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GEORGIA HISTORIC SELF-GUIDED TOUR thomasvillega.com • 866.577.3600 HISTORIC SELF-GUIDED tour U Y O R V N I A S L I T P • • T A H Download at the G Enjoy walking or driving on our self-guided tour through Thomasville’s historic Install the O app store. M , A L E residential and business districts, where you will see a variety of architectural Visit Thomasville app, S V I L styles from Victorian to Antebellum. Many of Thomasville’s Historic buildings and let it guide you through several of and homes are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Most of the Thomasville’s historic neighborhoods. You homes on the tour are private residences and are not open to the public, but can select the historic locations you wish feel free to admire the outside structure. The tour length is approximately to see, and the app will map it out for 4.3 miles. We hope you enjoy your peek into Thomasville’s historical past! you. Download it today to see all that it can do! 1 225 N. BROAD STREET The original Thomas County Courthouse was built in 1827 of rough logs. After time this was replaced with a brick structure, which was badly damaged by a storm. The current courthouse was constructed in 1858 and remodeled in 1888. The architecture is Neoclassical in style, with scored stucco and curved, arched window hoods, huge cornices, capitals on pilasters with fanlight and gable decorations adorning the exterior. One monument of interest located on the courthouse square is the Confederate Monument, erected in 1879. Also located on the lawn of the Courthouse is the beautiful T.C. Mitchell Fountain which was originally on the grounds of the Mitchell House Hotel. One local tradition associated with this fountain is that every political candidate elected to office receives a congratulatory “dunk” in this historic fountain. A full restoration of the courthouse was completed in 2013. 1 1 866.577.3600 • THOMASVILLEGA.COM 2 210 N. BROAD STREET • HISTORIC SELF-GUIDED TOUR SELF-GUIDED HISTORIC First Baptist Church is the largest church in Thomasville, encompassing an entire city block. The Baptist religion is the second oldest in Thomas County, having been established in the 1840s, after the Methodists came on the scene in the 1830s. The original First Baptist Church was a frame building on Smith Avenue. It was moved to its present location at the corner of Jefferson St. and Broad St. in 1894. The structure burned in 1927 and was rebuilt to face the Courthouse. In May of 1982 that building was destroyed by fire. Fortunately, however, the huge oak tree in front of the church, known as the Harris Oak, was spared by the fire. Shortly after the turn of the century, there was a minister of the church named Rev. Robert H. Harris. 2 When the city entertained the idea of cutting this tree down for road improvements, the Reverend’s wife was determined to keep this from happening. Local folklore has it that Mrs. Harris actually took her rocking chair and placed it beneath the tree, where she sat with her shotgun across her lap! Whether or not this part of the tale is true, Mrs. Harris was instrumental in saving this wonderful tree. 3 135 N. BROAD STREET This building was constructed in 1915 and housed Thomasville’s Post Office until 1962, when it became the Public Library. The building was built in the Beaux Arts style featuring fanlights, pilasters and a cornice. Terra cotta panels around the building feature swags and flowers. The building is now home to offices for Flowers Foods, including their Heritage Museum. 3 4 125 N. BROAD STREET Originally known as the “Masonic Building” because of the use of its top floor by the Free Masons, this building was also known as the Upchurch Building and the Business Exchange. Constructed in 1916 by W. J. Upchurch, many doctors, dentists, and lawyers had offices in this building. In the early 60s, the upper floors were vacated and neglected, and fell into ruin. The property was eventually purchased and restored, and the fifth floor was returned to its original splendor as a magnificent ballroom with a heart of pine floor and windows overlooking downtown. 4 5 101 N. BROAD STREET A showpiece of Thomasville’s Grand Hotel Era once occupied this spot. Known as the Mitchell House, the hotel and grounds extended from Jackson Street to Jefferson Street and catered to the elite of society with 5 lavish parties and dances. It provided luxury lodging during the late 1800s for wealthy northern visitors, including the Vanderbilt and Goodrich families. The hotel even boasted two entrances, so that polite ladies didn’t have to upset themselves by walking past the saloon to enter. Later, the bottom floor was home to Neel’s Department store in the mid 1900’s, and was home to the first Rose Show in 1922. Today, the Mitchell House Hotel has been restored into upscale condominiums and lofts. Much of the original hotel remains, including the interior brick walls, staircases and hardwood floors. 5 VISITTHOMASVILLE THOMASVILLEGA THOMASVILLE HISTORIC SELF-GUIDED TOUR 2 THE BOTTOM DISTRICT The Bottom District, also known as “The Bottom”, originated as an African-American and Jewish business district in the latter part of the 19th century. By the late 1920s, the area was nearly completely developed with small restaurants, retail shops, groceries and pro fessional services. In the late 1960s, there was a period of decline to both the Bottom and downtown areas in general, but by the early 1980s a slow but steady effort began to re-invigorate and restore Thomasville’s downtown. Locations on this page are part of the original Bottom District. 6 204 W. JACKSON STREET This store was built c.1890 as a saloon, but after Thomas County went dry in 1899, a short-lived general store and drug store occupied this property. In 1911, George Letchas, an immigrant from Greece, opened The Greek-American Restaurant in this building. After closing in 1965, the location has since been home to a series of clothing stores and other small businesses. Now this building is the office of E & N Communications. 6 7 212 W. JACKSON STREET This location was built in 1910 as a bicycle shop. Due to the odor of being next door to a horse stable, a quick succession of businesses occupied the building during its first ten years, including a shoe repairman and a pool hall. The first long-term tenant was the Empire Furniture Store from 1921-1938. It then became a warehouse for ten years, and then three different radio-and-television repair service businesses, most notably Willis Television and Radio Service until 1970, after which it returned to functioning as a warehouse. This building was recently renovated and became the home of Big Adventure Outfitters. 7 8 220 W. JACKSON STREET This building was constructed around 1935. By 1938, Fielding’s Barber and Beauty Shop operated in the store front. In 1944, the building was purchased by Earl Young who opened a motorcycle sales and repair shop. Young’s Southern Motors only lasted a few years and was replaced by Hoyt’s Bicycle Shop, which was quickly replaced by Yarborough’s Service Cleaners. They operated until 1984 when the business and building were sold to the Waldrep family who have since operated Waldrep’s Service Cleaners. 8 9 420 W. JACKSON STREET The first train depot, built in 1861, was a simple wood structure designed to load bales of cotton onto trains. The second, built in 1885, was a more elegant structure designed for the comfort of passengers. Dilapidated by 1914, the current structure was built to increase capacity and passenger comfort. When passenger train service halted in the 1950s, the depot became dedicated to cargo service. After the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company sold the depot, a number of restaurants, offices, and retail stores have occupied the restored structure. A local favorite restaurant, Sweet and Savory 9 Sisters (SASS), has made the depot home since 2015. 10 325 W. JACKSON STREET Built in 1912 as a garage by Hiram Goldstein, this building housed a dry-goods store, a drink shop, and Elijah Hill’s Lunch Counter through the mid-1940s. The longest-standing business was Tony’s Bakery, which operated from 1948-1972. After an extended period as a warehouse for Jordan’s Furniture, the location was an antique store and clothing shop before being beautifully restored as Trinity Anglican Church. 10 3 866.577.3600866.577.3600 •• THOMASVILLEGA.COMTHOMASVILLEGA.COM THE BOTTOM DISTRICT ( CONTINUED) • HISTORIC SELF-GUIDED TOUR SELF-GUIDED HISTORIC 11 227 W. JACKSON STREET This location was part of a strip of stores built in 1925 to replace a defunct livery stable, made obsolete by the quick adaption of automobiles. The location had several different owners during its early years. In the 1930s #225, 227 and 229 were combined into a single store. From 1966-1976, it became the Super Dollar Store. At some point during the 1980s, the location was again subdivided and 229 mostly remained vacant until it was purchased and the owner restored all three buildings. In 2018 the building became Hubs & Hops, a bike shop 11 and pub. 12 223 W. JACKSON STREET Swiss immigrant Otto Zbinden, a general contractor and furniture repair craftsman, had this store built in 1915 to use as an office and workshop. In 1942, the store was purchased by Henry Fox, a Jewish man who escaped Nazi Germany. When Fox donated goods to Thomasville’s adopted German city of Luneberg after World War II, the Mayor of Luneberg sent a letter to Fox apologizing for the Holocaust.

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