Lumpkin Commercial Historic District

Downtown Lumpkin, in Stewart County, Georgia, is organized around a courthouse square that serves as the center of both the town's gridiron plan and its commercial life. The district covers about ten acres and includes the buildings facing the square on the surrounding blocks. One- and two-story Victorian brick stores line the north and south sides, with tripart facades, corbelled parapets, cast iron columns and plate glass showcases; two have pressed metal fronts. Other landmarks include the Classical Revival courthouse, the Greek Revival Bedingfield Inn, a c. 1910 Victorian county jail and a 1912 filling station converted to a warehouse. Commerce has gathered here since the early 1830s, beginning with general and dry goods stores and later adding groceries, saloons, drugstores, hardware stores and millineries. Lumpkin has been the county seat for 157 years, and the original town plan remains virtually intact. The district was recognized for its architecture, commerce, planning, government and local history.