The Brooks County Courthouse in

Quitman, Georgia Quitman is a city in and the county seat of Brooks County, Georgia, Brooks County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The population was 4,064 in 2020. The Quitman Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places ...

is the historic

county courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

Brooks County, Georgia Brooks County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia, on its southern border with Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,301. The county seat is Quitman. The county was created in 1858 from portions of Lowndes and T ...

. The building is an example of Renaissance Revival and Romanesque Revival architecture. It underwent extensive renovations in 1892. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1980.

History

The Brooks County Courthouse was built from 1859–64; it was designed by architect John Wind.Wilber W. Caldwell, ''The Courthouse and the Depot: The Architecture of Hope in an Age of Despair'', pp. 220-21. Because of shortages of material and labor, the courthouse was one of only two courthouses in Georgia built during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

; the other is the Banks County Courthouse in

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

. Because of the war, plans for the courthouse were substantially scaled back; a proposed

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

, roof

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

, ornate courtroom columns, and

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

s on the ends of the building were never built. The original courthouse resembles another Wind courthouse, the Thomas County Courthouse at Thomasville (1858), as well as Elam Alexander's Bibb County Courthouse (1829) in Macon; all three courthouses are in a brick

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

style. The county paid for the building with $14,985 in Confederate money, which soon became worthless.The Georgia courthouse manual, 1992 The building was remodeled in 1892, with Bruce & Morgan as architects, one of sixteen Georgia courthouses designed by the

firm A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

between 1882 and 1898. The remodeled courthouse is

Italian Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

, with elements of

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a architectural style, style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revivalism (architecture), revival style incorporates 11th- and 12th-century ...

in the massive twin arches at the main entrance and Queen Anne style in the fenestration.

References

External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) Romanesque Revival architecture in Georgia (U.S. state) Renaissance Revival architecture in Georgia (U.S. state) Government buildings completed in 1859 Buildings and structures in Brooks County, Georgia County courthouses in Georgia (U.S. state) National Register of Historic Places in Brooks County, Georgia 1859 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)