{"nrhp_refnum":"80001005","name":"Columbia County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"GA 47","address_restricted":false,"city":"Appling","county":"Columbia County","state":"GA","lat":33.54323398300005,"lon":-82.31580858999996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-09-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Economics","Law","Politics/Government","Architecture","Communications"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story painted brick county courthouse in Appling, Columbia County, Georgia, built in 1856 at a cost of $9,850 and attributed to John Trowbridge.","why_significant":"Appling is a very small community, and the courthouse is by far its most interesting building. It is one of about half a dozen courthouses from the 1850s still standing in Georgia. The nomination says its simplicity combined with sophistication make it a significant structure.","narrative":"Built in 1856 for $9,850, this two-story brick courthouse serves Appling, Columbia County, Georgia. John Trowbridge is named as architect or builder. The blocky building has flat arched windows and a cornice with Italianate brackets, and its brick is painted cream. Inside, pressed metal ceilings survive upstairs and down, and the small courtroom has a simple entablature with engaged columns framing the judges' bench. Hurricane bolts have been added to strengthen the structure. Appling is a very small community, and the courthouse is described as by far its most interesting building. It is one of roughly six courthouses from the 1850s still standing in Georgia, and its blend of simplicity and sophistication was cited as the basis for its importance. The building is in poor condition and was named in 1976 among the twenty worst-condition courthouses in the state. It is now too small for county needs, so only a few county offices remain inside.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"John Trowbridge","architectural_style":"Carpenter Style with Italianate features","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is marked poor; the 1976 Judicial Council of Georgia inventory listed it among the twenty worst-condition courthouses in the state. It is too small for county needs, and only the county commissioners, registrar and tax assessors' offices remain in it.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:40.904394-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/80001005.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001005/0e28f52f13-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001005/0e28f52f13-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"Stephen Sullivan Sr","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Columbia_County_Courthouse,_Appling.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Stephen Sullivan Sr</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Columbia_County_Courthouse,_Appling.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93205950","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_County_Courthouse_(Georgia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5149671"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/columbia-county/columbia-county-courthouse-80001005/"}