Location: Athens (no longer standing)

Date Built: 1875-76

Architectural Style:

Designer: L.H. Charbonnier

Other Information: After the legislature moved the county seat from Watkinsville to Athens in 1871, the Athens town hall on Market St. (now Washington St.) served as Clarke County courthouse. In 1874, the legislature authorized Clarke County to issue up to $50,000 in bonds to finance construction of a new courthouse -- if voters approved the action. The referendum passed and in 1875 work began on the new courthouse on a square block of land that the county had purchased on Prince Ave. (site of present-day Wendy's and Captain D's) near downtown Athens.

 

The new courthouse, completed in 1876, was used until 1914, when a new courthouse was completed on Washington St. in downtown Athens. Afterwards, the old courthouse was sold to the city of Athens. In 1914, wings were added to both sides of the courthouse, and the next year the building became the home of Athens High School. The old courthouse housed the high school until 1953, when the school moved to a new location off Milledge Ave. (the current home of Clarke Central High School). In the fall of 1953, the University of Georgia Demonstration School moved to the old courthouse for a three-year stay. In 1959, the old courthouse was torn down and replaced by commercial buildings.

 

The photograph of the old courthouse shown above appeared on a postcard printed in Germany for Wootten's Book Store in Athens. The postcard is in mint condition and carries no postmark or identifying marks to date it. Since construction of a new Clarke County courthouse began in 1913, the postcard probably was printed before that year. Also, federal law did not allow personal messages on the address side of a postcard until March 1907, and the reverse of this postcard has a printed message: "This side for the Address only." So, this photograph likely was taken before 1907.

 

Postcard courtesy of Gary Doster

 

© Carl Vinson Institute of Government, The University of Georgia

Go to Clarke County Courthouse page

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