Historic Churches of Canon Historic District

Three wood-framed churches stand within a two-acre area along Broad Street in the center of Canon, Georgia. Canon Baptist, built in 1896, is the oldest, with a projecting multi-sided tower and decorative cut shingles. Canon Universalist has a corner tower, Gothic-arched doors and stained-glass windows. Canon Methodist, established in 1905, has a central tower with a spire and pointed stained-glass windows, though vinyl siding now covers its original weatherboard. Together they represent plain, vernacular small-town church design of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and they are the largest and most imposing historic buildings in the town. Grouping three churches this way is relatively unusual in small Georgia towns. The district is also linked to the Universalist Herald, a religious weekly bought in 1896 by John M. Bowers and moved to Canon, where it is still produced monthly. The churches have served Canon and nearby rural communities since the turn of the century and continue to do so.