List of county courthouses in Georgia

The U.S. state of Georgia is divided into 159 counties, more than any other state except for Texas, which has 254 counties. In Georgia, county seats typically have a courthouse at a town square. Courthouses in Georgia have been replaced for a variety of reasons. Courthouses have typically been replaced over time due to natural wear on courthouses, being destroyed in the Civil War, or communities outgrowing their current courthouse. When county seats have been moved, a new courthouse was typically constructed. Courthouses in Georgia have also been destroyed by disasters including fire, tornadoes, war, and arson. The most recent county courthouse to suffer a disaster was the burning of Hancock County, Georgia's courthouse in August 2014.

History[edit]

The architectural style of courthouses in Georgia has varied over time and from region to region.

Antebellum[edit]

It was common for the first courthouse of a county on the frontier to be a log cabin type structure. Houses being repurposed for county courthouses was not an uncommon method for a county acquiring a courthouse. Courthouses often doubled as churches and schools before the 1900s. During Georgia's colonial period the area was subdivided into parishes. Some parishes did have the equivalent of county courthouses. No county courthouses in Georgia from the 1700s currently survive.[1]

By the mid-1800s it became common for courthouses to still be made of wood, but out of wood that had been processed into boards instead of unhewed logs. The Old Marion County Courthouse in Tazewell, Georgia and the Old Chattahoochee County Courthouse are only two surviving wooden courthouses in Georgia. Neither are currently in use as a courthouse. County seats of areas with larger populations often built courthouses made out of bricks before counties from more rural areas. Vernacular architecture was a common style. Greek Revival was another common pre-Civil War architectural style for county courthouses.[2]

American Civil War[edit]

During the American Civil War, twelve county courthouses were destroyed by Union troops. In June 1863, the courthouse of McIntosh County at Darien was destroyed by Union Troops along with most of the town. Dade County was destroyed in 1863 during the Chattanooga Campaign. Catoosa County's courthouse at Ringgold was saved from destruction by William Tecumseh Sherman when he learned it was also a Masonic lodge.[3]

The courthouses of Cherokee County, Clayton County, Cobb County, Polk County, and Whitfield County were destroyed in 1864 during the Atlanta Campaign. The courthouses of Bulloch, Butts, Screven County, Washington County, and Wilkinson County were destroyed during Sherman's March to the Sea in 1864.[4]

Bibb County Courthouse, Macon, Georgia circa 1876

Reconstruction to the 1920s[edit]

By the late 1800s, brick courthouses were more common than they had been earlier in the century. Many courthouses were being constructed in styles more elaborate than the typical vernacular architecture, which had previously been common. Neoclassical, Italianate, and Romanesque were the most common architectural styles of county courthouses during the late 1800s. High Victorian Gothic and Second Empire were also common.[5]

Works Progress Administration[edit]

During the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration assisted many county governments with building new courthouses and renovating older courthouses. Stripped Classicism and Colonial Revival were two of the more common styles during the 1930s.[6]

Post-World War II courthouses[edit]

After World War II, Neoclassical architecture had been surpassed by Modern architecture as the top style for new courthouses. When modern architecture was not used as the style of a new courthouse, it was often due to an attempt to replicate the appearance of a previous. By the 1980s, many counties began to replace their historic courthouses with judicial complexes. Most offices would be transferred to the new building, but some would remain in the old courthouses.[7]

Surviving original county courthouses[edit]

It is uncommon for counties to still have their original courthouse. The surviving county courthouses that were their county's first courthouse are:[8]

A county still having their previous county courthouse in existence is not uncommon. Many previous county courthouses have been repurposed as museums. It is rare for a county to have more than one previous county courthouse still in existence, or to have a courthouse still in existence other than the one immediately preceding their current one. The Old Bartow County Courthouse, 1869 Clayton County Courthouse, Floyd County Courthouse, and the Old Spalding County Courthouse are examples of such courthouses. The only surviving courthouse from a town that is not the current county seat is the Old Marion County Courthouse in Tazewell, Georgia.[9]

Oldest courthouses[edit]

The ten oldest of Georgia's county courthouses still in existence are:[10]

The ten oldest of Georgia's county courthouses currently in use as courthouses are:[11]

County courthouse listing[edit]