7. Buena Vista Courthouse
In spring 1846, Marion County’s Grand Jury was directed to relocate the county seat to within one mile of the county center. Following a referendum in 1848 plans were made to move the county seat from Tazewell to “Pea Ridge,” which subsequently changed its name to Buena Vista.
Marion County Courthouse, Buena Vista, GA. Photograph courtesy of David Rush, 2016.
The Marion County antebellum courthouse is the third in the county. This two-story white brick structure was built by contractor Enoch Williams in 1850 from locally fired brick, with a stucco cement finish and a flat roof.
In 1928, a hipped roof was added, along with a Corinthian tetrastyle façade and a clock tower. These additions changed a plain vernacular square-cross building into a dramatic neoclassical structure that seemed to harken back to an antebellum past. The domed clock tower rises in three stages, and an eagle weathervane sits atop, echoing the golden eagle in the façade’s pediment. It was modernized again between 1964-1965 to include acoustical tile ceilings, painted plaster walls, and asbestos tile floors throughout the entire building.
Submission Composed by Stephen Graziano, April 16, 2016.
References and Further Reading
Battle family papers (Marion County, Ga.), circa 1800s. MS 2677(M). Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries.
National Register of Historic Places, Marion County Court House, Marion County, Georgia Washington, National Register #80001115.