Social Circle Historic District

Social Circle's historic district takes in the older part of this Walton County, Georgia town, including both sides of Cherokee Road, Hightower Trail, Sycamore Street, the Georgia Railroad depot and the cotton mill with its worker housing. The town was incorporated in 1832 and grew along two early roads, then along the railroad completed through town in the 1840s. Few early structures survive because most were replaced or remodeled between 1880 and 1930, when the town was a market center with a fertilizer plant, banks, a cotton mill and many stores. The downtown has one- and two-story brick commercial buildings with Victorian detailing, cast iron pilasters and corbeled cornices. The depot was rebuilt after the Civil War and enlarged in 1913. The 1901 cotton mill, bought by Cannon Mills in 1915, remains in operation. Houses, churches and shaded streets add to the district's cohesive character.