Other Information: The 1854 law creating Clay County authorized the justices of the county's first inferior court to provide for erection of a courthouse and jail. However, for the next two decades, it is not clear if a courthouse was actually built or whether the county instead rented space. In 1869 and 1870, local grand juries recommended that a county courthouse be built, and in 1870, the General Assembly authorized Clay County to hold a referendum on borrowing money to build a courthouse (Ga. Laws 1870, p. 450). Voters agreed, and construction began in 1871. Completed in 1873, the Clay County courthouse is still in use today. resource - http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/courthouses/clayCH.htm |
Although the courthouse at Westville is about two decades older, Clay County's vernacular brick structure is equally remarkable because it still serves it's original purpose. Built between 1871 and 1873, less than a decade after the end of the Civil War, it is only the second courthouse in the county's history. (The first, a one-room structure built in 1854, was reused for a time as a schoolhouse before being converted into the kitchen of a local residence.) Here too, the name of the designer is unknown. We do know that he was influenced by the classical architecture of ancient Greece and Rome, because the building shows strong elements of that tradition with its two-story columned central portico, colossal corner pilasters, and low-pitched roof. Perhaps he drew inspiration from the Greek Revival style, an approach modeled on the temples of ancient Greece that was popular before the Civil War, especially in the South. The Greek Revival was considered to be an appropriate style for America in its youth because it, like Greece, was a democracy. The style did not survive the war, however, so it is unusual to see elements of it applied to a building constructed in the 1870s. |
Southwest Quarter Chattahoochee RegionalChamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 31
Cuthbert, Georgia 31740
(229) 732-2683 Directions
From U.S. 27 southbound in Clay County, turn right (west) onto Ga. 37 and go 12 miles to Fort Gaines. Turn right on Washington Street: The courthouse is on the right. resource: http://www.hwy27.com/clay.html |
