Tifton Commercial Historic District

Downtown Tifton's commercial core, covering about 35 acres across portions of ten blocks, reflects the town's growth around two crossing railroads. Henry Harding Tift bought timberland in 1872 and started a sawmill, and a second railroad arrived in 1888. Tifton was incorporated in 1890 and became county seat in 1905. Most buildings are brick, one to three stories, dating from the 1890s to the late 1930s, with a near halt in construction between 1925 and 1935. Victorian Eclectic and Early 20th Century Commercial styles dominate. Landmarks include the 1906 Myon Hotel, the 1912 Tift County Courthouse, the 1914 post office (now the library), the 1916 Union Station, the 1917 Bank of Tifton, the Twin Brick Warehouses, and two 1937 Art Deco and Art Moderne buildings, the Lockeby Building and Tift Theatre. Three railroad depots and several warehouses document the town's role as a shipping and marketing center for the surrounding farm country.