02/20/09

Photo Gallery: Gilmer County Courthouse

From www.georgiatrust.org:
After decades of deferred maintenance and neglect, the Gilmer County Courthouse was condemned in 2003. The county commission proposed demolition. While extensive repairs are required, the expensive methodology chosen is unnecessary and experts believe its rehabilitation is feasible. The decision was left up to the citizens of Gilmer County, who voted via a November 7, 2006 referendum to demolish and replace the historic building with new construction.

Marker text:
Gilmer County was created by Act of Dec. 3, 1832, out of Cherokee. Originally, it contained parts of Fannin, Dawson and Pickens Counties. The county was named for George Rockingham Gilmer (1790-1859), who served with distinction as a soldier, lawyer, legislator, Congressman and twice as Governor of Georgia, 1829-1831 and 1837-1839. First officers, commissioned March 9, 1833, were: Levi A. Hufsteller, Sheriff; Thomas M. Burnett, Clerk Superior Court; Henry K. Quillian, Clerk Inferior Court. Officers commissioned July 10, 1833 were Thomas Gutterry, Coroner, and Benjamin M. Griffith, Surveyor.

061-4 Georgia Historical Commission 1956

About the courthouse (from www.threatenedsites.org):

By the late 1890s, tourism was a growing industry in North Georgia. Throughout the year, countless tourists filled the trains coming from both northern and southern directions into Ellijay. The tourists came to enjoy the fresh air, spring waters, and the overall beautiful mountain scenery. There soon became a tremendous need for hotel space due to the enormous boost in tourism. In response to these community needs, Gilmer County entrepreneur D. M. Hyatt broke ground for a forty-two room hotel on downtown Ellijay's main square in 1897. The structure was built by D. J. Davenport at a cost of $10,000 and opened for business on June 23, 1898. The hotel was designed in the Georgian style of architecture and featured a two story wrap-around porch. During the years that the structure served as a hotel, there were also other businesses in the building as well. There was a barber shop, restaurant, shoeshine store, a clothier's pressing business and a meat market. Acetylene lighting was first used in the building prior to the integration of the electricity installation in 1919. The Hyatt family owned the hotel for eight years until 1906, when they sold their interest to C.B. Kelly. Years later in 1918, Pearl Pickett purchased the hotel and was the final private owner of the building.2 The hotel was a great success for over twenty years and was also one of the main locales for social functions in Gilmer County. By 1934, a gradual decline in tourism led to the hotel being put up for sale.3

Also in 1934 the Gilmer County courthouse that was built approximately eighty years prior, was in such disrepair that it was deemed beyond salvageable. The county decided to purchase the Hyatt Hotel from Mrs. Pickett and convert it into a new courthouse. The county purchased the structure for a sum of $9,600 and a Works Progress Administration (WPA) crew renovated the building for use as a courthouse.4 One major exterior change to the building during its renovation was the removal of the porches and the addition of the Corinthian style fluted columns. The final exterior style of the renovated building was Neo-Classical and few modifications have been added since 1934.5

The structure has faithfully served as Gilmer County's courthouse since 1934 and is the only courthouse in the state of Georgia that was adapted from a prior use to serve as a local courthouse.6 However in March of 2003, the Fire Marshall of Ellijay condemned the building after finding over one hundred and seventy safety and fire code violations. The upper story of the building was closed on March 27, 2003 and the county was forced to find alternative facilities for courts and county offices.7 The lower floor of the building is still in use by the county, but the structure remains condemned and a referendum vote is scheduled in November of 2006 to determine the fate of the building.