Comer Historic District

Comer, in Madison County, Georgia, grew up around the Georgia, Northern and Carolina Railroad, and its historic core is laid out in a cross-rail plan where Main Street meets the tracks. The district includes one- to three-story brick commercial buildings, some with cast-iron or pressed-metal fronts, a marble-veneered 1900 bank, and warehouses that once held cotton and other farm products. Surrounding streets hold houses in Queen Anne, Folk Victorian, Italianate, Craftsman and Colonial Revival styles, along with an unusually intact c.1870 single-pen cottage at 205 Madison Street. Churches, a woman's club, a 1930s high school, a 1938 WPA gymnasium and the town cemetery complete the community landmarks. Comer was incorporated in 1893, and its plan was drawn by engineer A.W. Jones. Cotton shipped by rail supported its commerce from the late nineteenth century into the early twentieth. The district was recognized for its architecture, commerce, town planning and transportation history, with a period of significance from 1870 to 1945.