North Main Street Commercial Historic District

Eight attached brick buildings along the west side of North Main Street in Statesboro, facing the Bulloch County courthouse square, make up this small commercial district. Built between 1900 and 1905, the one- and two-story buildings share party walls and keep their original setback, scale and height. Their upper floors retain corbeled brickwork, pressed-metal cornices and round-arched windows with an Italianate flavor, although every storefront at street level has been modernized. The block was part of the first commercial section developed downtown, following the arrival of the railroad in 1889 and the prosperity of the Sea Island cotton trade. Early developers included J. A. Brannen, J. G. Blitch and J. W. Olliff, and local contractor L. R. Blackburn worked on the buildings. Businesses here have included jewelers, dry goods merchants, music stores and grocers, and the block still offers retail and office space. It was recognized for its role in local commerce and for being the most notable intact grouping of early commercial architecture in the city's downtown.