Downtown Athens Historic District

Downtown Athens occupies high ground on the west bank of the Oconee River's North Fork. Athens was founded in 1801 together with the University of Georgia, and the district takes in much of the town's first settled area, bounded by Lumpkin, Hancock, Foundry and Broad Streets. Broad Street, the town's main street, separates the university from the commercial blocks. Notable buildings include the Franklin House, a Greek Revival hotel of about 1845, and the Gothic-inspired Old National Bank Building of about 1866. A Richardsonian Romanesque building from about 1885 stands nearby on Broad Street. On Clayton Street, once a residential avenue and now a retail center, the Michael Brothers store of 1921 was designed by Neel Reid in the Renaissance Revival mode. Streets were once paved with vitrified brick, cobblestones and creosoted wood blocks. The district keeps much of its nineteenth and early twentieth century character. Some buildings were altered, while other owners restored theirs, and the city planted trees and shrubs along the streets.