Downtown Decatur Listed on National Register of Historic Places
Decatur Metro | June 2, 2012Amy forwards along this press release from Georgia’s State Preservation Office announcing that Decatur’s downtown has been accepted onto the National Register of Historic Places. The districts borders are “roughly bordered by N. McDonough Street on the west, East Howard Avenue on the south, Hillyer and Commerce streets on the east, and East Ponce de Leon Avenue on the north.”
The rest of the release provides a short synopsis of downtown Decatur’s historical significance…
The Decatur Downtown Historic District was listed in the National Register at the local level of significance because the commercial and residential buildings are representative of architectural styles and types built in Georgia cities from the end of the 19th century through the middle of the 20th century. Decatur has many good intact examples of commercial architecture that date from its period of greatest growth during the late 19th century into the 1960s. Many prominent Atlanta area architects designed buildings in Decatur including Bodin & Lamberson, Bothwell & Nash, Walker & Chase, Frances Daves, Edwards & Sayward, Pope Fuller, Ivey & Crook, Edmund Lind, Gottfried Norrman, and Pringle & Smith. Some of these architectural firms designed several buildings in Decatur.
Downtown Decatur retained its importance as a regional center of commerce from the late 19th to the middle of the 20th century. Typically the county seat filled this role, and provided for the day-to-day commercial needs of nearby residents, such as retail stores and offices and professional services. The district is significant for its development as a crossroads community with a railroad. The major road orientation, street grid pattern, and railroad line remain intact from the historic period. As the county seat, Decatur is also significant for the presence of buildings directly related to activities and events associated with government, such as the county courthouses and city hall.
The Decatur Downtown Historic District encompasses the concentration of historic commercial and residential areas in the core of the original land lot on which Decatur’s county-seat plan was established in 1823. The town was laid out in a grid pattern by James Diamond, surveyor. Diamond sited the courthouse on a rise with two streets leading into the center of the square. Named after naval hero Stephen Decatur, the arrival of the Georgia Railroad in the 1840s helped spur the growth of the city.
East and south of the courthouse square are one- and two-story brick commercial buildings, constructed between 1910 and the 1950s. The district is anchored by several important public buildings – the 1917 DeKalb County Courthouse, the 1935 former U.S. Post Office, the 1924 Pythagoras Lodge No. 41 of Free and Accepted Masons, the 1926 Decatur City Hall, several church buildings, and the 1892 depot built by the Georgia Railroad. Mid-20th century public buildings in the district include the DeKalb-Decatur Public Library, the Decatur Recreation Center, the fire station, and the Decatur Presbyterian Church, all constructed in the 1950s. The Decatur High School built in 1965, the Decatur First United Methodist Church (1956 and 1967), and the 1967 DeKalb County Courthouse were the last public buildings constructed in the historic period. The southeastern section of the district consists of houses, primarily dating from 1900 to 1928. The earliest house in the district is the 1830s Word-Williams-Evans House, known as the High House. Two apartment complexes, dating from the 1920s, are also located within the district.
The release also notes that…
“The National Register provides formal recognition of a property’s architectural, historical, or archaeological significance. It also identifies historic properties for planning purposes and insures that these properties will be considered in the planning of state or federally assisted projects. National Register listing encourages preservation of historic properties through public awareness, federal and state tax incentives, and grants. Listing in the National Register does not place obligations or restrictions on the use, treatment, transfer, or disposition of private property.”