{"nrhp_refnum":"88002015","name":"Fairburn Commercial Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly along W. Broad St. and RR tracks between Smith and Dood Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fairburn","county":"Fulton County","state":"GA","lat":33.566753131500064,"lon":-84.58160329213698,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-10-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Commerce","Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A commercial and railroad historic district in downtown Fairburn, Fulton County, Georgia, covering about 12 acres. It holds two blocks of late 19th- and early 20th-century commercial buildings on West Broad Street, two 1917 railroad depots and three 1917 concrete overpass bridges.","why_significant":"The district is described as an unusually well-preserved central business district typical of a small Georgia city. It is significant for architecture, commerce, community planning (an unusual angled street pattern) and transportation, as a rail stop with passenger and freight service. It meets Criteria A and C and is significant at the local level.","narrative":"Downtown Fairburn, about 25 miles southwest of Atlanta, preserves a compact business center built around the railroad. The district covers roughly 12 acres and includes two angled blocks of one- to three-story commercial buildings along West Broad Street, a passenger depot and a freight depot, and three concrete railroad overpasses, all of the transportation structures dating from 1917. The storefronts use red and buff brick, stone, terra cotta and pressed metal, with cast-iron columns, transom windows and brick cornices. The Elder building of 1903 has a metal front marked by Mesker Bros. of St. Louis. Amateur architect Charles Lipham designed the Fairburn Banking Building and the Guy Hearn Ford Company. The district was recognized for architecture, commerce, transportation and its unusual angled street layout, which departs from the strict grid common in Georgia downtowns. Fairburn served as county seat of Campbell County from 1871 to 1932 and was known as a banking town because of its rail connection. The period of significance runs from 1869 to 1938.","period_of_significance":"1869-1938","architect_builder":"Charles Lipham","architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Italianate; Late 19th/20th century Revivals: Classical Revival; Late 19th/20th century American Movements: Commercial Style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Historic and current functions are both listed as commerce (department stores) and rail-related transportation. Only one noncontributing building exists in the district, a remodeled historic building.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:43.215-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/88002015.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002015/f397d955cd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002015/f397d955cd-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Ramsey Eden","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairburn_Broad_St._District.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Ramsey Eden</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:Fairburn_Broad_St._District.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93208164","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairburn_Commercial_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q49487939"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/fulton-county/fairburn-commercial-historic-district-88002015/"}