{"nrhp_refnum":"88002310","name":"Griffin Commercial Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Central Alley, Sixth, Taylor and Eighth Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Griffin","county":"Spalding County","state":"GA","lat":33.24921913250006,"lon":-84.2639577401282,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-11-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Landscape Architecture","Commerce","Transportation","Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic central business district in Griffin, Spalding County, Georgia, covering about eight blocks and 28 acres around Hill Street, laid out in 1840. It contains attached brick commercial buildings, government buildings, churches, and railroad-related warehouses.","why_significant":"The district is argued to be significant under Criteria A and C for its intact concentration of commercial, governmental, religious and industrial buildings. It also preserves the 1840 grid town plan tied to the railroad, 1890s landscaped street medians and hexagonal sidewalk pavers. It documents the commercial and transportation history of the city and county.","narrative":"Griffin's historic downtown spreads across roughly eight blocks centered on Hill and Solomon Streets, in a grid first surveyed in 1840 to serve the railroad. Most buildings are attached, one- to four-story brick storefronts with corbeled or pressed-metal cornices, arched windows and cast-iron columns, reflecting Italianate, Neoclassical and Art Deco influences. Larger landmarks include the 1892 Opera House/Odd Fellows Hall, the Griffin Hotel, and the five-story Professional Building of 1929. Government buildings include a 1910 former post office and a Colonial Revival city hall and fire station. Three black churches from about 1900 and brick warehouses along the tracks complete the mix. Landscaped medians added in 1895 and hexagonal sidewalk pavers give the streets a distinctive look. The district was listed for its association with the founding and commercial growth of the city's business center and for its intact collection of buildings, with a period of significance from 1840 to 1938.","period_of_significance":"1840-1938","architect_builder":"Haralson Bleckley; US Treasury Department Supervising Architect","architectural_style":"Italianate, Commercial Style, Classical Revival, Art Deco","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Development has continued to the present; many storefronts have been modernized, though most upper facades retain original detail. The Griffin Hotel is no longer used as a hotel.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:43.319059-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/88002310.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002310/c8c0c4dd78-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002310/c8c0c4dd78-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Michael Rivera","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Building_N_Hill_E_Solomon_St,_Griffin.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Michael Rivera</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:Building_N_Hill_E_Solomon_St,_Griffin.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93209451","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griffin_Commercial_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q49496383"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/spalding-county/griffin-commercial-historic-district-88002310/"}