East Main Street Commercial Historic District

East Main Street in Statesboro, Georgia, between Siebald and Oak Streets, holds sixteen brick commercial buildings, most of them one story and built in the early 20th century. They sit flush with the sidewalk and have corbeled brick or pressed-metal cornices, recessed doorways and display windows. Two buildings show Italianate influence in round-arched upper windows. The street developed between the county courthouse and the railroad after the railroad arrived in 1889, and it grew as Sea Island cotton trade brought prosperity to the town. Two buildings stand out: the three-story Bank of Statesboro, completed in 1911 with Ionic columns and Corinthian pilasters, and the 1936 Georgia Theatre, an Art Moderne building with a concrete facade over a steel frame, the first of its kind in the town. The district is recognized as the largest group of intact historic commercial buildings downtown and for its role in local commerce, and it still serves retail and service needs.