![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Louisville%252C_Georgia_Commercial_Historic_District.jpg/640px-Louisville%252C_Georgia_Commercial_Historic_District.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Louisville Commercial Historic District
United States historic place / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Louisville Commercial Historic District, in Louisville, Georgia, is a historic district which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.[1]
Louisville Commercial Historic District | |
![]() Abbot and Stone Building, 2020 | |
Location | Area surrounding Broad St. between Peachtree and Screven Sts., including parts of Walnut, Mulberry and Green Sts., Louisville, Georgia |
---|---|
Coordinates | 32°59′58″N 82°24′35″W |
Area | 18 acres (7.3 ha) |
Built | 1794 |
Architect | Willis F. Denny, Louis A. Simon, others |
Architectural style | Romanesque, Early Commercial, Beaux Arts |
NRHP reference No. | 93001469[1] |
Added to NRHP | January 13, 1994 |
It includes 41 contributing buildings and a contributing structure in an 18 acres (7.3 ha) area surrounding Broad St. between Peachtree and Screven Sts., including parts of Walnut, Mulberry and Green Streets.[2]
It includes the Jefferson County Courthouse and the Old Market, which are separately listed on the National Register.[2]
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Jefferson_County_Courthouse_-_Louisville.jpg/640px-Jefferson_County_Courthouse_-_Louisville.jpg)
The town was laid out in 1794. It was named Louisville pursuant to 1786 plans of the Georgia Legislature for a new state capital. Louisville served as capital of the state of Georgia for 11 years, from 1796 to 1806; the capital then moved to Milledgeville.[2] Only one structure from that period is known to have survived. A statehouse building which was the capitol, was built; its site is now occupied by the Jefferson County Courthouse.[2] Architect Willis F. Denny designed the Beaux Arts courthouse which was completed in 1904. Denny also designed two adjacent two-story brick commercial structures on the southwest side of Broad Street between Mulberry and Green Streets. These have Victorian-era commercial detailing (see photo #11).[2]
The commercial area declined during the 1920s and 1930s from the economic effects of the boll weevil and the Great Depression. A New Deal program, the Federal Works Agency, however, built a new post office designed by Louis A. Simon. The post office gained, in 1941, a New Deal mural titled ""Plantation, Education, Transportation" painted by Hungary-born Abraham Harrison; by 1993 the mural had been removed to storage.[2]