Metter Downtown Historic District

Metter's downtown is a compact commercial and civic center in rural southeast Georgia, planned in 1899 on a uniform grid and shaped by the Central of Georgia Railroad, which ran its first train through in 1901. The tracks once split Broad Street in two; after their removal around 1950, a city park and landscaped parking took their place. Most buildings are attached one- and two-story brick storefronts with flat roofs and plain detailing, with occasional Victorian and classical touches. Notable buildings include the 1904 marble-faced bank, the 1916 Masonic building, the c.1930 Allied Building, the 1930 Art Deco Dixie Theater, the 1921 Neo-Classical Revival courthouse designed by James J. Baldwin, and the 1902 depot, moved in the 1950s. A 1960 International Style post office and two Baptist churches complete the district. It is significant as the commercial and governmental heart of Candler County, formed in 1914, and as a largely intact example of an early twentieth-century railroad town.