Bishop Historic District
Also known as: Greenwood Crossing
Why it's listed
Bishop Historic District preserves the historic core of a small Georgia railroad town in Oconee County. It contains 65 contributing resources, including one-story masonry stores, a two-story commercial block built in 1910 by D.H. Huff, and houses in Queen Anne, Folk Victorian, Neoclassical Revival, Craftsman and Colonial Revival styles. Community landmarks include the 1906 Gothic Revival Methodist church, the former Christian church finished in 1924, the 1912 school, the 1940 jail now serving as town hall, and a public well. The town grew after the Covington & Macon Railroad arrived in 1884 and was incorporated in 1890, shipping cotton and expanding in the early twentieth century. Its layout still follows a mid-1880s plat and blends railroad strip and cross-rail town plans. Local builders such as Howard N. Ash shaped many of its larger homes. The district was listed for its architecture and its commercial, planning and transportation history from 1880 to 1945.
Significance in brief: The district is argued to be significant in architecture, commerce, community planning and development, and transportation. It keeps an unusual intact town plan that combines railroad strip and cross-rail layouts, based on a mid-1880s plat, and retains good examples of small-town Georgia commercial, residential and landmark buildings. The arrival of the railroad in 1884 drove the town's growth as a cotton-shipping center.
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 96000534, listed May 10, 1996. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly along Price Mill, Old Bishop Rds., and US 441 within the Bishop city limits, Bishop |
|---|---|
| County | Oconee County |
| Listed | May 10, 1996 |
| Reference number | 96000534 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1880-1945 |
| Architect / builder | Howard N. Ash, contractor; D. H. Huff, contractor |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian: Queen Anne; Folk Victorian; Colonial Revival; Classical Revival; Late Gothic Revival; Craftsman; 20th Century Commercial Style |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Commerce, Community Planning and Development, Transportation |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Mostly intact historic buildings with continued residential, retail and religious use; the town council bought one vacant house in 1994 for restoration and public use. |
| Acreage | 175 |
| Coordinates | 33.81713, -83.43716 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
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 96000534.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q105905518
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.