{"nrhp_refnum":"80001115","name":"Marion County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Courthouse Sq.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Buena Vista","county":"Marion County","state":"GA","lat":32.318391244000054,"lon":-84.51750872599996,"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 hipped-roof brick county courthouse on Courthouse Square in Buena Vista, Marion County, Georgia, built in 1849-50 and remodeled in 1928.","why_significant":"Marion County is the only county in Georgia with two courthouses over one hundred years old; the other is at Tazewell, about five miles away. This courthouse, on the square in the center of town, is described as an architectural and economic focal point.","narrative":"Courthouse Square in Buena Vista, Georgia, is anchored by the third Marion County Courthouse, a two-story brick building erected in 1849-50 by contractor Enock Williams. The architect is unknown. It began as a plain, almost square, cross-planned building under a hipped roof. In 1928 architects T. W. and E. A. Smith of Columbus remodeled it, adding a Corinthian tetrastyle facade, a rear annex and a domed clock tower. The tower rises in three stages with pilasters flanking the clocks, and an eagle weather vane echoes the gold-colored eagle in the facade pediment. Side entrances are one-story di-style porches with entablature and pediment. Its significance rests partly on rarity: Marion County is the only county in Georgia with two courthouses more than a century old, the other being at Tazewell, about five miles away. The Buena Vista building sits on a square in the center of town and serves as both an architectural and an economic focal point.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect unknown; contractor Enock Williams (1849-50). 1928 remodeling by architects T. W. and E. A. Smith of Columbus, with W. C. Fulford of Columbus as contractor.","architectural_style":"Carpenter Style with Neo-Classical Facade","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is marked good. The form notes 1965 improvements.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:40.99412-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/80001115.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001115/a6a08ac4c3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001115/a6a08ac4c3-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Rivers Langley; SaveRivers","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marion_County_Courthouse_(NRHP)_Buena_Vista,_GA.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Rivers Langley; SaveRivers</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:Marion_County_Courthouse_(NRHP)_Buena_Vista,_GA.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93206366","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_County_Courthouse_(Georgia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16894659"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/marion-county/marion-county-courthouse-80001115/"}