Guss and Pierce County Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc.

Satilla River

Satilla River

The Satilla River, pictured near Blackshear, the seat of Pierce County, circa 1925.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # prc012.

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Brewton-Parker College

Brewton-Parker College

Brewton-Parker College is a four-year institution affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Convention. Built in 1904, the same year as the school's founding, Gates Hall, pictured, is the only original building still standing on the college's main campus, which is located in Mount Vernon.

Courtesy of Terry Gaston, Brewton-Parker College

Richard Montgomery

Richard Montgomery

Richard Montgomery, pictured in an engraving made around 1777, was a brigadier general in the Continental Army who was killed in Quebec in 1775. Montgomery County, in east central Georgia, is named in his honor.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Montgomery County Courthouse

Montgomery County Courthouse

The Montgomery County Courthouse, designed in the neoclassical revival style, was built in 1907. Located in Mount Vernon, the courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Renovations to the building were completed in 1992.

Photograph by OZinOH

East and West Railroad Construction

East and West Railroad Construction

The East and West Railroad, built between Cartersville and Cedartown around 1900, is one of several railroads that came to Polk County in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
plk073-84.

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Polk County Courthouse

Polk County Courthouse

The Polk County Courthouse, designed in the stripped classical style, was built in Cedartown in 1951. It is the county's third courthouse.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Eugene Talmadge Rally

Eugene Talmadge Rally

A crowd is gathered for a 1946 Eugene Talmadge political rally in Cedartown, Polk County.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
plk024-84.

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Hiram Colored School

Hiram Colored School

Hiram Colored School in Paulding County was built by the Rural School Building Program of the Julius Rosenwald Fund in 1930. The Rosenwald schools, which offered an education to African American students, were built throughout the South from 1912 to 1932.

Paulding County Farmer

Paulding County Farmer

Jacob Searight Freeman, pictured circa 1927, was a cotton farmer in Paulding County. Agriculture has played an integral role in the county's economy since the nineteenth century.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
pld015-95.

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Paulding County Courthouse

Paulding County Courthouse

The Paulding County Courthouse, located in Dallas, was built in 1892 and is designed in the Queen Anne style. The structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and a three-story annex was added in 1990. It is the county's third courthouse.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Oak Hill School

Oak Hill School

The students of Oak Hill School, a one-room school in Paulding County, gather with their teacher, Ella Louise Babb, for a photograph in 1904. Similar schools opened around the county early in the twentieth century.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
pld004.

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Ideal Railroad Depot

Ideal Railroad Depot

A railroad depot is pictured in Ideal, in Macon County.

Courtesy of Steve Storey

Macon County Courthouse

Macon County Courthouse

The Macon County Courthouse in Oglethorpe, built in 1894, is an example of the Romanesque revival style. It is the county's third courthouse, and the second to be built in Oglethorpe, which became the county seat in 1856. The first seat of Macon County was Lanier.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Andersonville Cemetery

Andersonville Cemetery

The cemetery at Andersonville Prison, the most notorious prison camp of the Civil War, was designated a national cemetery after the war ended. In 1998 the Andersonville National Historic Site, in Macon County, opened the National Prisoner of War Museum, which is dedicated to all U.S. prisoners of war.

Image from Ken Lund

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Great Beaver Creek Duck Race

Great Beaver Creek Duck Race

Rubber ducks race down Beaver Creek during the 2005 Beaver Creek Festival, held each fall in Montezuma, one of the largest cities in Macon County. The festival celebrates the recovery of the city following the 1994 flooding of the Flint River.

Photograph by Camille Bielby

Wrightsville Depot

Wrightsville Depot

The Wrightsville railroad depot, located in the seat of Johnson County, was built in 1900 by the Wrightsville and Tennille Railroad. Pictured circa 1915, the depot was restored duringthe 1990s and today houses the Wrightsville–Johnson County Chamber of Commerce and the Johnson County Development Authority.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
jhn110.

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Johnson County Courthouse

Johnson County Courthouse

The Johnson County Courthouse, built in 1895, is the county's second courthouse. Designed in the Romanesque revival and colonial revival styles, the building was remodeled in 1938 and restored in 1996.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Nannie Lou Warthen Institute

Nannie Lou Warthen Institute

The Nannie Lou Warthen Institute, pictured circa 1900, was founded in 1888 as a district high school in Johnson County by the Methodist Episcopal Church. In the early 1900s the school received a charter and became Warthen College, which later closed.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
jhn104.

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Calhoun County Farm

Calhoun County Farm

Workers prepare to plow a field on Will J. Bruner's Calhoun County farm in 1932. Although the number of small farms in the county has decreased over the years, more than 50 percent of Calhoun County is designated as prime farmland by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #cly012.

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Calhoun County Courthouse

Calhoun County Courthouse

Built in 1935, the Calhoun County Courthouse, located in Morgan, is the third in the county's history. Designed in the colonial revival style, the courthouse was renovated in 1972.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Gopher Tortoise

Gopher Tortoise

Among several endangered species found in Calhoun County is the gopher tortoise, the state reptile of Georgia. The tortoise is identified as a threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Image from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

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Gopher Tortoise

Gopher Tortoise

The gopher tortoise is the official state reptile. Photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region 4/24/2002

Photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region 4/24/2002

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Mulberry Depot

Mulberry Depot

The Mulberry depot in Jackson County is pictured circa 1910.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
jac014.

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Cotton Weighing

Cotton Weighing

Bales of cotton are weighed, circa 1904, in Commerce, one of several incorporated cities in Jackson County. Because the town was an important center for the cotton market early in the twentieth century, residents changed its name from Harmony Grove to Commerce in 1904.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
jac005.

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Jackson County Courthouse

Jackson County Courthouse

The Jackson County Courthouse in Jefferson, designed in the classical modern style, was completed in 2004. It is the county's fifth courthouse.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Pendergrass Depot

Pendergrass Depot

The train depot in Pendergrass, pictured in 1908, was renovated in the 1990s and today houses the Pendergrass City Hall, as well as a community center. Pendergrass is an incorporated city in Jackson County.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
jac011.

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Chateau Elan

Chateau Elan

Almost 200 acres of vineyards at Chateau Elan, a winery in Braselton, are planted with Vitis vinifera varieties and French-American hybrids. Chateau Elan produces an average of 40,000 cases of wine annually.

Courtesy of Gerard Krewer

Road Atlanta

Road Atlanta

Road Atlanta, a 2.54-mile, 12-turn road-racing course in Braselton, is a major tourist attraction in Jackson County. The venue, part of the Panoz Motor Sports Group, offers a variety of motor-sport events, including sports car, motorcycle, and kart racing.

Image from Osajus Photography

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Old Habersham Courthouse

Old Habersham Courthouse

A gathering takes place in Clarkesville, the seat of Habersham County, outside the county's second courthouse. The structure was built in 1832 and destroyed in 1898.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
hab010.

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Apple Monument

Apple Monument

The "Home of the Big Red Apple" monument, built in downtown Cornelia in 1925, commemorates the importance of apples to the economy of Habersham County.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
hab027.

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Habersham County Courthouse

Habersham County Courthouse

The Habersham County Courthouse, built in 1963, is designed in the modern style. Situated in downtown Clarkesville, the courthouse is the county's fourth.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Stewart County Courthouse

Stewart County Courthouse

The Stewart County Courthouse in Lumpkin, designed in the neoclassical revival style, was built in 1923. The county's fifth courthouse, the structure has been renovated twice, first in 1935-36 and again in 1983.

Courtesy of Matthew M. Moye

Singer-Moye Mounds

Singer-Moye Mounds

The excavation of the Singer-Moye Mounds in Stewart County has revealed the buried foundations of Indian buildings that were destroyed and abandoned more than 600 years ago. Thousands of ceramics fragments and animal bones have also been recovered.

Photograph by Elisabeth Hughes, New Georgia Encyclopedia

Cotton Farm

Cotton Farm

Although cotton is still grown in Stewart County today, overproduction and lack of rail access ultimately led to the crop's decline in the county during the 1850s. Earlier in the nineteenth century, the county was one of the state's top three cotton producers.

Courtesy of Matthew M. Moye

Bedingfield Inn

Bedingfield Inn

The Bedingfield Inn in Lumpkin, built in 1836 and restored in 1965, is considered to be the first small-town community preservation project in Georgia. It was restored as part of an effort by county leaders to establish a tourist industry in the area.

Courtesy of Matthew M. Moye

Florence Marina State Park

Florence Marina State Park

The Kirbo Educational Center at Florence Marina State Park in Stewart County provides historical information on the town of Florence, as well as displays of animals and Indian artifacts.

Courtesy of Matthew M. Moye

Louvale Church Row

Louvale Church Row

Church Row, located in the Louvale community of Stewart County, comprises the Antioch Primitive Baptist Church, Marvin Methodist Church, and New Hope Baptist Church. Each church was originally established in another community before moving to Louvale.

Courtesy of Matthew M. Moye

Dodge Guest House

Dodge Guest House

Built circa 1870, the Dodge Guest House is considered Dodge County's oldest residence. Located ten miles southeast of Eastman, it was built by William Dodge for executives of his Georgia Land and Lumber Company. Next door a "sister" house (demolished) served as the residence of Captain John C. Forsyth, the company agent. He was murdered there in 1890 at the behest of several conspirators against the Dodges.

Photograph by Harold B. Haley

William Dodge

William Dodge

William Dodge was president of the Georgia Land and Lumber Company, which owned 300,000 acres of longleaf pine in Georgia during the nineteenth century. In 1870 Dodge funded the construction of a courthouse in Dodge County, which was named in his honor.

Courtesy of Georgia Historical Quarterly

Dodge County Courthouse

Dodge County Courthouse

The Dodge County Courthouse, designed in the neoclassical revival style, was built in Eastman in 1908. The structure replaced a two-story wooden courthouse built around the time of the county's creation in 1870.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Turpentine Camp

Turpentine Camp

A camp in Dodge County, pictured in 1937, housed workers in the turpentine industry that arose, alongside the lumber industry, in the area during the 1930s.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection, #LC-USF34-017700-C.

Williamson Mausoleum

Williamson Mausoleum

The mausoleum of Martha Buchan (1858-1938) and Albert Genavie (1854-1925) Williamson is in the historic Orphans Cemetery, just north of Eastman. The Georgia marble structure, erected in 1912 and adorned by a three-ton, columned canopy enclosing the statuary of Italian marble, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Photograph by Harold B. Haley

Monroe County Courthouse

Monroe County Courthouse

The Monroe County Courthouse, designed in the High Victorian Eclectic style, was built in Forsyth in 1896. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, the structure is the county's second courthouse.

Photograph by J Stephen Conn

Forsyth Female Collegiate Institute

Forsyth Female Collegiate Institute

The Forsyth Female Collegiate Institute was founded in Monroe County in 1849 and later became Tift College. In 1986 the school merged with Mercer University in Macon.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #mnr079.

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Monroe County Logging

Monroe County Logging

Employees of the Gus Stuart Logging Company in Monroe County load freshly cut lumber in 1952. The timber industry became an important part of the county's economy in the mid-twentieth century after the demise of the cotton industy.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
mnr147.

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Lake Juliette

Lake Juliette

Lake Juliette, a 3,600-acre reservoir in Monroe County, is one of the premier spots for waterfowl hunting in the state. It is operated by the Georgia Power Company.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.

Juliette Depot

Juliette Depot

The railroad depot in Juliette, in Monroe County, is pictured circa 1900.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
mnr183.

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Forsyth

Forsyth

West Adams Street in the town of Forsyth, in Monroe County, is pictured circa 1913. On the left is Forsyth Methodist Church, and on the right is Maynard's Cotton Warehouse.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
mnr102.

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Sawnee Mountain Preserve

Sawnee Mountain Preserve

Sawnee Mountain Preserve, a 720-acre park in Forsyth County, opened to the public in 2005. Built on abandoned mining lands, the park offers hiking, rock climbing, and environmental education to vistors.

Photograph by Melinda S. Mullikin, New Georgia Encyclopedia

Forsyth County Protest

Forsyth County Protest

Marchers demonstrate for fair housing in Forsyth County in 1987. The march, led by Hosea Williams, ended in a confrontation with Ku Klux Klansmen throwing rocks and bottles at the demonstrators. The incident brought national attention to Forsyth County and resulted in the indictment of two Klan organizations.

Forsyth County Courthouse

Forsyth County Courthouse

The Forsyth County Courthouse in Cumming, the county's third, was built in 1977 to replace an earlier courthouse that burned in 1973. In 1996 an administration building was constructed across the street from the courthouse.

Photograph by Melinda S. Mullikin, New Georgia Encyclopedia

Steamboat at Hawkinsville

Steamboat at Hawkinsville

Workers load a steamboat docked at Hawkinsville on the Ocmulgee River, circa 1910. The seat of Pulaski County, Hawkinsville became a major center for river transportation in the state during the nineteenth century.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
pul003.

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Pulaski County Courthouse

Pulaski County Courthouse

The Pulaski County Courthouse, built in 1874, is the county's third courthouse. A three-story annex was added to the courthouse in 1910, and the original building was restored in 1936. Designed in the neoclassical revival style, the courthouse is located in Hawkinsville, which became the county seat in 1836.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Harness Horse Racing Track

Harness Horse Racing Track

Hawkinsville, in Pulaski County, calls itself the harness horse racing capital of Georgia. A section of city's Horse Training Facility is pictured.

Courtesy of UGA Archway Partnership

Jeff Davis Courthouse

Jeff Davis Courthouse

The Jeff Davis County Courthouse in Hazlehurst was constructed in 1907. Renovations were completed in 1975 and 1995, and the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Designed in the neoclassical revival style, the courthouse is the county's first.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Pace House

Pace House

The Pace House in Hazlehurst was built in 1900 by one of the city's orginal aldermen and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. In 1996 the Hazlehurst-Jeff Davis County Historical Museum Society purchased the house and opened the Hazlehurst Jeff Davis Museum. A fire in 2011 destroyed the building and damaged many of the museum's artifacts.

Image from Bubba73 (Jud McCranie)

Meriwether Inn

Meriwether Inn

The Meriwether Inn, a Victorian hotel built in 1869, dominated the resort grounds when Franklin D. Roosevelt first visited Warm Springs in 1924. Early patients of the Warm Springs Foundation stayed in the inn and a number of cottages scattered across the grounds.

Meriwether County Courthouse

Meriwether County Courthouse

Completed in 1904, the Meriwether County Courthouse in Greenville was designed in the neoclassical revival style. The building was restored in 1980 after a fire in 1976 destroyed its outer walls. It is the county's second courthouse.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Cotton Weighing

Cotton Weighing

Cotton, a significant economic factor in the early economy of Meriwether County, is weighed by B. B. Lovett Sr. (center), E. D. Gill (left), and Henry Hegman at Lovett's warehouse in Woodbury, circa 1925. Lovett also owned substantial acreage in the county at that time.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
mer065.

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Little White House

Little White House

In 1932, the same year in which he was elected president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt built a home in Warm Springs that came to be known as the Little White House. The home was opened to the public in 1948, three years after Roosevelt's death there.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives.

Lanier County

Lanier County

A woman drives a carriage in Lanier County, circa 1900. Industrialization drove the development of the county's two main communities during the nineteenth century. Alapaha (later Lakeland, the county seat) began as a mill village, while Registerville (later Stockton) was a railroad town.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
lan004.

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Lanier County Courthouse

Lanier County Courthouse

The Lanier County Courthouse, designed in the modern style, was built in Lakeland in 1973 to replace the county's first courthouse, built in 1921.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Banks Lake

Banks Lake

Banks Lake, a 3,900-acre natural lake, is located within the Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Lanier County. The refuge receives approximately 20,000 visitors each year.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.

Cotton Farmers

Cotton Farmers

Members of a Heard County family pose in front of their cotton crop, circa 1900. Residents of the county began raising cotton in the nineteenth century, but many were forced to abandon the crop during the first decades of the twentieth century, in the wake of the boll weevil devastations and the Great Depression.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
hrd005.

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Heard County Courthouse

Heard County Courthouse

Heard County's third courthouse, built in 1964, is an example of the modern architectural style. It is located in Franklin, the seat of Heard County, which was created by the state legislature in 1830.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Mayhayley's Grave

Mayhayley’s Grave

In 2001 Heard County resident Dot Moore published Oracle of the Ages, a collection of anecdotes about Mayhayley Lancaster, a well-known fortune teller and activist in Heard County. The book was selected by the Georgia Historical Society for the Lilla M. Hayes Award in 2002.

Image from Terrycchambers

Lithia Springs Hotel

Lithia Springs Hotel

The Lithia Springs Hotel in Tallapoosa, pictured circa 1910, was one of several hotels and resorts built in Haralson County during the last decades of the nineteenth century to attract visitors to the area's mineral springs. It was torn down in 1943.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
hrl039-84.

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Bremen Depot

Bremen Depot

The depot at Bremen in Haralson County, pictured circa 1925, was built for the Southern Railway. Norfolk Southern, which bought Southern, still uses the lines for its freight trains.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
hrl019.

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Haralson County Courthouse

Haralson County Courthouse

The Haralson County Courthouse, designed in the modern style, was built in Buchanan in 1972. An earlier courthouse, completed in 1891, today houses the county's historical society and a museum.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

HL-A Company

HL-A Company

Employees of HL-A Lock, a manufacturer of locks, door handles, and mirrors for Honda, work in the factory. The company, located in Bremen, is one of Haralson County's major employers.

Tom Murphy

Tom Murphy

Tom Murphy is pictured in his Bremen (Haralson County) law office following his defeat by Republican Bill Heath in the 2002 election for Speaker of the Georgia House.

Jasper County Courthouse

Jasper County Courthouse

Designed in the neoclassical revival style, the Jasper County Courthouse was built in Monticello in 1907. The building, constructed of brick and Georgia marble, is the county's fourth courthouse.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Seven Islands Nature Trail

Seven Islands Nature Trail

The Seven Islands Nature Trail in Monticello provides one of many opportunities for outdoor recreation in Jasper County. Each year the city hosts the hunters, fishers, and boaters who visit the nearby Oconee National Forest and Lake Jackson.

Irwinville Courthouse

Irwinville Courthouse

This courthouse, built in Irwinville in 1883, was Irwin County's third official courthouse and continued to house county government offices after the seat was relocated to Ocilla in 1907. Pictured in 1935, the building was remodeled into apartments during the Great Depression.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection, Photograph by Arthur Rothstein.

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Irwin County Courthouse

Irwin County Courthouse

The Irwin County Courthouse was built in Ocilla in 1910, three years after Ocilla was designated county seat. Designed in the neoclassical revival style, the building was renovated in 1972.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Jefferson Davis Memorial Historic Site

Jefferson Davis Memorial Historic Site

Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, was captured by Union troops in Irwin County near the close of the Civil War in 1865. The location is marked today by the Jefferson Davis Memorial Historic Site, which includes a museum and a thirteen-acre park.

Courtesy of Jefferson Davis Memorial Historic Site

Harris County Courthouse

Harris County Courthouse

The Harris County Courthouse was built in Hamilton in 1908. In 1998 an annex was added to the building, which is an example of the neoclassical revival style.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Glascock County Courthouse

Glascock County Courthouse

The Glascock County Courthouse in Gibson was built in 1919 and remodeled in 1942. An extensive renovation of the interior was completed in 1973.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Kaolin Processing

Kaolin Processing

Clay is chopped into small pieces during kaolin processing at a plant in Glascock County on December 2, 1971. The kaolin, timber, and health care industries have formed the basis of the county's economy since the mid-1940s.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
gla003.

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Mayday

Mayday

In 1922 John Wesley Langdale, founder of the Langdale Forest Products Company, purchased timber leases around Mayday, an unchartered community in Echols County. Today the company, founded in 1894 and based in Valdosta, owns a significant portion of the county's land.

From Remembered Places and Leftover Pieces

Rentz Family

Rentz Family

Members of the Rentz family stand outside their home in Statenville, the seat of Echols County, in the late nineteenth century. The economy of the area, still predominantly rural, has relied on agriculture and forestry throughout its history.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
ech001.

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Echols County Courthouse

Echols County Courthouse

The Echols County Courthouse in Statenville, designed in the modern style, was built in 1956. It is the county's third courthouse.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Panola Granite

Panola Granite

This Panola granite, found at Panola Mountain State Conservation Park in Rockdale County, differs in mineral composition and texture from the granite outcrops at nearby Stone Mountain and Arabia Mountain.

Photograph by Chad A. S. Mullikin

Rockdale County Courthouse

Rockdale County Courthouse

The Rockdale County Courthouse, designed in the colonial revival style, was built in Conyers in 1939. Historical records suggest that the courthouse is the second to be constructed in the county's history.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

McCart Farm Sawmill

McCart Farm Sawmill

Workers operate a sawmill on the McCart Farm in Rockdale County in 1920. A number of mills operated in the county during the early decades of the twentieth century.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #roc009.

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Monastery of the Holy Spirit

Monastery of the Holy Spirit

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Rockdale County was founded by Trappist monks in 1944. The monastery supports itself through the sale of a variety of products, including books and bonsai trees.

Courtesy of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery

Pecan Grove

Pecan Grove

A farmer stands in a Mitchell County pecan grove in the early twentieth century. The grove was one of the first to be planted in the county. Pecans, along with cotton, peanuts, and soybeans, continue to be an important agricultural product in Mitchell County.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
mit009.

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Mitchell County Courthouse

Mitchell County Courthouse

Completed in 1937, the Mitchell County Courthouse includes elements of both art deco and stripped classical architectural styles. It is the fourth courthouse to be built in the county.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Gnat Days Festival

Gnat Days Festival

Shoppers browse the "Gnat Market" in downtown Camilla during the 2005 Gnat Days Festival. The festival takes place each May and includes a 5K run/walk, a bicycle race, and a pet show.

Courtesy of Camilla Chamber of Commerce

Cohutta Wilderness Area

Cohutta Wilderness Area

Large portions of the Cohutta Wilderness Area lie in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Fannin County. Designated a wilderness area by the federal government in 1976, Cohutta today covers around 40,000 acres in Georgia and Tennessee and is the largest wilderness area east of the Mississippi River.

Fannin County Courthouse

Fannin County Courthouse

The Fannin County Courthouse, completed in 2004, is the third courthouse to be built in Blue Ridge, the county seat since 1895. The county's first courthouse was constructed in Morganton, the first seat, in 1855.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Road Builders

Road Builders

Builders construct a road through the mountains of Fannin County in the 1930s. The development of a transportation infrastructure, including railroads and roads, within the county has played a key role in the area's economic development since the 1880s.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
fan007-83.

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Blue Ridge Scenic Railway

Blue Ridge Scenic Railway

The Blue Ridge Scenic Railway transports tourists on excursion trips between Blue Ridge, the seat of Fannin County, and McCaysville. The train operates each year from April through December.

Image from Thomas Hawk

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Cabbage Farm

Cabbage Farm

A small area of concentrated vegetable production, mostly cabbage, pumpkins, tomatoes, and sweet corn, exists north of Atlanta. A cabbage farm in Fannin County is pictured.

Mineral Bluff

Mineral Bluff

Men gather on the steps of the post office (far right) on Main Street in Mineral Bluff, a community in Fannin County, circa 1910.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
fan012-83.

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Cook County Courthouse

Cook County Courthouse

The Cook County Courthouse was built in Adel in 1939. Designed in the stripped classical style, the courthouse is the county's first.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Sparks Depot

Sparks Depot

A train stops at the depot in Sparks, circa 1907. Sparks, along with Cecil and Lenox, is an incorporated town originally established as a railroad stop in Cook County.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
cok003.

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Black Vultures

Black Vultures

Black vultures are a common sight at Reed Bingham State Park, which lies in both Cook and Colquitt counties. Thousands of black and turkey vultures winter in the park each year.

Photograph by Susan Wing

Colquitt County Courthouse

Colquitt County Courthouse

The Colquitt County Courthouse, built in 1902, is located in Moultrie. The courthouse, along with the Moultrie Commercial Historic District and several other downtown buildings, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Tram Road

Tram Road

A tram road, built by the Georgia Northern Railroad to transport timber, ran through Colquitt County in the early 1900s. The timber industry in the county thrived in the decade before the Civil War, with the production of naval stores, and for several decades afterward, with the harvesting of trees to make crossties for the railroads.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
clq072.

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Tobacco Warehouse

Tobacco Warehouse

Buyers inspect tobacco leaves during an auction held in a Moultrie warehouse, circa 1965. Tobacco cultivation has been an important economic activity in Colquitt County since 1925.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
clq063.

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Norman Park

Norman Park

Brewton-Parker College, a Baptist institution based in Montgomery County, offers an extension program at Norman Park in Colquitt County. The building originally housed the Norman Institute, a Baptist-affiliated school founded in 1900.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
clq046.

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Reed Bingham State Park

Reed Bingham State Park

Reed Bingham State Park, located in Colquitt and Cook counties, offers nature trails from which a variety of wildlife, including birds, snakes, and turtles, may be observed.

Image from tom spinker

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Birdsong Nature Center

Birdsong Nature Center

A birding trail winds through the Birdsong Nature Center, located partially in Grady County. Birdsong was founded in 1986 as a nonprofit educational center to offer programs in biodiversity, land management, and the longleaf-pine ecosystem.

Photograph by Julius F. Ariail Jr.

Grady County Courthouse

Grady County Courthouse

The Grady County Courthouse in Cairo was built in the early 1980s after an earlier courthouse, constructed in 1908, burned.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Atlantic Coast Line Depot

Atlantic Coast Line Depot

People gather outside the Atlantic Coast Line Depot in Cairo, the seat of Grady County, circa 1916. With the arrival of the railroads in the county, area residents were able to market their agricultural products, including timber.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
gra040.

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Pebble Hill Plantation

Pebble Hill Plantation

In 1825 one of the first white settlers in the area, Thomas Jefferson Johnson, acquired the land that became Pebble Hill Plantation, in Thomasville. Two years later he built the first structure on the property. The site has been a museum since 1983.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.

Gilmer County Courthouse

Gilmer County Courthouse

The Gilmer County Courthouse is located in Ellijay, the seat of Gilmer County. It is part of a courthouse complex that was begun in 2007 and completed in 2009. The complex replaced the county's historic courthouse, which was demolished in 2008. The part of the new courthouse that faces the city square looks similar to the old courthouse.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Gilmer County Courthouse

Gilmer County Courthouse

The Gilmer County Courthouse is located in Ellijay, the seat of Gilmer County. It is part of a courthouse complex that was begun in 2007 and completed in 2009. The complex replaced the county's historic courthouse, which was demolished in 2008.

Image from Jimmy Emerson, DVM

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Stegall Mill

Stegall Mill

The Stegall Mill, pictured in 1939, milled both lumber and wheat beside the Caretecay River in Gilmer County. Mills and cotton gins were among the earliest industries to be established in the county during the nineteenth century.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #gil002.

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Chattahoochee National Forest

Chattahoochee National Forest

A stream flows through the Chattahoochee National Forest, a large portion of which lies in Gilmer County.

Clinch County Courthouse

Clinch County Courthouse

Built in 1896, the Clinch County Courthouse in Homerville was originally designed in the Victorian style. In 1936 extensive renovations and additions, designed in the neoclassical revival style, were made to the courthouse, which is the third in the county's history.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Clinch County Sawmill

Clinch County Sawmill

An engine stops at a sawmill in Clinch County, at a now-defunct town called Humphries between Dupont and Stockton, in 1893. The mill was located in the wiregrass region of the state, which was heavily logged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #cln002.

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Camp Homerville

Camp Homerville

Camp Homerville, pictured in 1934, was established in Clinch County during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps, Company 1413. Members of the corps focused on forestry and photography.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
ccc009.

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Quitman County Courthouse

Quitman County Courthouse

The Quitman County Courthouse in Georgetown was built in 1939. Designed in the stripped classical style, the structure also features colonial revival elements.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Seaboard Air Line Railway

Seaboard Air Line Railway

A Seaboard Air Line Railway train pulls into the depot at Claxton, circa 1915. Claxton, the seat of Evans County, was founded when the first railroad came through the area in the 1890s.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
eva010.

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Evans County Courthouse

Evans County Courthouse

The courthouse in Evans County, designed in the neoclassical revival style, was built in Claxton in 1923. Substantial renovations were completed in 1980.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Claxton Fruit Cake

Claxton Fruit Cake

Members of the Civitan Club in Newnan conduct a Claxton Fruit Cake sale, circa 1961. The Claxton Bakery, which produces the fruit cakes, was founded in Claxton, the seat of Evans County, in 1910 and continues operation today.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # cow053.

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Dooly County Courthouse

Dooly County Courthouse

The Dooly County Courthouse, completed in 1892, is the third to be erected in Vienna, the county seat. Designed in the Romanesque revival style, the courthouse underwent renovations in both 1963 and the late 1980s.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Byromville Post Office

Byromville Post Office

L. A. Woodruff (center), the postmaster of Byromville in Dooly County, stands outside the U.S. Post Office with two mail carriers, V. O. Webb (left) and Bob Johnson, circa 1910. Byromville, incorporated in 1905, is one of six incorporated towns in the county.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
dol003-82.

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Winterville Depot

Winterville Depot

The Winterville railroad depot, built in Clarke County in the late nineteenth century, was first known as "Six-mile Station" to indicate its distance from Athens. Later known as Winter's Station, the depot today houses Winterville's visitors center.

Clarke County Courthouse

Clarke County Courthouse

The Clarke County Courthouse, located in Athens, was built in 1914 and designed by A. Ten Eyck Brown. It has elements of Italian Renaissance revival, neoclassical revival, and Beaux-Arts classicism architecture.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Puryear’s Mill

Puryear’s Mill

Puryear's Mill, pictured circa 1918, was located on Cedar Creek in Clarke County and operated as a cotton gin and corn mill. The facility was dismantled in 1945.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
clr043.

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Emanuel County Courthouse

Emanuel County Courthouse

The Emanuel County Courthouse, the seventh in the county's history, was built in Swainsboro in 2002. The previous courthouse, completed in 1940, was the first in the county's history that did not burn. It was demolished in 2000, and a city park was built on the site.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Lumber Workers

Lumber Workers

Workers for the Swainsboro Lumber Company in Emanuel County pose with timber, circa 1935. The company operated for approximately twenty years as part of the community's thriving lumber industry, which began in the 1870s with the arrival of the railroad.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # emn052.

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Parrish Mill

Parrish Mill

Parrish Mill in the George L. Smith State Park in Emanuel County was built around 1880 and served in a variety of capacities, including as a sawmill and a dam. The park also offers camping, hiking, and boating to visitors.

Norristown Depot

Norristown Depot

A crowd gathers to meet the train at the Central of Georgia Railway depot in Norristown, in Emanuel County. The arrival of railroads in the county during the 1870s spurred the growth of the local lumber industry.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #emn004.

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Ogeechee River Bridge

Ogeechee River Bridge

A wooden bridge, pictured in 1908, crosses the Ogeechee River near Guyton in Effingham County. Today visitors to Guyton enjoy the Guyton Historic District and the Mossy Oak Music Park.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
bul029.

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Effingham County Courthouse

Effingham County Courthouse

The Effingham County Courthouse in Springfield was built in 1908 and designed in the neoclassical revival style. The courthouse is likely the second to be constructed in Springfield, which was named the fourth seat in the county's history in 1799.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Johann Martin Boltzius

Johann Martin Boltzius

Lutheran minister Johann Martin Boltzius, along with religious refugees from Salzburger, founded the settlement of Ebenezer near Savannah in the early 1730s as a religious utopia. Boltzius hoped to create a successful economic system that was not dependent upon slavery.

Jerusalem Church

Jerusalem Church

Jerusalem Church was established by the Salzburgers in Ebenezer during the 1730s. Ebenezer, left in ruins after the Revolutionary War, had disappeared by 1855, but Jerusalem Church, now known as Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church, still stands. It is one of the few buildings in Georgia left intact after the Revolutionary War.

Photograph by Bruce Tuten

Confederate Veterans

Confederate Veterans

Confederate veterans of the Civil War stand outside the Effingham County Courthouse in 1901. During the war, Union troops occupied the abandoned town of Ebenezer, founded in the county by Lutherans around 1734.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
eff001.

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Delivery Wagon

Delivery Wagon

Springfield resident S. M. Claxton poses beside his delivery wagon, used to transport soda water, in 1913. In the years after the Civil War, Springfield began to decline, losing many of its businesses to the nearby town of Rincon.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
eff003.

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Burke County Courthouse

Burke County Courthouse

The Burke County Courthouse in Waynesboro was completed in 1857. The vernacular architectural style includes Italianate elements as well as a Victorian clock tower. The fourth courthouse in the county's history, the structure replaced one that was both built and burnt in 1856.

Photograph by J Stephen Conn

Bellevue Cotton

Bellevue Cotton

Porter W. Carswell, who served in both houses of the state legislature during his political career, examines cotton grown in 1966 on Bellevue Plantation in Burke County.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
bur111.

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Bark Camp Church

Bark Camp Church

The Bark Camp Church, pictured around 1900, was a Baptist church established in 1788 on the Bark Camp site in Burke County. Bark Camp, founded prior to the Revolutionary War, served as a camp for incoming settlers to the area.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
bur036.

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Wilkinson County Courthouse

Wilkinson County Courthouse

The Wilkinson County Courthouse, designed in the colonial revival style, was built in Irwinton in 1924. Wilkinson County was established in 1803 from land that was ceded by the Creek Indians to the state in the 1802 Treaty of Fort Wilkinson.

Photograph by C Smith

Klondyke Mine

Klondyke Mine

Kaolin is extracted in Wilkinson County at the Klondyke Mine, owned by the Edgar Brothers Kaolin Company, in 1936. The steam shovel (left) deposits the kaolin, a white clay-like substance used in the manufacture of a variety of products, into a rail car that carries the substance to a plant for processing.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
wks014.

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Troup County Courthouse

Troup County Courthouse

The Troup County Courthouse in LaGrange, designed in the stripped classical style, was completed in 1939. It is the third courthouse in the county's history.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Bellevue

Bellevue

Bellevue, pictured in 1900, was the home of Benjamin Hill, a senator from Georgia in both the U.S. and Confederate congresses. Designed in the Greek revival style, the house was completed in 1855.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
trp203.

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West Point Dam and Lake

West Point Dam and Lake

The West Point Dam and Lake was constructed in Troup County by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the 1960s and 1970s to help control flooding in the area. Today the lake is a popular public recreation area.

Courtesy of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Crisp County Courthouse

Crisp County Courthouse

The Crisp County Superior Court building in Cordele was opened in the late 2000s.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Watermelon Eating

Watermelon Eating

Residents of Crisp County gather for a watermelon eating, circa 1939. Watermelons are an important commodity in the county's economy, and the crop is celebrated annually with the Watermelon Days Festival, which is held in Cordele each July

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
crp002.

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Rural Life Center Groundbreaking

Rural Life Center Groundbreaking

The groundbreaking for the St. Paul/Gillespie-Selden Rural Life Community Center in Cordele took place in December 1999. The center offers a twenty-four-hour child-care facility for parents on welfare who are struggling to find work.

Courtesy of USDA Rural Development

Spalding County Courthouse

Spalding County Courthouse

The Spalding County Courthouse was built in Griffin in 1985. It replaced the county's 1911 courthouse, which burned down in 1981.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Stonewall Confederate Cemetery and Memorial Park

Stonewall Confederate Cemetery and Memorial Park

The remains of more than 500 Confederate soldiers and 1 Union soldier are buried in Griffin's Stonewall Confederate Cemetery and Memorial Park. The cemetery was established around 1867 by the Ladies Memorial Aid Society in Griffin.

Photograph by Melinda Smith Mullikin, New Georgia Encyclopedia

Albany Locomotive

Albany Locomotive

An old locomotive sits at an Albany station.

Courtesy of Steve Storey

Dougherty County Courthouse

Dougherty County Courthouse

The Dougherty County Courthouse in Albany, the county's third, was built in 1968 in the modern style. In 1993, after the completion of a new government center to house nonjudicial offices, the courthouse was named the Albany–Dougherty County Judicial Building.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Flint River Flood of 1925

Flint River Flood of 1925

Two men attempt to rescue a cow in high water near Albany during the Flint River flood of 1925. The Flint River has overrun its banks several times in Albany's history; the most severe flood occurred in the summer of 1994, when the river crested in the city at more than forty-three feet.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
dgh246-86.

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The Parks at Chehaw

The Parks at Chehaw

Visitors feed a rhino in the Parks at Chehaw in Albany. The zoo was designed by Dougherty County native Jim Fowler, the longtime cohost of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. The Chehaw zoo and Zoo Atlanta are the only two accredited zoos in the state.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.

Radium Springs

Radium Springs

Radium Springs, one of Georgia's Seven Natural Wonders, was the site of a casino that had its heyday during the 1920s. The casino was demolished in 2003.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
dgh004.

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Dade County Courthouse

Dade County Courthouse

The Dade County Courthouse in Trenton, built in 1926, was designed in the Dutch colonial revival style. It houses the county's superior court, district attorney, and state probation office.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Cloudland Canyon State Park

Cloudland Canyon State Park

A waterfall in Cloudland Canyon State Park in Dade County. The park is one of many scenic attractions in the county, which include Lookout Mountain and 164 caves.

Image from Jeff Gunn

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Roberta, ca. 1900

Roberta, ca. 1900

The business section of Roberta in Crawford County, around 1900, included the Roberta Drug Company (center). An advertisement for the Middle Georgia Loan and Realty Company hangs over the well in front of the drugstore.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
crw012.

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Jefferson Franklin Long

Jefferson Franklin Long

Jefferson Franklin Long was the first African American from Georgia to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. A native of Crawford County, Long was elected in December 1870 and served until March 1871.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Hawkins Monument

Hawkins Monument

A monument commemorating Creek Indian agent Benjamin Hawkins stands in front of the Old Roberta Train Depot in Crawford County. Hawkins established the Creek Agency Reserve on the Flint River in Crawford County in 1803.

Photograph by Wikimedia

Crawford County Courthouse

Crawford County Courthouse

The Crawford County Courthouse in Knoxville, completed in 2002, stands one block behind the previous courthouse, which was built in 1832. Knoxville is one of only three unincorporated towns in the state serving as county seats.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Catoosa County Courthouse

Catoosa County Courthouse

The Catoosa County Courthouse, built in Ringgold in 1939, is the county's second courthouse. Designed in the colonial revival style, the courthouse replaced an older one that survived the Civil War. 

Photograph by Brent Moore

Old Stone Church

Old Stone Church

The Old Stone Church in Ringgold was built in 1849 and served as a hospital during the Civil War for troops on both sides of the conflict. The original altar and pews of the church, which today houses a Civil War museum, are still intact.

Courtesy of Catoosa County News

Chickamauga Park

Chickamauga Park

Sergeant Appleton (left) and Acting 1st Sergeant J. B. Martin Jr., both of Troop A, Georgia National Guard, pose in July 1910 during a training camp at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park in Catoosa County.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #cat009-84.

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Dawson County Courthouse

Dawson County Courthouse

The Dawson County Courthouse in Dawsonville, the second in the county's history, was built in 1978.

Courtesy of J Stephen Conn

McClure Mercantile Store

McClure Mercantile Store

A group poses outside the McClure Mercantile Store in Dawson County between 1880 and 1889. Eleven of the twelve men pictured are identified as Harben, Colonel Bishop, A. Carney, J. Byrd, Jim McClure, Dave McKee, Dale McClure, Jim Martin, Horatio Tatum, John Wilder, and Dr. Kitchens.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
daw004.

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Amicalola Falls

Amicalola Falls

Amicalola Falls State Park in Dawson County, established on land that was purchased by the state in 1911, draws visitors to the mountains each year during the fall.

Courtesy of UGA Cooperative Extension Service. Photograph by James D. Strawser

Trout Fishing

Trout Fishing

Fishing for trout in Dawson County. Several wild species are found in north Georgia: rainbow, brook, and brown trout.

Taylor County Courthouse

Taylor County Courthouse

The Taylor County Courthouse, designed in the neoclassical revival style, was built in Butler in 1935.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Cotton Harvest

Cotton Harvest

Workers harvest cotton in Taylor County in December 1959. Cotton remains a major agricultural commodity in the area, along with peaches, poultry, and eggs.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
tay005.

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Strawberry Festival

Strawberry Festival

Baskets of strawberries are displayed at the Georgia Strawberry Festival, hosted each April by the city of Reynolds in Taylor County. The festival offers a number of events, including a strawberry cook-off, parades, and a car show.

Photograph by Kelly Bond

General Store

General Store

Located in Reynolds (Taylor County), the Ricks Bros. store, pictured in 1909, bought cotton and sold general merchandise.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #tay033.

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Oglethorpe County Courthouse

Oglethorpe County Courthouse

The Oglethorpe County Courthouse stands at the corner of Gilmer and Main streets in Lexington. Built in 1887, the courthouse is designed in the Romanesque revival style.

Photograph by J Stephen Conn

William H. Crawford

William H. Crawford

The town of Crawford in Oglethorpe County was named for William H. Crawford, a state representative and U.S. senator from Georgia. Crawford died and was buried at Woodlawn, his estate in Oglethorpe County, in 1834.

Image from Wikimedia Commons

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Oglethorpe County Courthouse

Oglethorpe County Courthouse

The Oglethorpe County Courthouse stands at the corner of Gilmer and Main streets.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Miller County Courthouse

Miller County Courthouse

The Miller County Courthouse in Colquitt, constructed in 1977, is the county's fourth courthouse. The second and third courthouses burned in 1873 and 1974 respectively.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Leviston Sawmill

Leviston Sawmill

The Leviston Sawmill in Miller County, pictured between 1905 and 1910, produced lumber, rosin, and turpentine for the booming naval stores market. By the 1930s, the timber industry was also involved in the production of paper.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
mil002-82.

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Peace Wall

Peace Wall

The Peace Wall, part of the Millennium Mural Project in Miller County, was designed and painted by artist Chrissie Orr of New Mexico, with the help of students, teachers, and community members, on the Miller County Middle School.

Courtesy of Colquitt Miller Arts Council, Colquitt

Sweetwater Creek

Sweetwater Creek

The Georgia Conservancy acquired more than 2,000 acres in Douglas County in the late 1960s, which became Sweetwater Creek State Park. Sweetwater Creek runs through the Lithia Springs park on its way to the Chattahoochee River. The acquisition of this land for the state was one of the conservancy's earliest victories.

Photograph by Jeff Gunn

Sweetwater Park Hotel

Sweetwater Park Hotel

The Sweetwater Park Hotel, located near the therapeutic mineral waters in Lithia Springs, was a popular resort during the early years of the twentieth century. The hotel burned in 1912.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
dgl002.

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Douglas County Courthouse

Douglas County Courthouse

The courthouse in Douglas County was completed in 1998 to replace an older courthouse constructed in the 1950s. Today the old courthouse, located on the site of three previous courthouses, houses a museum and the offices of the Douglas County Historical Society.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Walton County Courthouse

Walton County Courthouse

The Walton County Courthouse in Monroe was designed in the Second Empire style and completed in 1884. The courthouse has undergone several renovations since its construction, including the addition of a clock tower in 1910 and extensive restoration work in both 1933 and 1996.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Social Circle, 1898

Social Circle, 1898

Wagons carry bales of cotton along Cherokee Street in Social Circle. Cotton was a major cash crop in Walton County during the nineteenth century, and cotton mills were first established there in the 1840s.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
wlt041-82.

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William Harris Family Farmstead

William Harris Family Farmstead

The living area in the William Harris Family Farmstead in Walton County. Located in the community of Campton, the farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Image from S P Photography

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Social Circle

Social Circle

Incorporated as a village in 1832, Social Circle today thrives as a community of about 3,400 residents. The town is located in Walton County about forty-five miles east of Atlanta.

Image from Clevergrrl

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Postage Stamp Featuring Moina Michael

Moina Michael Stamp

A commemorative stamp honoring Moina Belle Michael, a Walton County native and originator of the red memorial poppy, was first issued in November 1948. After World War I, paper poppies were sold and worn on Remembrance Day (Armistice Day), held on the second Sunday in November in Britain, to fund soldier rehabilitation.

Courtesy of Smithsonian National Postal Museum

Screven County Courthouse

Screven County Courthouse

The Screven County Courthouse, the fourth to be built in Sylvania, was completed in 1964 and replaced a two-story brick building constructed in 1897, which was destroyed in a fire that same year.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Sylvania

Sylvania

A revitalization effort in downtown Sylvania, completed in 2005, brought new sidewalks and other improvements to the city. The seat of Screven County, Sylvania is known as the "Azalea and Dogwood City," as well as the "Welcome Station City."

Photograph by Nancy Edenfield

Sylvania Courthouse, ca. 1900

Sylvania Courthouse, ca. 1900

An early-twentieth-century postcard, date issued 1930-1945, depicts the Screven County Courthouse in Sylvania. This courthouse was built in 1897 to replace one that burned in a citywide fire that same year, and served the county until 1963.

Image from Boston Public Library

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Uncle Remus Museum

Uncle Remus Museum

The Uncle Remus Museum in Eatonton pays tribute to the works of Joel Chandler Harris, an Eatonton native and the writer of the Uncle Remus folktales. The museum includes paintings and various memorabilia of the Uncle Remus stories.

Putnam County Courthouse

Putnam County Courthouse

The Putnam County Courthouse in Eatonton was first constructed in 1824, and extensive renovations were completed in 1906 and 1994. The building, designed in the Neoclassical Revival style, is situated on one of the largest town squares in the state.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Jersey Cow

Jersey Cow

Putnam County resident W. A. Walton Sr. stands beside his Jersey cow in the 1920s. The dairy industry became an important contributor to the county's economy after the 1876 establishment of Panola Farm, an experimental dairy founded by Benjamin Hunt.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
put068.

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Elder Mill Covered Bridge

Elder Mill Covered Bridge

The Elder Mill Covered Bridge in Oconee County was constructed in 1897 and relocated to its current position south of Watkinsville during the 1920s. One of the last of its kind in the state, the bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

Photograph by Melinda Smith Mullikin, New Georgia Encyclopedia

Oconee County Courthouse

Oconee County Courthouse

Located in downtown Watkinsville, the Oconee County Courthouse was completed in 1939. Designed in the stripped classical style, the building was constructed by the Works Progress Administration.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Elder Mill Covered Bridge

Elder Mill Covered Bridge

Elder Mill Covered Bridge, in Oconee County, is pictured circa 1975.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
oco001.

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Old Mercer University

Old Mercer University

Several buildings remain on the original campus of Mercer University in Greene County. A Baptist institution, Mercer University was founded in Penfield in 1833 and moved to Macon in 1871. The community of Penfield was eventually absorbed by nearby Union City after the school's relocation.

Photograph by Melinda Smith Mullikin, New Georgia Encyclopedia

Greene County Courthouse

Greene County Courthouse

The Greene County Courthouse in Greensboro, designed in the Greek revival style, was completed in 1849. The top floor of the building has been used as a Masonic lodge since the time of its construction. The courthouse was remodeled in 1938 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Bethesda Baptist Church

Bethesda Baptist Church

The historic Bethesda Baptist Church in Greene County was founded in 1785 in the town of Union Point. The sanctuary, which today contains the remains of a slave gallery, was constructed in 1818.

Photograph by Melinda Smith Mullikin, New Georgia Encyclopedia

Scull Shoals Company Store

Scull Shoals Company Store

Ruins of the Scull Shoals Company Store stand in the Oconee National Forest in Greene County. Scull Shoals, founded in 1782, was a thriving mill community until its destruction by fires, floods, and the Civil War (1861-65).

Photograph by Melinda Smith Mullikin, New Georgia Encyclopedia

White Plains Baptist Church

White Plains Baptist Church

White Plains Baptist Church was organized in 1806 in Greene County, and the current sanctuary dates to 1887. Both Blacks and whites worshipped in the church together between 1812 and 1869.

Image from Jimmy Emerson, DVM

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Oconee River Bridge Remains

Oconee River Bridge Remains

The remains of a bridge are visible in the Oconee River at Scull Shoals, circa 1977. Once a mining town, the Scull Shoals area, home to a thriving mining industry and community before the Civil War, is now part of the Oconee National Forest in Greene County.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
grn195.

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Steamship in Floyd County

Steamship in Floyd County

The steamship J. J. Seay lands at the convergence of the Etowah and Oostanaula rivers at Rome in Floyd County around 1850.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
flo051.

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Cotton Block, Rome

Cotton Block, Rome

After the Civil War, the growing economy of Floyd County relied heavily on cotton production. The cotton block in Rome, pictured in the 1890s, was located at the corner of Second Avenue and Broad Street.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
flo045.

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Floyd County Courthouse

Floyd County Courthouse

The current Floyd County Courthouse, built in Rome in 1995, is the county's sixth courthouse. The building functions as a multipurpose government facility, housing offices for various agencies in addition to the county and superior courts.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Rabun County Courthouse

Rabun County Courthouse

The current Rabun County Courthouse in Clayton was built in 1967. Among the renovations completed since that time are the additions of a second floor and cupola, as well as a new entrance.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Moccasin Creek Waterfall

Moccasin Creek Waterfall

A small waterfall along Moccasin Creek, in Rabun County, is located near the Moccasin Creek State Park.

Image from Jeff Moore

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York House

York House

The York House, located near Passover in Rabun County, is the oldest continuously operating bed-and-breakfast in Georgia. Founded in 1896, the inn was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # rab182.

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Lillian Smith

Lillian Smith

Lillian Smith, a prominent writer and opponent of segegation during the Jim Crow era, is pictured in the 1940s with workmen at Laurel Falls Girls Camp in Rabun County. Smith served as director of the camp from around 1925 until 1949.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
rab355.

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Pine Terrace

Pine Terrace

Rufus L. Moss, cofounder of the town Tallulah Falls, built his home Pine Terrace there in 1879. The house later served as an auxiliary building for the Tallulah Falls School, founded in 1909, and then as the Tallulah Tea Room restaurant. Privately owned again by 2015, the home underwent renovations to restore its nineteenth-century character.

Courtesy of Rabun Gap Historical Society

Ludowici Well Pavilion

Ludowici Well Pavilion

The Ludowici Well Pavilion was constructed in 1905 and today serves as a public park in the center of town. The octagonal structure houses an artesian well and is covered with "Dixie" tile, which was manufactured in Ludowici early in the twentieth century.

Photograph by Luciana Spracher

Hack’s Drugstore

Hack’s Drugstore

A carriage waits outside of Hack's Drugstore in Ludowici in 1905, the same year in which the town was incorporated.The seat of Long County, Ludowici was originally named Johnston Station.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # lon002.

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Long County Courthouse

Long County Courthouse

The Long County Courthouse was built in Ludowici in 1926, six years after the county's creation from the western portion of Liberty County. The original courthouse is still in use today.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Franklin Tree Flower

Franklin Tree Flower

The Franklin tree or lost camellia (Franklinia alatamaha), once native only to Georgia, was discovered along the banks of the Altamaha River in the mid-eighteenth century and was last recorded in the wild by nurseryman and plant collector in 1803. All known specimens today are in cultivation.

Photograph from Francine Riez, Wikimedia

Henry County Courthouse

Henry County Courthouse

The Henry County Courthouse in McDonough, designed in the Romanesque revival style by architect J. W. Golucke, was completed in 1897. A Confederate monument stands in front of the courthouse, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Host to several NASCAR events each year, the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Henry County is the most-visited sports facility in Georgia.

Image from Alex Ford

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Hampton, ca. 1900

Hampton, ca. 1900

Men gather outside of a store in Hampton, located in Henry County, around 1900. The town was a thriving agricultural community early in the twentieth century, but the economy of Hampton and the surrounding area would suffer after the boll weevil invasion of 1920.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
hnr009-94.

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James Weldon Johnson

James Weldon Johnson

James Weldon Johnson, noted Harlem Renaissance poet and civil rights leader, graduated from Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University) in 1894. While a student in Atlanta, Johnson also taught school for two summers in nearby Hampton.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Turpentine Still

Turpentine Still

Workers stand outside of a turpentine still in Bacon County around 1900. The still was owned by American Tie and Timber Company.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # gly002.

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Bacon County Courthouse

Bacon County Courthouse

The Bacon County Courthouse, built in Alma in 1919, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Completed five years after the county's creation, the original courthouse is still in use today.

Courtesy of Dan Bowman

Washington County Courthouse

Washington County Courthouse

The current Washington County Courthouse, located in Sandersville, was completed in 1869. Additions were made to the courthouse in 1899 and 1939, and it was renovated twice during the 1970s and 1980s.

Staff of Rawlings Sanitarium

Staff of Rawlings Sanitarium

The medical and nursing staffs of Rawlings Sanitarium in Sandersville gather circa 1907. William Rawlings (center right) founded the sanitarium in 1895. In 1961 the sanitarium moved to a new facility, known today as the Washington County Regional Medical Center.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
was071.

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Kaolin Mine

Kaolin Mine

Thiele Kaolin Company, headquartered in Sandersville, extracts kaolin from this mine. Once the ore has been extracted, mine reclamation activities are conducted to restore the landscape to a pristine state.

Courtesy of UGA Archway Partnership

Washington County, Georgia

Washington County, Georgia

Washington County, Georgia (date unknown) by John McWilliams is part of Georgia's State Art Collection. Photograph, 14 3/4 x 19 inches

Courtesy of Georgia Council for the Arts, Georgia's State Art Collection.

Indian Springs State Park

Indian Springs State Park

Acquired by Georgia in 1825 and established as a park in 1927, Indian Springs State Park claims to be the oldest state park in the nation. The medicinal properties of the springs were enjoyed by the earliest Native American inhabitants of the region. Today the park offers a variety of recreational activities, including camping and fishing.

Butts County Courthouse

Butts County Courthouse

The Butts County Courthouse in Jackson was built in 1898 to replace the courthouse burned by Union general William T. Sherman on his March to the Sea in 1864. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, the courthouse was designed with elements of the High Victorian Eclectic and colonial revival styles.

Photograph by C Smith

McIntosh Inn

McIntosh Inn

The McIntosh Inn, built in 1823 at Indian Springs in Butts County by Creek leader William McIntosh, thrived as a popular resort until the 1930s. In 1825 McIntosh signed the Treaty of Indian Springs with the U.S. government at the hotel; he was murdered three months later by angry Creeks who considered the agreement a betrayal.

Photograph by Melinda Smith Mullikin, New Georgia Encyclopedia

Indian Springs Gristmill

Indian Springs Gristmill

Beginning in the 1840s, a number of waterwheel-powered mills, including the Indian Springs Gristmill, appeared along the rivers of Butts County. Because of its easy access to water transportation, the county became an industrial community well in advance of other areas in the state.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
but010.

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High Falls State Park

High Falls State Park

High Falls State Park, near Jackson in Butts County, is a popular destination along the Towaliga River for camping and boating. The town of High Falls, established in the early 1800s, became a ghost town during the 1880s, when the railroads gained prominence over waterways for commercial transportation.

Historic Lee County Courthouse

Historic Lee County Courthouse

The original Lee County courthouse was built in Starksville, the county's first seat, around 1837. The courthouse burned between 1856 and 1858, and the seat was later moved to Leesburg, a thriving railroad town, in 1872.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
lee003.

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Lee County Courthouse

Lee County Courthouse

The original Lee County Courthouse was built in Starksville, the county's first seat, around 1837. The courthouse burned between 1856 and 1858, and the seat was later moved to Leesburg, a thriving railroad town, in 1872.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Grocery Wagon

Grocery Wagon

A late-nineteenth-century delivery wagon for South Side Grocery stands in a Statesboro street. By the 1890s, the town had become a commercial hub for Bulloch County, as the railroads brought in new retail merchants and agricultural markets opened for regional farmers.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
bul050.

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Bulloch County Courthouse

Bulloch County Courthouse

The Bulloch County courthouse, located in Statesboro, was designed by Bruce & Morgan in 1894, with renovations by J. Bruyn Kops in 1914. The exterior of the neoclassical revival courthouse was covered with white plaster in the 1960s, much of which remains and has been painted a red brick color.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Archibald Bulloch

Archibald Bulloch

Archibald Bulloch was a Revolutionary soldier, a leader of Georgia's Liberty Party, and the state's first chief executive and commander in chief. Bulloch County in southeast Georgia was named for him upon its creation in 1796.

Baker County Courthouse

Baker County Courthouse

This schoolhouse, built in Newton in the 1930s, was remodeled in 2000 to serve as the permanent courthouse for Baker County. The county's historic courthouse was damaged in 1994, when it was flooded to nearly the second floor by the Flint River.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Thomas County Courthouse

Thomas County Courthouse

The current courthouse in Thomas County was constructed in 1858 and remodeled thirty years later. Located in the county seat of Thomasville, the courthouse is a three-story brick building designed in the Greek revival style.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Thomasville, 1900

Thomasville, 1900

Thomasville became a popular resort town during the 1860s for wealthy northerners seeking a milder climate during the winter months. The Masury Hotel (left foreground) was constructed at the corner of Broad and Jefferson streets in 1889 to accommodate such visitors.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
tho106.

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Southern Railroad

Southern Railroad

A portion of the Southern Railroad known as the North Broad Curve, photographed in 1908, winds through Stephens County near Toccoa. Economic growth in Toccoa, which was dubbed the "Furniture, Thread, and Steel City," was spurred by its close proximity to the railroad running between Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
stp044.

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Stephens County Courthouse

Stephens County Courthouse

The Stephens County Courthouse was built in 2000 across the street from the original courthouse in Toccoa. The older structure, completed in 1908, was restored in 2008.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Traveler’s Rest State Historic Site

Traveler’s Rest State Historic Site

Traveler's Rest in Toccoa once stood on Georgia's western frontier; the Cherokee Nation comprised the lands to the west. Built in the early 1800s by a white frontiersman, the inn is notable for its ninety-foot-long porch. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.

Paul Anderson

Paul Anderson

Paul Anderson, a heavyweight champion from Toccoa known as "the Dixie Derrick," lifts two beauty pageant contestants in the 1950s or 1960s. In 1955 Anderson became the first lifter to press more than 400 pounds.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
clq113.

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Jekyll Island Club

Jekyll Island Club

The Jekyll Island Club, a hunting club and resort for wealthy northeastern businessmen, was completed in 1887. The club closed during World War II and today is part of the Jekyll Island State Park.

Courtesy of Jekyll Island Museum

Glynn County Courthouse

Glynn County Courthouse

The Glynn County Courthouse, designed in a neoclassical revival style and completed in 1991, is the fourth documented courthouse to be built in the county. The W. Harold Pate Courthouse Annex was built several blocks away from the courthouse in Brunswick during the mid-1990s.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

St. Simons Tourists

St. Simons Tourists

Tourists on St. Simons Island gather outside one of the island's many shops. The island suffered an economic depression at the end of the cotton era in the 1830s, but its fortunes reversed with the arrival of the timber industry in the 1870s. Today St. Simons enjoys a strong tourist industry.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia.

The Cloister

The Cloister

This postcard from around 1928 depicts the motor entrance to the Cloister, a luxury hotel on Sea Island. Owned today by the Sea Island Company, the island is a retreat for celebrities and world leaders.

Courtesy of Sea Island Company

Fish Catch

Fish Catch

J. Roy Duggan, a board chairman for King Shrimp Company in Brunswick, displays his catch of spotted bass and trout on St. Simons Island around 1950. At left are J. O. Hice and his wife. Hice cofounded the SeaPak Corporation, a coastal Georgia seafood company that is known today as the Rich-Seapak Corporation.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
gly017.

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Low Tidal Salt Marsh

Low Tidal Salt Marsh

Little St. Simons Island, consisting mostly of low tidal salt marsh with forested upland tracts on its eastern (ocean) side, is privately owned and is accessible only by water.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.

Taloney Mission

Taloney Mission

The Taloney Mission (later Carmel Mission) was founded by the Georgia Presbyterians in Pickens County along Talking Rock Creek. The Presbyterians established and ran a number of mission schools throughout Georgia from 1817 to 1833. The remains of the Taloney Mission were photographed between 1930 and 1960.

Pickens County Courthouse

Pickens County Courthouse

The Pickens County Courthouse in Jasper was constructed in 1949 with marble quarried in nearby Tate. This courthouse, designed in a stripped classical style, is the third in the county's history.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Blue Ridge Marble Company

Blue Ridge Marble Company

A train arrives at the Blue Ridge Marble Company about 1910. Later renamed Georgia Marble, the company was active in Cherokee and Pickens counties during the growth of the marble industry between the arrival of the railroads in the 1880s and the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
pck077-82a.

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Marblehill Quarry

Marblehill Quarry

Workers for the Georgia Marble Company sit for a portrait during the 1920s at the Marblehill Quarry in Pickens County. Marble from Pickens County is reported to have been used in around 60 percent of the monuments in Washington, D.C.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
pck018-82.

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Old Pickens County Courthouse

Old Pickens County Courthouse

The second Pickens County Courthouse, pictured circa 1890, was built in 1888. Located in Jasper, the courthouse was in use until 1947, when it was destroyed by a fire.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
pck130-82.

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Chattooga County Courthouse

Chattooga County Courthouse

The Chattooga County Courthouse, located in Summerville, was built in 1909 to replace the original 1840 courthouse. This neoclassical revival structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Central of Georgia Railway

Central of Georgia Railway

A Central of Georgia Railway train makes a stop in Chattooga County around 1912. The county residents, primarily farmers at this time, relied on the railroad to ship produce, especially strawberries, to markets as far north as Cincinnati, Ohio.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
ctg003.

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Paradise Garden

Paradise Garden

In 1982 Howard Finster acquired a small church adjacent to his Paradise Garden in Chattooga County and transformed it into his "World's Folk Art Church." Pictured in 2014, the church and garden fell into serious disrepair after Finster's death, but restoration efforts began in 2010.

Photograph by Sarah E. McKee, New Georgia Encyclopedia

Allen D. Candler

Allen D. Candler

Allen D. Candler served as governor of Georgia from 1898 to 1902 and was a resident of Banks County. Candler County, created in southeast Georgia in 1914, was named for him.

Candler County Courthouse

Candler County Courthouse

The Candler County Courthouse, located in Metter, was built in 1921. Designed in a neoclassical revival style by J. J. Baldwin, the courthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Bleckley County Courthouse

Bleckley County Courthouse

The Bleckley County Courthouse, located in Cochran, was built in 1914 in a neoclassical revival style. Renovations and several additions have been made to the building since its original construction, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Southern Railroad

Southern Railroad

In February 1901 more than six inches of snow fell on the Southern Railroad tracks through Cochran, the seat of Bleckley County.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
ble004.

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Middle Georgia College

Middle Georgia College

Students gather outside of Walker Hall on the campus of Middle Georgia College, a two-year residential college located in Cochran.

Courtesy of Ellis-Harper Advertising

Before: Bleckley County African American School

Before: Bleckley County African American School

Bleckley County African American school before the Works Progress Administration Program started in 1936.

Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries, Works Progress Administration in Georgia, 1936.

After: Bleckley County African American School

After: Bleckley County African American School

Bleckley County African American school after it was completed in 1936 as a part of the Works Progress Administration Program, under the New Deal in Georgia.

Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries, Works Progress Administration in Georgia, 1936.

Okefenokee Swamp

Okefenokee Swamp

Alligators, which are native to Georgia, are among the hundreds of animal species to make their home in the Okefenokee Swamp.

Charlton County Courthouse

Charlton County Courthouse

The first courthouse in Folkston, built after the town was designated as the county seat in 1901, burned down in 1928. The current courthouse, designed in Neoclassical Revival and Georgian Revival styles, was built during the same year. An annex to the building was constructed in 1978.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Swamp Alligator

Swamp Alligator

A swamp alligator suns on a log in the Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge. The Okefenokee Swamp is one of the major attractions in Charlton County.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Geoff L. Johnson.

Brantley County Courthouse

Brantley County Courthouse

The Brantley County Courthouse was built in 1930 in Nahunta, which was selected in 1923 over the town of Hoboken to be the county seat. An addition to the original building was constructed in 1978.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Hoboken-Style Singing

Hoboken-Style Singing

Sacred Harp singers Julie and Kathy Lee participate in the 2001 Hoboken Singing Day. The Library of Congress Local Legacies project has identified the "Hoboken style" of Sacred Harp singing as a distinctive form, which likely resulted from the town's relative isolation for much of its history.

Courtesy of Julie and Kathy Lee

Tift County Courthouse

Tift County Courthouse

The Tift County Courthouse, located in Tifton, was completed in 1913. Designed by W. A. Edwards, it is the only courthouse ever to be constructed in Tift County.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College

The Second District Agricultural and Mechanical School, shown here in 1918, was established in 1908 as a high school in Tift County. In 1933 the school was renamed Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, which is today the largest residential two-year college in Georgia.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #tif005.

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Helen Mine

Helen Mine

The Helen Mine was one of nine gold mines operating in White County after the discovery of gold in 1828 around Duke's Creek (later the Nacoochee River). This photograph was taken around 1900.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
stp019.

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White County Courthouse

White County Courthouse

The modern-style White County courthouse was built in Cleveland in 1964. It is the county's second courthouse.

Image from Jimmy Emerson, DVM

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Helen

Helen

Helen, founded in 1911, was a thriving lumber-mill and mining town until the Gainesville and Northwestern Railroad shut down in the early 1930s. In 1969 the town was revitalized by local business owners, who created a tourist destination by converting Helen into a Bavarian-style village.

Photograph by Stormtrooper WB

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Mount Yonah

Mount Yonah

Mount Yonah, known as one of the best areas for rock climbing in Georgia, is located between Cleveland and Helen in the Chattahoochee National Forest.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Geoff L. Johnson.

White County Family

White County Family

A family gathers for a photograph, taken around 1906, in front of their home in White County. The house on the left was used for a kitchen and was connected to the main house by a breezeway.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # wht003.

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Young Boys on Car

Young Boys on Car

Young boys pose atop a car in White County, in 1917.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #wht004.

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Mount Yonah

Mount Yonah

Mount Yonah, located in White County between Cleveland and Helen, is best known for its granite outcrops, formed by granite magma intruding the overlying stacks of metamorphic rocks about 375 million years ago. The outcrops are one of the favorite spots for rock climbers in the state.

Image from Andrew Partain

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McCranie’s Turpentine Still

McCranie’s Turpentine Still

This painting depicts McCranie's Turpentine Still, which operated from 1925 to 1949 in Willacoochee. The still is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Painting by Ken Brauner, Eugene, Oregon

Atkinson County Courthouse

Atkinson County Courthouse

Completed in 1920, the courthouse in Atkinson County is located in Pearson, the county seat. Built in a neoclassical revival style, the courthouse was renovated during the early 1980s.

Photograph by J Stephen Conn

Covered Bridge in Banks County

Covered Bridge in Banks County

Located on private property south of Lula in Banks County, this covered bridge is the smallest in Georgia and one of the smallest in the United States. Originally built in 1915, the bridge was in service until 1969 and renovated in 1975.

Courtesy of Georgia Department of Transportation

Banks County Courthouse

Banks County Courthouse

The Banks County courthouse in Homer was built in 1987 to replace the county's original courthouse, which was constructed during the Civil War. The new courthouse stands on the block directly behind the site of the original courthouse.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Gristmill in Banks County

Gristmill in Banks County

This gristmill, located along the Grove River in Banks County, was built in 1910 and operated until the 1950s. Today the primary industries in the county are the poultry and textile industries.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
ban010.

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Tuberculosis Sanatorium

Tuberculosis Sanatorium

In 1911 the state of Georgia opened a public sanatorium in Banks County for the treatment of tuberculosis. The sanatorium was the state's most ambitious health project up to that time, and marked a new interest in public health, a product of the Progressive era.

From History of Public Health in Georgia, 1733-1950, by T. F. Abercrombie

Ty Cobb Statue

Ty Cobb Statue

A bronze statue of Ty Cobb, created by Felix de Weldon in 1977, stands at the north entrance of Turner Field in Atlanta and depicts the baseball legend sliding into a base. Nicknamed the "Georgia Peach," Cobb, a native of Banks County, played for the Detroit Tigers from 1905 until 1926.

Image from David

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Paradise Public Fishing Area

Paradise Public Fishing Area

Fishing piers and picnic areas provide recreational opportunities along Lake Patrick, one of the many lakes to be found at the Paradise Public Fishing Area in Berrien County.

Photograph by Noel Jackson. Courtesy of Paradise Public Fishing Area

Berrien County Courthouse

Berrien County Courthouse

The Berrien County Courthouse is located in Nashville, the county seat. Built in 1898 and still in use today, the courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Old Berrien County Jail

Old Berrien County Jail

The Old Berrien County Jail in Nashville is one of four buildings in the county that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Also included on the register are the courthouse and the William G. Harrison/Eulalie Taylor House in Nashville, and the Alapaha Colored School in Alapaha.

Image from Wenda Gaile Bailey

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Spirit of the American Doughboy

Spirit of the American Doughboy

A postcard depicts Ernest M. Viquesney's sculpture, Spirit of the American Doughboy, which stands in downtown Waycross. Viquesney produced more than 150 of these statues for towns across Georgia between 1921 and 1943.

Courtesy of Todd Womack

Ben Hill County Courthouse

Ben Hill County Courthouse

Ben Hill County's first and only courthouse was built in either 1907 or 1909. Designed by H. H. Huggins in the neoclassical revival style, the building originally featured a clock tower, which was removed during renovations in the 1950s.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Colony City Chase

Colony City Chase

The city of Fitzgerald hosts several annual events and festivals, including the Colony City Chase, which takes place each October.

Courtesy of Georgia Studios

Historic Clinton

Historic Clinton

A photograph of a road in Clinton, in Jones County, circa 1900. During this time, and until around 1920, Jones County was mostly farm land and was known for its prolific cotton and peach crops.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #jon109.

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DeWitt Clinton

DeWitt Clinton

Clinton, the first county seat of Jones County, may be the namesake of DeWitt Clinton, the mayor of New York from 1803 to 1815 and the nephew of George Clinton.

George Clinton

George Clinton

George Clinton, the first governor of New York and the vice president under both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, may be the nineteenth-century politician for whom Clinton, the first county seat of Jones County, is named.

Gray, ca. 1910s

Gray, ca. 1910s

This sketch by Telamon Cuyler, made between 1910 and 1918, portrays Gray from the courthouse front door. Gray replaced Clinton as the county seat of Jones County in 1905.

Jones County Courthouse

Jones County Courthouse

The courthouse, in Gray, was built in 1906 in the Romanesque revival style. It was designed by J. W. Golucke and is noted for its arched clock tower. The courthouse was rehabilitated in 1992.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Jarrell Plantation Historic Site

Jarrell Plantation Historic Site

This cotton plantation was owned by the Jarrell family for 140 years. Many antebellum furnishings are on display at the historic site, and many outbuildings dating back to about 1900 still stand.

Image from B A Bowen Photography

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Old Clinton Barbecue

Old Clinton Barbecue

The Old Clinton Barbecue House, located in Jones County in middle Georgia, has been serving barbecue since 1958.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Geoff L. Johnson.

Sally and Frank Black

Sally and Frank Black

Frank Butler Black was a farmer, mail carrier, and chairman of the Republican Party in Jones County. He and his wife, Sally Barfield Black, pose at a Macon photographer's studio (ca. 1900).

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
jon079.

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Timber Rafting, Oconee River

Timber Rafting, Oconee River

These men are rafting timber down the Oconee River in Laurens County, circa 1890.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
lau123.

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Historic Dublin

Historic Dublin

Dublin, circa 1900. A mule-drawn wagon loaded with bales of cotton is stopped in front of J. D. Smith & Son Stables, which was located on North Jackson Street.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
lau031.

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Laurens County Courthouse

Laurens County Courthouse

The Laurens County Courthouse in Dublin, built in 1962, is the fourth courthouse in the county's history.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Laurens County Courthouse

Laurens County Courthouse

This tinted postcard shows the third courthouse to be built in Laurens County. The two-story brick structure was constructed in 1895 and used until 1962, when the current courthouse was completed.

Image from Scott B. Thompson

Barrow County Courthouse

Barrow County Courthouse

On July 7, 1914, Barrow County was formed from portions of Gwinnett, Jackson, and Walton counties. Located in Winder, the Barrow County Courthouse was built in 1920.

Photograph by C Smith

Fort Yargo Cabin

Fort Yargo Cabin

The Fort Yargo cabin was built by whites in 1792 for protection against the Creeks and the Cherokees. Today it is used for history encampments at Fort Yargo State Park.

Photograph by Ashley Farrow, Wikimedia Commons

Birdsville

Birdsville

The original home of Francis Jones, a colonial settler in Georgia, stands on the site of his Birdsville plantation in Jenkins County and represents one of the few colonial residential dwellings still standing in the state. The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
bur068.

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Millen News Plant

Millen News Plant

Workers use an old Linotype machine, pictured at left, around 1932. The Millen News plant was located in the Lane Building on Winthrope Avenue.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
jnk097.

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Magnolia Springs State Park

Magnolia Springs State Park

Magnolia Springs State Park near Millen provides a number of outdoor recreational activities for Jenkins County residents and visitors. The park also houses a freshwater aquarium.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.

Jenkins County Courthouse

Jenkins County Courthouse

The Jenkins County courthouse in Millen was built in 1910 in the neoclassical revival style. The architect was L. F. Goodrich.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Birdsville Tavern

Birdsville Tavern

The tavern and shop at the Birdsville Plantation in Jenkins County, outside Millen, is pictured circa 1970. Birdsville was a stagecoach stop on the Old Louisville Road, which connected Louisville and Savannah.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
bur070.

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Olympic Village

Olympic Village

A portion of the Georgia Institute of Technology campus in Atlanta was transformed into the Olympic Village during the 1996 Olympic Games. The village served as the temporary home of 15,000 athletes and officials who traveled to Atlanta for the competitions.

Courtesy of Georgia Tech Communications

Fulton County Courthouse

Fulton County Courthouse

The Fulton County courthouse, located in Atlanta, was designed by A. Ten Eyck Brown, with Morgan and Dillon, and built in 1911-14. The courthouse is an example of neoclassical revival/Beaux-Arts classicism architecture.

Photograph by OZinOH

Wrens Nest

Wrens Nest

Once the home of Joel Chandler Harris, author of the Uncle Remus tales, the Wren's Nest is today the oldest house museum in Atlanta. Harris moved to this house in 1881, purchased it in 1883, and did most of his later writing here until his death in 1908. The house, on Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962.

From Bruce Bickley

Fort Peach Tree Replica

Fort Peach Tree Replica

A replica of Fort Peach Tree, which was erected on the banks of the Chattahoochee River in 1814 during the War of 1812, stands in Atlanta. The fort was used as a construction yard for the flatboats that carried shipments along the river to Fort Mitchell, in present-day Alabama.

Courtesy of Susan Barnard

Southeastern Fair

Southeastern Fair

Crowds pass in front of the grandstand at the Southeastern Fair in Fulton County in 1955.

Lumpkin County Courthouse

Lumpkin County Courthouse

The modern Lumpkin County courthouse was built in 1965 and is located in the county seat of Dahlonega.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Gold Mining

Gold Mining

Mining often has a devastating effect on local landscapes. This 1900 photo shows a water cannon blasting away a hillside at the Calhoun Gold Mine, in Lumpkin County, during the second gold rush.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
lum154.

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Three Sisters Vineyard

Three Sisters Vineyard

The Three Sisters Vineyard, in Dahlonega (in Lumpkin County), is a relative newcomer to the growing wine industry in Georgia. Three Sisters harvested its first grapes in 2000.

Image from UGA CAES/Extension

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Clayton County Courthouse

Clayton County Courthouse

This Historic Clayton County Courthouse was built in 1898 and designed by J.W. Golucke in the Romanesque style. Today, the restored building is used as office space. 

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Reynolds Nature Preserve

Reynolds Nature Preserve

The W. H. Reynolds Memorial Nature Preserve is named for Judge William Reynolds, who donated 130 acres of wetlands to Clayton County in 1976. In 1997 the preserve obtained an additonal sixteen acres adjacent to the original property, including primarily hardwood forests, as well as ponds, wetlands, streams, designated picnic areas, and four miles of well-defined footpaths. The preserve promotes environmental education and is open to the public.

Courtesy of UGA Archway Partnership

Forest Park Depot

Forest Park Depot

This depot at Forest Park, shown circa 1900, was one of the stops along the railroad to Jonesboro, in Clayton County.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #clt056-84.

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Patrick R. Cleburne Confederate Memorial Cemetery

Patrick R. Cleburne Confederate Memorial Cemetery

The Patrick R. Cleburne Confederate Memorial Cemetery was named for the general whose remains were brought from St. John's Cemetery, Ashwood, Tennessee, in 1870. In 1891 a marble column was dedicated in his honor at the cemetery, and in 1892 this granite shaft was dedicated to the Confederate dead.

Courtesy of Clayton County Convention and Visitor's Bureau

Spivey Hall

Spivey Hall

The visual centerpiece of Clayton State University's Spivey Hall is the Albert Schweitzer Memorial Pipe Organ, a 79-rank, 3-manual, 4,413-pipe organ, built and installed by Fratelli Ruffatti of Padua, Italy.

Courtesy of Clayton County Convention and Visitor's Bureau

Battle of Jonesboro Reenactment

Battle of Jonesboro Reenactment

The Battle of Jonesboro reenactment at Stately Oaks Plantation takes place every second weekend in October.

Courtesy of Clayton County Convention and Visitor's Bureau

Riverdale Depot

Riverdale Depot

The Riverdale depot of the Southern Express Company railroad system was dismantled in 1939. Pictured, left to right: Henry McElroy; A. O. Bowles, railway agent and station master; and M. Vassa McConnell, postmaster. Leon Hancock on roof.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # clt027-84.

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Main Street in Jonesboro, 1890

Main Street in Jonesboro, 1890

Main Street in Jonesboro, in Clayton County, is pictured in 1890. The Cannon & Evans Drug Company is on the corner.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # clt060-84.

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Destroyed Railroad, 1864

Destroyed Railroad, 1864

Destroyed railroad in Forest Park circa 1864, during the Civil War.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
clt050-84.

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Bill Lee and Calvin Smyre

Bill Lee and Calvin Smyre

Bill Lee (left), one of the longest-serving members of the state House of Representatives, converses with Representative Calvin Smyre in 1988. A native of Clayton County, Lee served as chairman of the House Rules Committee.

Talbot County Courthouse

Talbot County Courthouse

The Talbot County courthouse, located in Talbotton, was built in 1892 and designed by the architectural firm Bruce and Morgan. The courthouse is an example of Queen Anne architecture.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Main Street, Talbotton

Main Street, Talbotton

Georgia Highways 208 and 41 run through Talbotton, the county seat of Talbot County.

Courtesy of Toni Pierce Webb

Straus-LeVert Memorial Hall

Straus-LeVert Memorial Hall

The Straus-LeVert Memorial Hall on College Avenue in Talbotton is a former LeVert College building turned community center. Lazrus Straus, a Belgian immigrant and Talbotton merchant, in part supported the school.

Courtesy of Toni Pierce Webb

Richmond County Garden

Richmond County Garden

This formal garden (no date available) in Richmond County is characteristic of the high-style landscape designs preferred by the wealthy in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Georgia. Styles in landscape design change over time and reflect the various social, economic, and political situations around the state.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
ric128.

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Richmond County Courthouse

Richmond County Courthouse

Richmond County's modern-style courthouse, located in Augusta, was designed by Scroggs and Ewing, and Kuhlke and Wade, and built in 1956-57.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Broad Street in Augusta, 1930s

Broad Street in Augusta, 1930s

Broad Street in Augusta, during the 1930s. The Union Savings Bank is shown in the center of the photograph.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #ric136.

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False Rue Anemone

False Rue Anemone

False rue anemone is one of the more than seventy-five rare plant species native to the Savannah River basin. The anemone, along with bottle-brush buckeye and relict trillium, is found along river bluffs near Augusta.

Courtesy of Joseph O'Brien, USDA Forest Service, www.forestryimages.org

Fort Gordon Headquarters

Fort Gordon Headquarters

Fort Gordon, located southwest of Augusta, opened in December 1941, after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii during World War II. The installation was named in honor of Confederate general John B. Gordon.

Courtesy of U.S. Army Signal Corps Museum

Ninevian Pipe

Ninevian Pipe

Dating to the 1850s, this Ninevian pipe was uncovered during an archaeological excavation conducted between 1989 and 1991 at the Springfield site near Augusta. The Springfield village was populated by free Blacks before the end of slavery in 1865.

Courtesy of New South Associates

John Dill House

John Dill House

The John Dill House (circa 1827), one of the oldest buildings in Fort Gaines, was built with the paper money Mrs. Dill (formerly Stuart) gathered during her capture by Creek Indians. The house, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is today a bed-and-breakfast.

Clay County Courthouse

Clay County Courthouse

The Clay County Courthouse, located in Fort Gaines, was completed in 1873. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1873.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Fort Gaines, 1925

Fort Gaines, 1925

A view of Hancock Street in Fort Gaines during festivities connected with the dedication of the Henry Clay Bridge, the third bridge crossing the Chattahoochee River at Fort Gaines, in December 1925.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
cly013.

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Airplane, 1904

Airplane, 1904

An early airplane is pictured in Clay County, circa 1904.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
cly058-82.

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Chief Vann House

Chief Vann House

Called the "Showplace of the Cherokee Nation," this two-story classic mansion is one of the best-preserved Cherokee plantation homes. Built by Chief James Vann in 1806, it was the first brick home within the Cherokee Nation. The mansion is a state historic site.

Courtesy of Atlanta History Center.

Murray County Courthouse

Murray County Courthouse

The neoclassical revival Murray County Courthouse, located in the seat of Chatsworth, was built in 1916-17 and designed by Alexander Blair.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Old Governor’s Mansion

Old Governor’s Mansion

The Old Governor's Mansion is located in Milledgeville, the state's capital from 1807 to 1868. Construction on the mansion began in 1836 and was completed in 1838 or 1839. It is considered one of the finest examples of Greek revival style in the nation.

Courtesy of Georgia College and State University

Baldwin County Courthouse

Baldwin County Courthouse

The present Baldwin County courthouse, located in Milledgeville, was built in 1995-97 and was designed by the architectural firm Brittain, Thompson, Bray, and Brown.

Courtesy of Dan Bowman

Georgia Normal and Industrial College

Georgia Normal and Industrial College

Georgia Normal and Industrial College in Milledgeville, circa 1913. The college, known today as Georgia College and State University, was founded in 1889. The campus employs a quadrangle design on land originally used for a state prison.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #bal001.

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Old State Capitol

Old State Capitol

In December 1804 Milledgeville was declared by the legislature to be the new capital of Georgia. The pointed arched windows and battlements marked Milledgeville's capitol building as America's first public building in the Gothic revival style.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM 

Central State Hospital, late 1800s

Central State Hospital, late 1800s

Chartered in 1837, the State Lunatic Asylum, later Central State Hospital, opened in Milledgeville in 1842. Hospital staff under Dr. Thomas A. Green treated numerous Civil War veterans suffering from the effects of battle after the war ended in 1865.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # bal025.

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Georgia Penitentiary

Georgia Penitentiary

The Georgia penitentiary in Milledgeville burning in 1864. The illustration appeared in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, on January 14, 1865.

Etowah Indian Mounds

Etowah Indian Mounds

Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site in Cartersville.

Image from Thomson200

Bartow County Courthouse

Bartow County Courthouse

Bartow County's neoclassical revival-style courthouse was built in 1902 and designed by Kenneth McDonald and J. W. Golucke. It is located in the county seat of Cartersville.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Cooper’s Furnace

Cooper’s Furnace

A huge iron belt that runs north to south through Bartow County supported a flourishing iron industry from the 1840s to the 1870s. Chief among iron producers was the Etowah Manufacturing and Mining Company at Etowah, where Cooper's Furnace remains.

Image from Stephen Rahn

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Coca-Cola Sign

Coca-Cola Sign

Cartersville is home to the first outdoor wall advertisement for Coca-Cola, painted in 1894.

Image from Brent Moore

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Noble Hill Rosenwald School

Noble Hill Rosenwald School

Noble Hill Rosenwald School (later Noble Hill-Wheeler Memorial Center), built in 1923, was the first standard school for Black children in the Bartow County school system. Today the restored building is a cultural heritage museum with emphasis on Black life in Bartow County from the early 1900s to the present.

Etowah Indian Mounds

Etowah Indian Mounds

Modern-day steps lead to the summit of one of the Indian mounds at the Etowah site.

Courtesy of Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia State Parks.

Main Gate at Robins Air Force Base, 1963

Main Gate at Robins Air Force Base, 1963

Known as the Georgia Air Depot in the beginning, the depot has undergone many name changes. During World War II it was redesignated seven times, acquiring "Warner Robins" in the fifth version of its name, when the town of Wellston was renamed to honor General Robins.

Courtesy of William P. Head, WR-ALC Office of History

Bibb County Courthouse

Bibb County Courthouse

Bibb County's fourth courthouse, completed in 1924, was remodeled in 1940 as a WPA project. It is an example of neoclassical revival architecture.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Downtown Macon

Downtown Macon

Macon is now a top tourist destination in the state of Georgia, due in part to its unique mix of historic and contemporary attractions.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.

Savannah Historic District

Savannah Historic District

The restored Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is in the heart of Savannah's historic district. In the almost fifty years since the Historic Savannah Foundation began reclaiming the city's historic downtown neighborhoods, historic preservation has increasingly been used in Georgia as the basis for community development.

Chatham County Courthouse

Chatham County Courthouse

The Chatham County courthouse, located in Savannah, was built in 1978. The six-story building is an example of modern architecture.

Photograph by OZinOH

Fort Pulaski National Monument

Fort Pulaski National Monument

The government designated Fort Pulaski a national monument in 1924. Nine years later it became a unit of the National Park Service, which continues to maintain it.

Image from Ron Cogswell

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Savannah Port

Savannah Port

One of the busiest ports in the United States, Savannah handles nearly 10 percent of total U.S. containerized cargo volume.

Photograph by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Savannah Cotton Exchange

Savannah Cotton Exchange

The Cotton Exchange, established in Savannah in 1872, did not get a permanent home until 1886. The building on Bay Street, known to Savannah residents at the time as "King Cotton's Palace," was designed to stand out from its neighboring buildings as a symbol of cotton's importance to the city's economy.

Image from Neal Wellons

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Savannah Skyline

Savannah Skyline

Savannah, the first city in Georgia settled by colonists in 1733, was also one of the first cities in the state to begin a historic preservation program.

Savannah City Market

Savannah City Market

The Savannah City Market, one of the social and commercial hubs of the city, is a popular place for tourists and locals alike, and dates to 1755.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Geoff L. Johnson.

Savannah River

Savannah River

The Savannah River ports of Savannah, Garden City, and Port Wentworth service ships from around the world, handling more than 2,000 different ships in 2002.

Image from Ron Cogswell

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St. Patrick’s Day Parade

St. Patrick’s Day Parade

A band plays during Savannah's annual St. Patrick's Day parade. Irish Americans continue to flock to Savannah for this celebration.

Image from Jefferson Davis

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Broxton Rocks Ecological Preserve

Broxton Rocks Ecological Preserve

Broxton Rocks Ecological Preserve, in Coffee County, is a unique sandstone outcrop that extends nearly four miles. The preserve is home to more than 500 species of plants native to the area, including rare and endangered species.

Photograph by Steve DeCresie

Coffee County Courthouse

Coffee County Courthouse

The Coffee County courthouse, located in Douglas, was built in 1940 and was designed by William J. J. Chase. The two-story brick structure is an example of stripped classical architecture. The courthouse underwent a renovation and expansion in 1991.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Douglas

Douglas

Douglas is located at the intersection of U.S. 441 and 221 and Georgia 32. The downtown area has been designated a historic district.

Photograph by J. Stephen Conn

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General Coffee State Park

General Coffee State Park

The four-acre lake at General Coffee State Park may be used for fishing or canoeing. Swimming in the lake is not permitted, as alligators may be present.

Image from Michael Rivera

Coffee County, 1930s

Coffee County, 1930s

A locomotive pulls passenger cars across a trestle near Nicholls in Coffee County, 1930s.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
cof043b.

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Handy Community, 1905

Handy Community, 1905

Farmers bring wagonloads of cotton to the cotton gin owned by W. L. Crowder. Handy community was located west of Newnan. There were also a cane mill, sawmill, gristmill, and wheelbarrow factory at this site.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
cow008.

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Coweta County Courthouse

Coweta County Courthouse

The Coweta County courthouse, located in Newnan, was built in 1904. The structure, designed by J. W. Golucke in the neoclassical revival style, was refurbished in 1975, and both its interior and exterior were rehabilitated in 1989-90.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Charlton Hines House, ca. 1880

Charlton Hines House, ca. 1880

One of the first homes built in Hinesville was the Charlton Hines House. Hinesville was named for Hines, who served as Liberty County's state senator in the early 1800s.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # lib059.

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Liberty County Courthouse

Liberty County Courthouse

The Liberty County Courthouse in Hinesville was built in 1926 and designed by J. J. Baldwin. It is an example of neoclassical revival architecture.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Samuel Dowse Bradwell

Samuel Dowse Bradwell

Samuel Dowse Bradwell, a Civil War veteran, opened Bradwell Institute in Hinesville in 1870. The school, founded as Hinesville Academy by Bradwell's father, James Sharpe Bradwell, had been closed during the war. Today the institute operates as a public high school.

Courtesy of Mark Howell

Dorchester Academy

Dorchester Academy

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Dorchester Academy, today an active community center and museum, was founded as a school for freedpeople. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. prepared for the 1963 Birmingham campaign, one of the first major victories of the civil rights movement, in this building.

Courtesy of Winston Walker

Covington

Covington

Covington is the seat of Newton County. The Second Empire-style courthouse, built in 1884, was designed by the architectural firm Bruce and Morgan.

Image from John Trainor

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Seney Hall at Emory University

Seney Hall at Emory University

Seney Hall at Emory University at Oxford, circa 1900-1910.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # new158-83.

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Central of Georgia Railway

Central of Georgia Railway

The Central of Georgia Railway arrives in Covington, Newton County, circa 1900.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #new259-83.

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Brick Store

Brick Store

In 1821 the center of Newton County's activity was a settlement called Winton at the Brick Store, a general store and stagecoach stop. The Brick Store still stands.

Image from Jimmy Emerson, DVM

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Newton County Courthouse

Newton County Courthouse

The Newton County Courthouse in Covington was built in 1884 on the site of the previous courthouse. The building was designed in the Second Empire style by Bruce and Morgan, the most successful architectural firm in Georgia of its time.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Yellow River Shoals

Yellow River Shoals

A young couple is pictured, circa 1915, on the Yellow River shoals in Newton County with the Porterdale Mill in the background.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # new236-83.

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Old Main, Andrew College

Old Main, Andrew College

The United Methodist-affiliated Andrew Female College, known later as Andrew College, was established in Cuthbert in 1854.

Historic Randolph County Courthouse

Historic Randolph County Courthouse

The Historic Randolph County Courthouse in Cuthbert, pictured under renovation in 2010, was built in 1886 and was designed by the architectural firm Kimball, Wheeler, and Parkins. The courthouse is an example of Queen Anne architecture. The building is now used as a county welcome center.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Waycross Depot

Waycross Depot

Local leaders named the city of Waycross after the many roads crossing here in 1874. The area was once known as Old Nine, or Number Nine, after the railroad station number.

Photograph by J. Stephen Conn 

Ware County Courthouse

Ware County Courthouse

The Ware County Courthouse, located in Waycross, was built in 1957 and designed by the firm William J. J. Chase and Associates. The Georgia marble structure is an example of modern architecture with elements of stripped classical.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Cypress Mill at Hebardville

Cypress Mill at Hebardville

The Cypress Mill at Hebardville, Ware County, circa 1910.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
war052.

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Okefenokee Swamp

Okefenokee Swamp

Several local farmers travel through the Okefenokee Swamp in Ware County, circa 1900. At more than 700 square miles, the Okefenokee is the largest swamp in North America.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
war012.

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Webster County Courthouse

Webster County Courthouse

The Webster County Courthouse, located in Preston, was built in 1915 and designed by T. F. Lockwood Sr. It is an example of neoclassical revival architecture.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

William Decker Johnson

William Decker Johnson

In the late 1920s William Decker Johnson, the bishop of five midwestern states in the African American Methodist Episcopal Church, founded the Johnson Home Industrial School as a private African American college, which later became a grammar and high school in Webster County.

From the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site

Logging, Worth County

Logging, Worth County

W.E.D. Whiddon (far left) and helpers in the process of logging in Worth County, 1926. Logs were pulled out of the woods by oxen and loaded onto trucks for the trip to the sawmills.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
wor004.

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Worth County Courthouse

Worth County Courthouse

The Worth County courthouse, located in Sylvester, was built in 1905 and was designed by J. W. Golucke. The neoclassical revival-style structure was substantially rebuilt after a 1982 fire.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Possom Poke

Possom Poke

Possom Poke in Poulan, Worth County, was the winter residence and hunting lodge of Michigan governor Chase S. Osborn, who was instrumental in organizing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO.

Photograph by Judson McCranie

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Piedmont Hotel

Piedmont Hotel

The Piedmont Hotel was located on Main Street a few blocks from the Southern Railway depot in Gainesville. Confederate General James Longstreet purchased the hotel after the Civil War, and he and his family operated it and lived there during the winter months.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
hal225.

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Lake Lanier

Lake Lanier

Lake Lanier, one of the largest reservoirs in the state, attracts 10 million visitors each year to the area.

Image from G. DAWSON

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Hall County Courthouse

Hall County Courthouse

The new Hall County courthouse, in Gainesville, was completed in 2002. The very first courthouse was a simple log building built soon after the county's founding in 1818.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Mall of Georgia

Mall of Georgia

The Mall of Georgia in Buford is the largest mall in the state.

Gwinnett County Courthouse

Gwinnett County Courthouse

The Gwinnett County courthouse, built in 1885 in Lawrenceville, is one of architect Edmund Lind's many important buildings in Georgia.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Lawrenceville City School

Lawrenceville City School

The city school in Lawrenceville, the seat of Gwinnett County, is pictured circa 1900. The school, thought to be the first public school in the town, was built in 1895 and burned in 1902.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
gwn250.

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Wynne-Russell House

Wynne-Russell House

The Wynne-Russell house, ca. 1826, is a good example of the Georgia farm homes of that era. Originally there were no interior dividing walls, each story being one large room broken only by the stairway. The house is owned by the city of Lilburn.

Image from Rheave, Wikimedia Commons

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Chattahoochee River

Chattahoochee River

The Chattahoochee River, as seen in Peachtree Corners, Georgia.

Image from Marcus Williams

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Carroll County Courthouse

Carroll County Courthouse

The Carroll County courthouse in Carrollton was built in 1928, in the Italian Renaissance revival style, after the previous courthouse burned.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Weighing Cotton, 1939-40

Weighing Cotton, 1939-40

Carroll County resident J. G. Richards Sr. (center) weighs a basket of cotton that has just been picked. Roosevelt Robinson is standing just behind Richards, along with other cotton pickers.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
car111.

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Banning Mill

Banning Mill

Banning Mill, initially known as Bowen's Mill, was founded along Snake Creek in Carroll County during the 1840s. Until its closure in 1971, Banning Mill was the oldest continuously operated mill in Georgia.

Photograph by Ed Schipul

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Southwire Headquarters

Southwire Headquarters

Roy Richards Sr. founded a wire and cable manufacturing business known as Southwire in Carrollton in 1950, and since then this privately owned company has been a mainstay of the local economy.

Photograph by Myron Wade House

Lake Seminole

Lake Seminole

Fishing on Lake Seminole is a popular activity in Seminole County. The lake was created in 1957 by damming the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.

Seminole County Courthouse

Seminole County Courthouse

The Seminole County Courthouse was built in 1922 in Donalsonville. The Beaux-Arts structure is the only courthouse in the county's history.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Seminole County Peanut Field

Seminole County Peanut Field

An unidentified woman gathers peanuts from a field in Seminole County, circa 1912.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
sem115-82.

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Olive Theatre

Olive Theatre

The renovated Olive Theatre is a historic site in Donalsonville, in Seminole County.

Courtesy of Donalsonville News

Pecan Orchard, Perry

Pecan Orchard, Perry

A pecan orchard in Perry, the seat of Houston County.

Fairgrounds Lake, Perry

Fairgrounds Lake, Perry

The clock tower serves as the focal point for the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter in Perry. Fairgoers enjoy a boat ride on the lake.

Courtesy of Georgia National Fairgrounds

Sonny Perdue

Sonny Perdue

Sonny Perdue, who served as Georgia's governor from 2003 to 2011, speaks at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education on the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens.

Houston County Courthouse

Houston County Courthouse

Because of the need for a larger and more modern facility, Houston County voters approved a special purpose local-option sales tax to fund construction of a new courthouse in Perry. Construction of the new courthouse began in 2000 and was completed in 2002.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Hartwell Dam

Hartwell Dam

Construction on Hartwell Dam began in 1955 and concluded in 1963. The dam diverts the Savannah River and some of its tributaries into Lake Hartwell, which, with nearly 1,000 miles of shoreline, is one of the largest man-made bodies of water east of the Mississippi River.

Photograph by U.S Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District

Hart County Courthouse

Hart County Courthouse

Many of the buildings and surrounding grounds, including the Hart County Courthouse, in downtown Hartwell were renovated as part of the city's streetscape project. Hartwell is a Georgia Mainstreet City.

Photograph by Amber Rhea

Nancy Hart and the Tories

Nancy Hart and the Tories

Nancy Hart's legendary confrontation with Tory intruders in her cabin earned her a reputation as a Revolutionary heroine and the distinction of being the only woman for whom a Georgia county is named.

Photograph from Wikimedia

Temple Mound

Temple Mound

The Temple Mound, part of Kolomoki Mounds State Historic Park, is one of the largest in the southeastern United States. The park is located in Blakely.

Image from Courtney McGough

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Early County Courthouse

Early County Courthouse

The Early County Courthouse, in Blakely, was built in 1904-05 in the neoclassical revival style. The courthouse was renovated in 1992-93.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Kolomoki Artifact

Kolomoki Artifact

A prehistoric artifact found at Kolomoki Mounds and on display in the museum at the Kolomoki Mounds State Historic Park.

Courtesy of Kolomoki Mounds State Historic Park

Confederate Monument

Confederate Monument

A Confederate monument, erected in 1909 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, stands in Blakely's courthouse square. This photograph of downtown Blakely, the seat of Early County, was taken in 1910.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
ear037-82.

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Brooks County Courthouse

Brooks County Courthouse

In 1859 the home of Thomas Folsom in Quitman was used as Brooks County's first courtroom. Later that year, work began on a permanent courthouse. The Civil War slowed the building's progress, and it was not finished until 1864. In 1892 the courthouse underwent extensive renovation.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Betty Sheffield Camellia

Betty Sheffield Camellia

Quitman, in Brooks County, is known as the Camellia City. Longtime resident Betty Sheffield developed a camellia variety that carries her name.

Circus Parade, Valdosta

Circus Parade, Valdosta

Circus wagons and animals participate in a parade along Patterson Street in Valdosta, October 29, 1899. The parade was part of the festivities associated with the Georgia State Fair, held in Valdosta.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
low048.

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Lowndes County Courthouse

Lowndes County Courthouse

The Lowndes County Courthouse (not the county's first) was completed in 1905. This structure is widely acknowledged as one of the most beautiful county courthouses in Georgia.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Strickland Cotton Mills

Strickland Cotton Mills

The mill superintendent and Frank Strickland are shown inspecting the operation of the quills at the Strickland Cotton Mills. The business was formed by B. Frank Strickland in 1899 and began operations in 1900.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #low118.

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Valdosta State University

Valdosta State University

Valdosta State University became the second regional university in the University System of Georgia in 1993. To accommodate the rapid expansion of the university's programs, a building boom began in the 1990s, with careful attention given to maintaining the Spanish Mission style established in existing campus buildings.

Courtesy of Valdosta State University

Grand Bay Wildlife Management Area

Grand Bay Wildlife Management Area

The Grand Bay Wildlife Management Area is Georgia's second-largest ecosystem, covering 18,000 acres in Lowndes County.

Photograph by Julius F. Ariail Jr.

Moody Air Force Base (Aerial View)

Moody Air Force Base (Aerial View)

Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta is home to the 23d Wing, which includes the 347th Rescue Group. More than 4,600 military and civilian personnel are assigned to the 12,000-acre base.

Courtesy of Beryl I. Diamond

Baxley First Methodist

Baxley First Methodist

Baxley First Methodist Church, located on U. S. Highway 1, was built in 1929 and is still in use.

Courtesy of Donald Dixon

Turpentine Farmers

Turpentine Farmers

Turpentine farmer workers chip the bark from pine trees in Savannah, Ga. Appling County, which was known as the turpentine capital of the world during the nineteenth century. After the bark was removed, sap drained into the "cut box," a large hole at the bottom of the tree. Workers then placed the sap into wagon barrels and delivered the barrels by mule and wagon to a turpentine still.

Image from Boston Public Library

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Appling County Courthouse

Appling County Courthouse

The neoclassical revival-style Appling County courthouse was built in Baxley, the county's second seat, in 1907-8.

Courtesy of Dan Bowman

Barnes Hotel

Barnes Hotel

The postcard picturing the Barnes Hotel in Baxley.  The hotel was built in the 1880s by Simon Barnes and remained in open until 1955.

Courtesy of Jerry Wiggins

Cherokee County Justice Center

Cherokee County Justice Center

The old Cherokee County Courthouse was used for court proceedings from the late 1920s until 1994. The structure, with an exterior of marble from Pickens County, is located in downtown Canton.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Rock Barn

Rock Barn

Built in 1906, the Rock Barn in Canton was one of only a few rock barns to be constructed in Georgia. The Rock Barn is made of rock quarried from the banks of the Etowah River and originally served as a race horse stable.

Image from Jimmy Emerson, DVM

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Old Cherokee County Courthouse

Old Cherokee County Courthouse

The old Cherokee County Courthouse was used for court proceedings from the late 1920s until 1994. The structure, with an exterior of marble from Pickens County, is located in downtown Canton.

Image from MrGeode13

Baptismal Pool

Baptismal Pool

The dressing room for baptismal candidates stands beside the baptismal pool of the Kiokee Baptist Church in Columbia County. The church, founded in 1772, is the first continuing Baptist church to be established in the state.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
clm008.

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Columbia County Courthouse

Columbia County Courthouse

The Columbia County Courthouse, built in Appling in 1856, was designed in the vernacular style with Greek revival and Italianate influences. The core of the structure is formed by an earlier courthouse constructed in 1812.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Old Columbia County Jail

Old Columbia County Jail

The historic Old Jail in the Columbia County seat of Appling has recently undergone renovation by the Columbia County Historical Society, which meets there monthly.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

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Historic Franklin County Courthouse

Historic Franklin County Courthouse

Carnesville residents gather outside the Franklin County Courthouse around 1900. The courthouse, now razed, was built in the early 1800s.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
fra190-82.

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Franklin County Courthouse

Franklin County Courthouse

The Franklin County Courthouse, in Carnesville, was built in 1906 in the neoclassical revival style. The county was named for Benjamin Franklin.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Cromer’s Mill Covered Bridge

Cromer’s Mill Covered Bridge

The Cromer's Mill covered bridge, shown circa 1975 in a state of disrepair, was built in 1907 by James M. Hunt. It spans Nails Creek and is located about eight miles south of Carnesville.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
fra001.

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Ty Cobb Museum

Ty Cobb Museum

The Ty Cobb Museum in Royston features, among other things, a uniform worn by the baseball legend.

Courtesy of the Ty Cobb Museum

Cromer’s Mill Covered Bridge

Cromer’s Mill Covered Bridge

Before the Civil War, the Cromer family operated a woolen mill near this site in Franklin County. In 1907 the 110-foot bridge was built in a "town lattice" design by James M. Hunt. The bridge was restored in 1999.

Image from Jimmy Emerson, DVM

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DeKalb County Courthouse

DeKalb County Courthouse

The DeKalb County Courthouse, designed in the modern style, was built in Decatur in 1967. Additions to the courthouse were approved in 1997 and 2001.

Photograph by John Trainor

View from Stone Mountain

View from Stone Mountain

View from atop Stone Mountain, in DeKalb County. Stone Mountain is the largest exposed mass of granite in the world.

Image from David Grant

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Dinosaur Exhibition at Fernbank

Dinosaur Exhibition at Fernbank

Replicas of the world's largest dinosaur and the world's largest carnivorous dinosaur are on display at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta. The Fernbank was the first museum in the world to install full-scale dinosaur skeleton replicas of this magnitude.

Image from Steve Harwood

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Madison County Government Complex

Madison County Government Complex

Madison County government officials moved from the old courthouse to this government complex in 1996.

Photograph by Darby Carl Sanders, New Georgia Encyclopedia

Watson Mill Bridge State Park

Watson Mill Bridge State Park

Watson Mill Bridge, in Watson Mill Bridge State Park, is the longest covered bridge in the state. Constructed in 1885, the bridge spans the South Fork of the Broad River.

Image from Jimmy Emerson, DVM

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Madison County Courthouse

Madison County Courthouse

The most recognizable site in Madison County, the Old Madison County Courthouse stands in the middle of the square in Danielsville. The brick structure was completed in 1901 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Mull

Mull

Mull from Bill's Barbecue in Madison County has the consistency of oatmeal. This regional stew is usually made with chicken, but any meat, including squirrel, rabbit, or dove, can be used.

Photograph by Melinda S. Mullikin, New Georgia Encyclopedia

Lemuel Penn Marker

Lemuel Penn Marker

A historical marker on Georgia Highway 172 in Madison County commemorates the murder of Lt. Col. Lemuel Penn by Ku Klux Klan members in 1964.

Berkeley Quarry

Berkeley Quarry

The Berkeley Quarry in Madison County, circa 1990. The quarry sits upon the Lexington-Oglesby Blue Granite Belt, which stretches from Elbert County to Oglethorpe and Madison counties. The Berkeley Quarry is one of many companies that contribute to the large granite industry centered in Elberton.

Courtesy of the Elberton Granite Association

Cobb County Courthouse

Cobb County Courthouse

This building, constructed in 2010, is the Cobb County courthouse and also houses the superior court.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

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C-130 Hercules

C-130 Hercules

More than 145 C-130 Hercules planes were used in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the early 1990s. During the war against terrorism in Afghanistan (2001- ), C-130s also played a key role, with the gunship AC-130 model used for close support of ground troops.

Image from Airwolfhound

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Six Flags Amusement Park

Six Flags Amusement Park

The Six Flags Over Georgia amusement park is a popular tourist attraction in Cobb County.

Image from GPA Photo Archive

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New Morgan Hotel

New Morgan Hotel

The New Morgan Hotel was one of the fine hotels operating during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The hotel was located on Hancock Street in Madison and burned during the early 1930s.

Courtesy of Adelaide Wallace Ponder

Morgan County Courthouse

Morgan County Courthouse

The Morgan County Courthouse is located in downtown Madison. The neoclassical revival structure was built in 1905.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Calvary Baptist Church, Morgan County

Calvary Baptist Church, Morgan County

Calvary Baptist Church in Morgan County was built by freedpeople. The church's foundation was laid in 1876.

Courtesy of Marshall Williams

Hay Rolls, Morgan County

Hay Rolls, Morgan County

Hay rolls for cattle feed at a dairy farm in Morgan County.

Courtesy of Marshall Williams

World War I Memorial Statue

World War I Memorial Statue

Spirit of the American Doughboy stands in front of the Morgan County Courthouse in Madison.

Courtesy of Marshall Williams

Fort McAllister

Fort McAllister

Fort McAllister, situated on the Ogeechee River in Bryan County, played a key role in the defense of Savannah from Union forces during the Civil War. The fort is pictured circa 1864, the year in which it was captured by Union general William T. Sherman's forces.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Bryan County Courthouse

Bryan County Courthouse

The Bryan County courthouse in Pembroke was built in 1938. Its architectural style is neoclassical revival.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Union Soldiers

Union Soldiers

Union general William T. Sherman's troops remove ammunition in wheelbarrows from Fort McAllister (Bryan County) in 1864, following their successful March to the Sea.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Selected Civil War photographs, 1861-1865, #LC-B8171-3503.

Turpentine Still

Turpentine Still

Cleaning turpentine cups in boiling water at a turpentine still near Pembroke.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection, #LC-USF34-043780-D.

Fort McAllister State Historic Park

Fort McAllister State Historic Park

Present-day view of Fort McAllister State Historic Park, in Bryan County.

Photograph by Wikimedia

Fort McAllister

Fort McAllister

A signal station on the Ogeechee River, at Fort McAllister. After General William T. Sherman's Union troops occupied Fort McAllister on December 13, 1864, personnel were ordered to dismantle the stronghold in preparation for Sherman's march northward.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Earthworks, Fort McAllister

Earthworks, Fort McAllister

Fort McAllister earthworks and abatis from the Civil War, ca. 1864.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Confederate Gun

Confederate Gun

A Confederate gun at Fort McAllister, ca. 1864.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Ben Fortson

Ben Fortson

Ben Fortson (left) oversees the inspection of machinery that automotive pioneer Henry Ford had installed in Bryan County in 1941. Fortson was serving in the state senate at this time.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
bry005.

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Wall Trench

Wall Trench

The outline of a wall trench was uncovered by archaeologists in 2000 at the Silk Hope Plantation, an eighteenth-century rice plantation in Bryan County. The markings in black show the locations of a wall trench and post features that form a slave dwelling, and the red outline shows the presence of pit features that were used for storage and other functions.

Courtesy of Brockington and Associates

Kings Bay Submarine

Kings Bay Submarine

The Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base has had a significant impact on the growth of Camden County. The base employs thousands of people.

Courtesy of Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay

Camden County Courthouse

Camden County Courthouse

The Camden County courthouse in Woodbine was built in 1928 and is the only Gothic revival courthouse in Georgia.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Oyster Roast, St. Marys

Oyster Roast, St. Marys

An oyster roast in St. Marys, pictured in the 1890s. Oyster roasts have long made for a popular, festive occasion during the fall and winter months along the Georgia coast.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # cam068.

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Orange Hall

Orange Hall

Orange Hall, in the historic district of St. Marys, was built in the Greek revival style in the 1820s.

Courtesy of John Kissinger

Fort Benning

Fort Benning

Fort Benning, home of the U.S. Army Infantry, comprises nearly 120,000 acres in Chattahoochee County.

Courtesy of Fort Benning

Chattahoochee County Jail

Chattahoochee County Jail

The historic Chattahoochee County jail was built in 1902.

Image from Rivers Langley; SaveRivers

Chattahoochee County Courthouse

Chattahoochee County Courthouse

The Chattahoochee County courthouse in Cusseta has served as the center of county government since 1974.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Muscogee County Courthouse, ca. 1900

Muscogee County Courthouse, ca. 1900

The Muscogee County Courthouse, built in the 1890s, is pictured in the early 1900s. The structure was the county's third courthouse, and it was demolished in the 1970s.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
mus106.

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Muscogee County Courthouse

Muscogee County Courthouse

The Muscogee County Courthouse in Columbus was constructed in the early 1970s, after the Columbus and Muscogee governments merged to form a consolidated government. Designed by Edward W. Neal, the building is an example of the New Formalist style of modern architecture.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Terrell County Chamber of Commerce

Terrell County Chamber of Commerce

The Terrell County Chamber of Commerce is located in the historic McDowell Building, which has been remodeled. The sign on the side of the building reads "R. E. McDowell & Co. Farming Implements."

Courtesy of Terrell County Chamber of Commerce and Terrell County Historic Preservation Society

Terrell County Courthouse

Terrell County Courthouse

The Terrell County Courthouse in Dawson was built in 1892. The High Victorian structure was designed by William Parkins.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Dawson

Dawson

Downtown Dawson has seen many community efforts to preserve its historic structures. The town was founded before the Civil War.

Courtesy of Terrell County Chamber of Commerce and Terrell County Historic Preservation Society

Ford Automobile

Ford Automobile

This 1907 photograph depicts employeees of the Clark Auto Company (later the Dawson Ford Motor Company) in Dawson. Attached to the cotton bales are signs advertising Ford.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
ctm042.

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Auchumpkee Covered Bridge

Auchumpkee Covered Bridge

The Auchumpkee Covered Bridge, located in the southeastern part of Upson County, is an exact replica of the 1892 bridge that was destroyed when floods swept through the state in 1994. Federal disaster relief money paid for premier covered-bridge craftsman Arnold M. Graton to reconstruct the bridge in much the same manner as it was first built in 1892.

Courtesy of Thomaston-Upson Archives

Upson County Courthouse

Upson County Courthouse

The Upson County Courthouse, in Thomaston, was built in 1908 in the neoclassical revival style.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Thomaston Peaches, ca. 1920

Thomaston Peaches, ca. 1920

Peaches all but vanished in Upson County with the onset of the Great Depression as laborers entered work in the mills rather than working in the orchards. Peach orchards were cut down in favor of the timber industry.

Courtesy of Thomaston-Upson Archives

Milton County Courthouse

Milton County Courthouse

The Milton County courthouse was the focal point of Alpharetta during the city's role as the seat of Milton County and even after Alpharetta's annexation into Fulton County in 1932. The building was constructed in the late 1800s and was demolished in 1955.

Courtesy of Caroline Matheny Dillman

Jefferson County Courthouse

Jefferson County Courthouse

The Jefferson County courthouse in Louisville was built in 1904 in the neoclassical revival style by architect W. F. Denny.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Water Tower

Water Tower

The water tower at Old Town Plantation is located approximately eight miles southeast of Louisville in Jefferson County. The plantation was established as a trading post around 1770 by Georgia Galphin, an Indian commissioner, on the site of an ancient Creek town.

Courtesy of Forrest Shropshire

Ambrose Wright

Ambrose Wright

Ambrose Wright, a native of Jefferson County, served as a general in the Confederate army during the Civil War. In 1866 he became part owner and editor of the Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel newspaper, which he used to protest radical Republican policies during Reconstruction.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

McIntosh County Courthouse

McIntosh County Courthouse

The McIntosh County courthouse is located in Darien. It was completed in 1872 and has survived two fires.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Shrimp Boat

Shrimp Boat

Commercial fishing has long been an economic mainstay of McIntosh County. In 1960 McIntosh County had one of the largest shrimp-boat fleets on the south Atlantic coast. Although the seafood industry has seen a decline because of shifting market forces, shrimping is still economically important to the county.

Image from Kevin

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Print Shop, New Echota Historic Site

Print Shop, New Echota Historic Site

The Cherokee Phoenix, a dual-language newspaper, was produced in a print shop similar to this reconstruction at the New Echota Historic Site.

Image from George Puvvada

Superior Court House, New Echota Historic Site

Superior Court House, New Echota Historic Site

The replica of the Superior Court House at the New Echota Historic Site in Calhoun, Georgia, which commemorates the former capital of the Cherokee Nation.

Image from Thomson200

Gordon County Courthouse

Gordon County Courthouse

The Gordon County Courthouse in Calhoun was constructed in 1961.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Gordon County Park

Gordon County Park

The city park next to the Calhoun-Gordon County Library.

Courtesy of Harold Rose

Council House, New Echota Historic Site

Council House, New Echota Historic Site

A replica of the Council House at the New Echota Historic Site, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973.

Image from J. Stephen Conn

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New Echota Monument

New Echota Monument

Located at Bonner's Spring near the former Cherokee Nation capital of New Echota, this monument was erected by the U.S. government in 1931. The site is northeast of Calhoun.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
gor218.

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Marion County Courthouse

Marion County Courthouse

The Marion County Courthouse in Buena Vista was built in 1850. The neoclassical entrance with columns was added to the structure in 1928.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Studio Building, Pasaquan

Studio Building, Pasaquan

The studio building of folk artist St. EOM (Eddie Owens Martin) is attached to the original family farmhouse. Every surface of St. EOM's estate, Pasaquan, in Marion County is covered by his art, inside and out.

Courtesy of Pasaquan Preservation Society, www.pasaquan.com

Lucius Q. C. Lamar

Lucius Q. C. Lamar

Lamar County was named for Putnam County native Lucius Q. C. Lamar, who was elected to the U.S. Senate from Mississippi in 1876 and later became secretary of the interior.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Buggy Days

Buggy Days

A fiddler performs at the annual Buggy Days Festival, held each September in Barnesville.

Courtesy of Barnesville Herald-Gazette

Lamar County Courthouse

Lamar County Courthouse

Lamar County's neoclassical courthouse was built in Barnesville in 1931. Previously, the local Masonic Hall was used for court sessions.

Photograph by John Trainor

Barnesville Expo Center

Barnesville Expo Center

A barrel race, held at the Barnesville Expo Center. The center is the first in the nation to combine wetlands with expo facilities.

Courtesy of Barnesville Herald-Gazette

Schley County Courthouse

Schley County Courthouse

The Schley County Courthouse was built in 1899 in the Romanesque revival style. Nearly a century later, the structure, located in Ellaville, underwent modern renovation.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

William Schley

William Schley

At the end of the 1820s, William Schley of Augusta constructed a cotton mill near his hometown, hoping to prove that the protective tariff subsidizing northern industry at the expense of southerners was unnecessary.

Lake Russell

Lake Russell

Sunset over Lake Russell, viewed from the Richard B. Russell Park.

Courtesy of Richard B. Russell State Park

Elbert County

Elbert County

The Elbert County Courthouse, in Elberton, was built in 1893 in the Romanesque revival style. The building's interior was extensively renovated in 1964.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Bobby Brown State Park

Bobby Brown State Park

Bobby Brown State Park is located at Clarks Hill Lake and marks the site where the town of Petersburg used to be, before it was covered by the lake in the 1950s.

Courtesy of Darby Carl Sanders, New Georgia Encyclopedia

Elbert County Ferry

Elbert County Ferry

A group of people with horse and buggy are being ferried across the Savannah River to South Carolina, ca. 1910-19, by Sanders's Ferry. J. D. Rucker is fifth from left and Grace C. Rucker is sixth from left. The man seated is operating the ferry.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # elb019.

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Russell Dam

Russell Dam

The Russell Dam was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to create Lake Russell, which forms part of Georgia's border with South Carolina.

Courtesy of Darby Carl Sanders, New Georgia Encyclopedia

Georgia Guidestones

Georgia Guidestones

The Georgia Guidestones formed a granite monument that stood on one of the highest hilltops in Elbert County. The monument's four supporting stones were each more than sixteen feet tall and bore ten guides dealing with government, population control, the environment, and spirituality.

Image from Kevin Trotman

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Welcome to Elbert County

Welcome to Elbert County

Following World War II, the granite industry in Elberton had reached its most productive and profitable stage.

Photograph by Jimmy Emerson, DVM

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Windsor Hotel

Windsor Hotel

G. L. Norrman's historic Windsor Hotel (1892) in Americus, Georgia, is an outstanding example of High Victorian or Queen Anne architecture.

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, both from Plains, discuss their experiences working together with Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center in a book they coauthored in 1987, Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life.

Courtesy of the Carter Center

Sumter County Courthouse

Sumter County Courthouse

The Sumter County courthouse in Americus was designed by Rosser International and completed in 2009. It incorporates traditional and modern architectural styles. 

Courtesy of Don Bowman