The Courthouses

Welcome to southwest Georgia!

As a recent resident of southwest Georgia, it is a beautiful place to live. It is still pretty much an agricultural region. Peanuts, corn, cotton, tomatoes and even carrots are grown around our area. It is not unusual to be driving on the road on your way somewhere and have to pull off the road for farm equipment.

There is also a lot of hunting and fishing that goes on around here. So, in the middle of December sometimes we will wake up in the morning to repeated gun fire. The duck hunters were up before the crack of dawn finding their place to hunt. We also enjoy the treat of having deer, turkey, fox, quail and other wildlife crossing our property.

It is a wonderful place to live.

Most of the small towns in our area grew up around a town square. On these town squares you will usually find the County Courthouse. In most of the courthouse grounds there are some things you will see for certain. One of these is a clock which may be on the building or on a monument. Another is monuments to soldiers, to all of our men who fought in all wars. There are other monuments, i.e., to the person for whom the county is named, to the peanut which is a staple in the economy. Mitchell County also has a water pump (see in these pictures) that represents an artesian well that was located on this site. Fountains are another item found on the grounds of several courthouses.

Two other things I found on most squares were Magnolia Trees and Oak Trees. Some of the ones I found were exceptional examples of both.

There are a few exceptions, in Baker County (you will see the old and the new courthouses pictured here), the old courthouse flooded several times. Back in the early 1900s it flooded so much that you could take a boat through the second floor, going in one window and out another. Then again in the late 1900s it flooded again and covered the first floor. Thus, the decision was made to move the courthouse business to a better location. As I took pictures of the new one, a lady walked by and told me to be sure to photograph the old one.

Of particular interest to me was finding out when I moved to Decatur that I am related to some of the founding fathers. An ancestor of mine was a surveyor who helped to map out the county.

In Grady County, their courthouse burned in the 1980s. They rebuilt their courthouse and stayed with similar architecture to what you will see in the older courthouses around the area. Miller County’s courthouse is their fourth building. It is of a newer architecture yet still situated on the town square. Mitchell County’s Courthouse is built of Georgia white marble and was built in 1936. I mentioned earlier my ancestral tie to Decatur, my husband’s father was a county commissioner in Mitchell for a number of years and it is my husband’s home place.

Seminole County was named after the Seminole Indians who once lived in the area. On the front of the courthouse are medallions with images of a female and male Seminole Indian. I have included in Thomas County Courthouse the fountain and clock which, as mentioned above, can be found on many squares.

A short time back an acquaintance moved up here from South Florida. The first Christmas she was in southwest Georgia she was thrilled by the Christmas Celebrations around the square. Musical groups from the churches throughout the area sang. Christmas parades were held. Santa Clause frequently rode on a fire truck from a local fire station. Different churches and other organizations had food for sale as well as there being many handmade crafts. The main thing she enjoyed was the visiting with the neighbors; every one just enjoying life.

This is what centers around the courthouses in many small towns.