{"nrhp_refnum":"71001016","name":"Old DeKalb County Courthouse","other_names":["Civic Center"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Court Sq.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Decatur","county":"DeKalb County","state":"GA","lat":33.775017140000045,"lon":-84.29664260399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-08-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A granite Beaux Arts neo-classical county courthouse on Court Square in the center of Decatur, Georgia. The present building dates from an 1898-1900 structure that Atlanta architects Walker and Chase rebuilt and enlarged in 1917-1918.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a notable example of Beaux Arts neo-classicism and significant in architecture and urban planning. The square has been the site of DeKalb's courthouses since 1823 and was the center of town and county life. It also holds Civil War associations, including fighting on July 22, 1864 and a monument erected in 1906.","narrative":"Standing on the town square in Decatur, Georgia, the old DeKalb County Courthouse is a granite building in the Beaux Arts neo-classical style. Its present form dates to 1917-1918, when Atlanta architects Walker and Chase used the ruined shell of a courthouse begun in 1898 as the base for a larger design after a 1916 fire. They added east and west wings and pedimented Corinthian porticoes on the north and south. The exterior is cut Stone Mountain granite, the roof is terra cotta tile, and the interior stairways are Alabama marble. Courthouses have occupied the square since about 1823, and the site also saw Civil War fighting on July 22, 1864, remembered by a 1906 monument. When a larger county building was built nearby, some people argued for demolishing the old courthouse, while others valued it as a landmark. It was cleaned in 1968 and now serves as a civic center with county offices, a historical society and meeting space.","period_of_significance":"1898-1900; 1917-1918","architect_builder":"Walker and Chase, Atlanta architects","architectural_style":"Beaux Arts neo-classicism","criteria":[],"status_note":"Now used as a civic center housing county parks and recreation offices, the DeKalb Historical Society and other groups; exterior described as excellent and cleaned in 1968.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:41.293451-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/71001016.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71001016/858dbce167-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71001016/858dbce167-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"strixxvaria","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_DeKalb_County_Courthouse_Front.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">strixxvaria</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_DeKalb_County_Courthouse_Front.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"12000281","name":"Decatur Downtown Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/georgia/decatur-downtown-historic-district-12000281/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93207793","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q134296241"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/dekalb-county/old-dekalb-county-courthouse-71001016/"}