Dooly County Courthouse
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Why it's listed
Dooly County's courthouse in Vienna, Georgia, is a Romanesque-style building of red brick with Georgia granite trim, built in 1890 for $25,000. W. H. Parkins designed it and J. P. Heard served as contractor. The two-story structure faces a central square and is asymmetrically massed. Its facade combines a center entrance porch with a plain gable, a truncated tower with a granite-banded turret, and a rectangular clock tower rising in four stages to a modified crenellation. The tower's spire was removed after it became structurally unsound. Terra cotta lettering on the tower names the building, a detail found in other Parkins buildings. Varied round and segmentally arched windows and a wooden octagonal bay on the north side give the exterior a picturesque Victorian character. Inside, the spaces have been greatly altered. The courthouse is regarded as an architectural focal point and as a repository of official records, land transactions and road construction, documenting the county's history.
Significance in brief: The courthouse is presented as an architectural focal point designed by W. H. Parkins, whose work is covered in a separate general statement. It also holds official records, land transactions and road construction records, so it chronicles the county and is central to the life of every citizen.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 80001013, listed September 18, 1980. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | GA 27, Vienna |
|---|---|
| County | Dooly County |
| Listed | September 18, 1980 |
| Reference number | 80001013 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | W. H. Parkins (architect/builder); J. P. Heard (contractor) |
| Architectural style | Romanesque |
| Areas of significance | Economics, Law, Politics/Government, Architecture, Communications |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition listed as good; interior spaces greatly altered; a modern, non-historic jail is also on the property; the tower spire was removed because it became structurally unsound. |
| Acreage | 2.5 |
| Within district | Vienna Historic District |
| Coordinates | 32.09107, -83.79751 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 80001013.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5297046
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.