Fairview Historic District

Fairview is a residential neighborhood just west of downtown Valdosta, Georgia, covering about nine and a half acres around River Street. Most of its wood-frame houses date from 1880 to 1915, when Valdosta prospered as a major sea-island cotton market. Architect Stephen Fulghum designed many of the larger homes, including a Queen Anne house on Wells Street, and Lloyd Greer later added two Prairie-style residences. Smaller cottages, Georgian-plan houses and a bungalow fill out the streetscape, and remnants of an old pecan grove survive among the yards. The district was also known for its residents. Several served as mayor, and others were court clerks, councilmen, a postmaster, a banker, a druggist and newspaper and business leaders. The neighborhood escaped the urban renewal that destroyed nearby homes in the 1950s and 1960s. Restoration began in the late 1970s, and residents later secured historic zoning protection for the area. It was listed for its architecture and local history.