United States, Georgia, Hancock County, Sparta, 33.2757, -82.97626United States, Georgia, Washington County, 32.96954, -82.7959Linley, John1960/1980Located at: Broad and Spring Streets, Sparta, Ga.Two story brick building with attic, featuring a forward facing gable with arched ventilator and six tall chimneys. Brackets along the roof follow the Italianate style, and a mock colonade in brickwork decorates the facade. Window cornices are of local granite. A meeting room on the second floor was designed to house the Masons and still serves that purpose. George W. Watkins, the builder, was one of the builders of the Montour Mill in 1852, and the Watkins-Frawley Building displays the same massive brickwork as that of the four-story mill. An enthusiastic builder and promoter, Watkins was among those who chartered the Hancock Steamboat Company in 1850. The Watkins-Frawley Building has served many capacities including bank, funeral home, and post office. In 1903, its second floor housed the town library. For many years the telephone exchange was on the second floor, giving the operator a full view of Broad Street. In the early 1900s, H. K. White ran a dry goods store there. H. I. Orgain's funeral home and furniture store occupied the other ground level store. Upstairs tenants in the 1930s were dentists and physicians, including Dr. E. H. Hutchings. Government agricultural agencies were also housed there. Once a center hall divided the main floor into two separate storefronts, each perfectly balanced, but now a single store spans the facade. For more information see Rozier, John. The Houses of Hancock: 1785-1865. Decatur, Ga.:Auldfarran Books, c1996, pp. 59-60.Date of structure: 1850.image/jpegForms part of: John Linley Collectionhttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ItalianateBrickBanks (buildings)Financial institutionsCommercial buildingsStores, RetailStoresMercantile buildingsArchitecture--Georgia--SpartaArchitecture--Georgia--Washington CountyWatkins, George W.--Homes and hauntsWatkins-Fraley building (Sparta, Ga.)StillImage