Ashburn Commercial Historic District

Ashburn's historic downtown is a small-town business district in Turner County, Georgia, laid out along the railroad tracks. The district covers about 16 acres and includes brick storefronts, two early banks, a gas station, warehouses, the county courthouse, the county jail and a 1939 post office. Across the tracks are a peanut oil mill warehouse, waterworks structures and the city's first jail. The railroad reached Ashburn in 1888, and a railroad survey in 1889 set out the rectangular block pattern; architect Peter E. Dennis enlarged the town plan in 1898. The buildings show styles such as Victorian Commercial, Stripped Classical, Neoclassical Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival, with details including brick corbeling, cast-iron columns, transom windows and wooden awnings with brackets. The district was listed for its intact architecture and for its role in the town's commerce, industry, transportation and government between 1889 and 1942. Its stores continue to serve the community.