- Collection:
- Georgia County Courthouses
- Title:
- Gordon County Courthouse
- Creator:
- Seibert, David, 1941-2020
- Contributor to Resource:
- Cunningham & Forehand
- Date of Original:
- 1961
- Subject:
- Courthouses--Georgia--Gordon County
Courthouses--Georgia--Calhoun - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Gordon County, Calhoun, 34.50259, -84.95105
- Medium:
- photographs
- Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- image/jpeg
- Description:
- Seat Information: The act creating Gordon County provided that an election of county officers would be held on the first Monday in February 1851, after which the new justices of inferior court would be authorized to select a site for the county seat, purchase land, and contract for construction of county buildings. Until a courthouse could be built, the act provided that Gordon County elections and public business take place "at the court-house in the seventh district of the third section." By 1847, the Western & Atlantic Railroad had been built through the western portion of the area that would become Gordon County. In the late 1840s, a settlement developed on the railroad at a site near the Oostanaula River. Originally known as Dawsonville (named for the owner of an early general store), the town was renamed Calhoun following the death of U.S. Senator John C. Calhoun in 1850. Rather than designate the location of the county seat, Gordon County's inferior court called an election to let the voters choose between a site on the Western & Atlantic Railroad or a site more centrally located in the county. Voters chose a site on the railroad, so the inferior court designated Calhoun as county seat in 1851. The legislature incorporated Calhoun in an act approved on Jan. 12, 1852 (Ga. Laws 1851-52, p. 419).
Courthouse Details: Gordon County's first courthouse -- a two-story brick building -- was completed in 1852. This structure was destroyed by a severe storm in 1888. A new two-story brick courthouse with clock tower was built in 1889. This building served the county until 1961, when the present courthouse was completed. - External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/id:dlg_gacoch_gordon-county-courthouse
- Digital Object URL:
- http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/do:dlg_gacoch_gordon-county-courthouse
- Holding Institution:
- Digital Library of Georgia
- Rights:
-
