Eight resources were newly added to the Georgia Register of
Historic Places in August 2018. Nominations for these resources were approved
during an August 24th meeting of the Georgia National Register Review
Board, which is charged with evaluating National Register nominations from
Georgia prior to their submission to the National Park Service for National
Register of Historic Places listing. As Georgia’s state historic preservation
office (SHPO), the Historic Preservation Division (HPD) administers the
National Register of Historic Places program in Georgia.
The newly-listed resources are:
- Cascade Heights Commercial Historic District,
Atlanta, Fulton County – a small, multi-block district with historic resources
such as retail commercial buildings, office buildings, gas stations, civic
buildings, churches, and multi-family residential. The district is locally
significant for its sustained role as the principal commercial center for the
Cascade Heights area in suburban southwest Atlanta since the 1930s and was
responsible for the social, spiritual and commercial needs of a growing
suburban community. The district illustrates changing tastes, needs, and uses
over a period of time - spanning streetcar and early automobile subdivision
development to completely auto-centric suburban growth in Atlanta.
- East Atlanta Historic District, Atlanta, DeKalb
County - a large and diverse neighborhood of single-family houses, apartments,
commercial and civic buildings, a park, and a cemetery that straddles the
eastern boundary of the city of Atlanta, and the western boundary of
unincorporated DeKalb County. Its diverse historic resources and
piecemeal development patterns reflect the area’s evolution from rural area, to
Atlanta streetcar suburb, to automobile-oriented urban neighborhood. The
district is significant as one of Dekalb County and Atlanta’s primary
commercial nodes during the early to mid-20th century, and as an embodiment of
the trends and changes that shaped and defined Dekalb County and Atlanta’s
development during the late 19th and early to mid-20th centuries, including
economic and political forces such as transportation improvements, urban
consolidation, and integration leading to demographic shifts in the 1960s.
- Sandersville High School, Sandersville,
Washington County – a consolidated school that initially served grades 1-11 of
the northern half of Washington County following its opening in 1939. With its
Colonial Revival-style elements and E-shaped plan, the school is a good example
of the work of prolific Atlanta-based architect William J.J. Chase, who
designed over 100 schools in the state of Georgia. Its intact E-plan, which
housed classrooms, administrative offices, a library, labs, and an auditorium (the
largest in the county), along with later outbuildings, conveys the school
consolidation that occurred in response to education concerns in the state of
Georgia in the early 20th century and the expansion of those
consolidated schools over time.
- Atlanta-Fulton Central Library, Atlanta, Fulton
County – the library system’s central library and headquarters building located
in the heart of downtown Atlanta and opened to the public in 1980. The massive,
sculptural public building was the last completed work of master architect
Marcel Breuer, as well as Breuer’s only known work in Georgia. Additionally,
its hard-edged geometric angles, few windows which often appear as voids,
widespread use of concrete, and broad stretches of exterior wall interrupted by
deep recesses make it an excellent example of the Brutalist style in Atlanta.
- Oconee Street School, Athens, Athens-Clarke
County – an elementary school built in 1909 and designed by architect William
E. Spink to serve the East Athens mill community. The school is a good example
of the early 20th century urban public school type, and the property
also includes a 1956 “cafetorium” designed by Heery & Heery Architects. It
is the only extant example of the early 20th-century school
construction boom in Athens and the only existing purpose-built school building
for Athens City Schools.
- M.C. Kiser Company Building, Atlanta, Fulton
County – a three-story masonry commercial building constructed to house the
M.C. Kiser Company’s Shield Brand Shoe line in 1923. The building, which
consisted of wholesale shoe retail on the ground floor and manufacturing and
distribution operations on the upper two floors and in the walkout basement, is
representative of the two-part commercial block type. Additionally, the
building’s intact thick exterior masonry walls, heavy timber interior
construction, and fire doors provide a good example of slow-burning
construction, which facilitated the building’s varied functions. It is a rare
surviving example of Atlanta’s booming early 20th-century mercantile
industry.
- Lookout Mountain Hotel, Lookout Mountain, Dade
County – a grand resort hotel, nicknamed the “Castle in the Clouds,” is perched
atop the western brow of Lookout Mountain in northwest Georgia. Its crenellated
towers, parapeted gables, false half-timbering, and stucco cladding are among
the elements representing the Tudor Revival style of the hotel, which was
designed by prominent local architect, R.H. Hunt. Following its construction in
1927, it served as a recreation hub and represented the amenities developed as
a result of the 1920s auto-tourism boom in the area and the trend of grand
resort getaways for the wealthy.
- English Avenue School, Atlanta, Fulton County - a
two-story, brick, Jacobethan Revival style school building located at 672
English Avenue in Atlanta. It was built in two phases in 1911 and 1923,
designed by the Atlanta architectural firms of Edwards & Walter and Daniell
& Beutell, respectively. The school is significant as one of the
largest public elementary facilities constructed by the Atlanta Public School
system to serve Atlanta’s students during an important period of transition in
the development of educational facilities in Atlanta. As a school that was
formally converted from a Caucasian to an African-American school in 1950, and
also as the location of a December 12, 1960 bombing that is believed to have
been racially motivated, English Avenue School is also significant for its
association with demographic changes as well as shifting dynamics in public
education in the city of Atlanta and across the south during the mid-20th
century.
For photographs and additional information on these
resources, please access: http://georgiashpo.org/upcomingreviewboard
The National Register of Historic Places is our nation’s
official list of historic properties that are worthy of preservation. The
National Register was established by the National Historic Preservation Act of
1966 and is maintained by the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park
Service. Properties listed in the National Register include buildings, sites,
structures, objects, and districts that are significant in American
history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture.
National Register-listed properties are distinguished by
being documented and evaluated according to uniform standards called the
National Register Criteria for Evaluation. To be eligible for listing in the
National Register, generally, a property or majority of properties in a
district must be 50 years old or older; retain historic integrity in location,
design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association; and meet at
least one of the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. The Georgia
Register of Historic Places uses the same criteria and documentation procedures
as the National Register of Historic Places.
Georgia and National Register of Historic Places listing
does not place restrictions on the use, treatment, transfer, or disposition of
private property.
Properties listed on the National Register are potentially
eligible for state and/or federal tax incentives. Rehabilitation tax incentives are available
to properties that meet the substantial rehabilitation test and meet the
Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. State tax incentives
can be applied to both income producing properties and primary residences and
include a credit as well as a property tax freeze. Federal credits are available to income
producing properties only. These
incentives can help offset the cost of bringing historic properties back into a
state of utility.
# # #
For more information contact National Register and Survey
Program Manager Stephanie Cherry-Farmer at 770-389-7843 and stephanie.cherry-farmer@dnr.ga.gov.
For press inquiries contact Historic Preservation Division Outreach Program Manager Allison Asbrock at 770-389-7868 and allison.asbrock@dnr.ga.gov
The above is a news release from the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Releases can be found online at www.georgiashpo.org.
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