The Vernon Square–Columbus Square Historic District is a historic area on the eastern side of
Darien, Georgia
Darien () is a city in and the county seat of McIntosh County, Georgia, United States. It lies on Georgia's coast at the mouth of the Altamaha River, approximately south of Savannah, and is part of the Brunswick, Georgia metropolitan statist ...
. It encompasses two squares of the original 1805 city plan, although Vernon Square now contains a circular street. The plan was derived from
James Oglethorpe
Lieutenant-General James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 – 30 June 1785) was a British Army officer, Tory politician and colonial administrator best known for founding the Province of Georgia in British North America. As a social refo ...
's plan for
Savannah
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
. The area of Vernon and Columbus Wards was platted in 1805. The historic buildings in the area date back to the mid-19th and early 20th centuries. The houses are mostly modest wood-framed structures with weatherboard siding and wood detail.
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History
The area thrived as a center of the timber industry in the late 19th century. The area contains houses representing Darien's middle-class white and black families. Darien had an unusually large group of middle-class black families in the late 19th century.
McIntosh County frequently had a black representative to the state legislature from 1868 to 1907.
Contributing buildings
File:GA Darien Vernon-Columbus Square HD city hall01.jpg, Darien city hall
File:DarienMethChurch.jpg, Methodist Church
File:DarienAfricanBaptistChurch.jpg, First African Baptist Church
File:House at Adams and Rittenhouse, Darien, GA, US.jpg, House at Adams and Rittenhouse. One of the few houses not burned during the attack on Darien in 1863 by Union soldiers.
File:House at Franklin & Ft King George, Darien, GA, US.JPG, House at Franklin & Fort King George Road
File:GA Darien Vernon-Columbus Square HD01.jpg, House in the historic district
File:House on Ft. King George between Franklin & Rittenhouse, Darien, GA, US.jpg, House on Ft. King George Road between Franklin and Rittenhouse
File:St. Andrews Church, Darien, GA, US.jpg, St. Andrews Episcopal Church – the original building was one of the churches burned by the US Army in 1863.
See also
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St. Andrew's Episcopal Church - a contributing building
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West Darien Historic District
References
External links
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Georgian architecture in Georgia (U.S. state)
Victorian architecture in Georgia (U.S. state)
Buildings and structures completed in 1805
Geography of McIntosh County, Georgia
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state)
National Register of Historic Places in McIntosh County, Georgia
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