Atlanta, GA – Six new listings were added to the Georgia Register of Historic Places, accentuating the state’s extensive variety of historic resources.

The listings were approved at the meeting of the Georgia National Register Review Board on May 9, 2025. This group evaluates state nominations for the National Register prior to their submission to the National Park Service as a National Register of Historic Places listing.

The new Georgia Register listings include:

  • Cross Roads School, Dixie, Brooks County
  • Downtown Albany Commercial Historic District, Albany, Dougherty County
  • Banning Mills Industrial Archaeological District, Whitesburg, Carroll County
  • New Ford Baptist Church and Cemetery, Danburg, Wilkes County
  • Railroad Street Historic District, Fayetteville, Fayette County
  • Thomson Commercial Historic District, Thomson, McDuffie County

Nomination to the National Register is integral to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs' (DCA) mission to build strong, vibrant communities. These nominations encompass a diverse range of history and resource types across the state.

The Historic Preservation Division hopes sharing this information will encourage more historic property preservation through public awareness, as well as foster appreciation of its impact on our social and economic lives.

More information on the newest listings is below:

Cross Roads School, Dixie, Brooks County

The Cross Roads School is a one-story, frame schoolhouse located in rural South Georgia, specifically Dixie, Brooks County. The school is listed for significance in the areas of education, and Black ethnic heritage and social history. The building represents early-20th-century efforts of Northern philanthropists, educators, and local communities to improve educational opportunities for African Americans across the South. Constructed in 1928, the school adheres to standardized plans for efficient new schools. Its construction was an unprecedented investment in educational facilities for African American children in rural Brooks County. The school is recognized for its architecture which embodies the Two Teacher Community Rosenwald School, a design illustrated in Community School Plans, Pamphlet #3 (1924). Despite its small size and deterioration, the school’s original form, massing, and plan are intact.

The nomination is sponsored by Cross Road Community Center, Inc, and nomination materials were prepared by Dr. Leroy Hunter, President of Cross Road Community Center, Inc.

 

Downtown Albany Commercial Historic District, Albany, Dougherty County

The Downtown Albany Commercial Historic District is comprised of contiguous historic resources that demonstrate its prominence as the historic economic center of the Southwest Georgia from 1885-1975.  Extant historic resources reflect Albany’s rise to prominence as Southwest Georgia’s largest city by showing how the city provided the day-to-day trade and commercial needs of the region. When the district’s prominence began to wane in the 1960s, city officials solicited and eventually implemented formal plans aimed at retaining the district’s appeal, also accommodating automobile parking. Execution of these plans would ultimately change the district and lead to the end of its primarily commercial nature by 1975.

The nomination is sponsored by the City of Albany, and nomination materials were prepared by Ray, Ellis, & LaBrie, LLC.

 

Banning Mills Industrial Archaeological District, Whitesburg, Carroll County

Banning Mills Industrial Archeological District is a mill complex occupying the ridges and valleys of Snake Creek Gorge in a historically rural area of Carroll County in west Georgia. Four main industrial mills, alongside several smaller grist mills, cotton gins, and sawmills, operated at Banning between 1847 and 1971, all of which took advantage of the creek’s tremendous waterpower. Banning Mills Industrial Archeological District is locally significant in the areas of non-Aboriginal archaeology, industry, invention, and engineering as a significant industrial complex situated on inhospitable terrain in rural west Georgia. During its operating years, the mills forged groundbreaking developments in paper production and yielded important information in the fields of industry and engineering.

The nomination is sponsored by Donna and Mike Holder, the owners of The Lodges at Banning Mills Retreat and Conservation Center. Nomination materials were prepared by Donna Holder, Doug Mabry, and Sarah Nadotti-Arms.

 

New Ford Baptist Church and Cemetery, Danburg, Wilkes County

New Ford Baptist Church is a one-story, double tower church constructed in 1832. The church and its cemetery are locally significant to Black ethnic heritage for the accomplishments of its historic Black congregation. The congregation, who were formerly enslaved, purchased the property from its original white owners. New Ford then functioned as a rural Georgia church that became an important social center for the Black community who worshipped and were buried at the property during the historic period. The church and the cemetery together represent a wide spectrum of Georgia Black history and the lifeways of the historic Black community in Danburg. The church and cemetery retain sufficient integrity to be clearly recognizable for its historic association with its Black congregation.

The nomination is sponsored by Edward and Kathryn Anderson who also prepared the nomination materials.

 

Railroad Street Historic District, Fayetteville, Fayette County

Fayetteville’s Railroad Street Historic District is less than a mile northeast of the Fayette County seat, straddling a portion of North Jeff Davis Drive. Originally known as Railroad Avenue, North Jeff Davis Drive was created in the late 1880s adjacent to the railroad that was installed in Fayetteville. The rail line was removed in 1939 and replaced with a grassy median. The district is locally significant due to its excellent collection of residential architecture types. Each of these architecture types represent typical styles built in Georgia cities from the end of the 19th century through the historic period. The district is important to the city of Fayetteville as one of its earliest residential areas – beginning in 1893 – and as one of the most intact and collection of houses in Fayette County. 

The nomination is sponsored by the City of Fayetteville and nomination materials were prepared by Nicole Gilbert.

 

Thomson Commercial Historic District, Thomson, McDuffie County (Boundary Increase, Boundary Decrease, Additional Documentation)

The Thomson Commercial Historic District is locally significant to community commerce, serving as the historic commercial center for McDuffie County, and adjacent rural counties. The district is also locally significant to community planning and development as increased dependence on the automobile in the mid-20th century influenced customer shopping habits and impacted the traditional town plan. The demolition of the old Knox Hotel on Main Street in 1955 made way for a planned shopping center, plentiful off-street parking, dedicated sidewalks, repurposed former rear entrances of earlier buildings, and an arcade as a unifying design element linking both existing and new construction. Elsewhere in the district, development accommodated automobile users. This included First National Bank (1963), and Bank of Thomson (1966) which offered drive-through banking services and dedicated parking. In 1971, the United States Post Office moved off Main Street into a newer building providing dedicated parking not only for customers but also for mail carriers utilizing motorized vehicles. District architecture is locally significant as well due to its characterization by excellent examples of eclectic architectural styles including Beaux Arts, Greek Revival, Colonial Revival Mission Revival, Art Deco, and Moderne. 

This nomination updates the original listing from 1989 to represent resources that have since become historically significant and account for changes to the district. It is sponsored by Forward McDuffie, and nomination materials were prepared by Ethos Preservation, LLC 

The Historic Preservation Division’s programs include environmental review, grants, historic resource surveys, tax incentives, the National Register of Historic Places, and community assistance. To learn more about the Historic Preservation Division and our many programs to build strong, vibrant communities, click here.