Royston Commercial Historic District

Royston's historic commercial center occupies about six acres between Church Street and the Southern Railroad tracks in Franklin County, Georgia. Its small lots hold mostly one- and two-story brick stores with party walls, along with a wood-framed depot, a lumber company building, and a concrete-block post office. Details such as corbeled cornices, brackets, sign plates and large display windows reflect modest late Victorian and early twentieth-century commercial design, produced by local builders who each gave their corbeled cornices a distinct signature. The Dorough Building, still largely intact inside and out, is a highlight. The town was laid out by W. A. Royston after he granted the railroad an easement in 1874, and it grew into a busy cotton marketing center. Building permits, a Board of Trade formed in 1913, and later zoning powers show early planning efforts. The depot and early automobile facilities recall its ties to the railroad and the Bankhead Highway.