Historic Sites - Turn of the century homes and more!

Settlers came to what is now called Henry County in search of land, progress and prosperity. Henry County, created in 1821 by land ceded from the Creek Indians was part of one of the country's earliest westward land booms. McDonough, the county seat was established just two years after the Indian Treaty in 1823 and was named for War of 1812 hero Commodore Thomas Macdonough.

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Courthouse, 1 Courthouse Square

Henry County's original, permanent courthouse was build in the public square in 1831. Today's courthouse was built in 1897 and cost a total of $15,215 and was designed by Atlanta architects Golucke & Stewart in the Romanesque style. The tower bell was cast at McShane Bell Foundry in Baltimore, Maryland, in the same year. The clock originally operated with weights. After one of the weights crashed through the courthouse ceiling, an electric motor was installed.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places

The Old Jail, Lawrenceville Street (behind the Courthouse)

Build in 1889 at a cost of $5,000 this building served as the county jail for over 80 years. Nearly torn down, it was renovated in 1988 to house the Probate Court. Outlines of the original building can be detected where old brick walls join the new ones.

Public Park, Courthouse Square

A statue honoring Confederate veterans was erected in 1910 and centers the Courthouse Square. The square has been the focal point of the community and county life, and is surrounded by interesting shops and provides the setting for the annual Geranium Festival each Spring. "The Flame of Freedom" on the south side of the square was dedicated December 7, 1969, to honor veterans. Disconnected during the energy crisis of the 1970's, it was re-lighted in 1982.

Old Presbyterian Church, corner of Jonesboro & Atlanta Streets

Presbyterians organized in McDonough in 1827 and built this structure in 1890, moving from their original site on Lawrenceville Street.

Callaway-Knott-Brown House, 105 Jonesboro Street

This Neo-Classic Revival house has an older antebellum section which was built prior to 1833 and forms the rear portion of the present structure. The present front of the house dates from about 1910 and features the original portico and columns which were part of the older structure. Note the old cedar lane which lead to the original entrance and was shortened when the new front was built.

Globe Hotel, 22 Jonesboro Street

This building was erected of logs around 1826 and was later covered with weatherboarding. It stood facing the Courthouse Square on present Atlanta Street until rolled back to its present location. The Globe is the oldest commercial structure in McDonough.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Spencer-Tye-Carmichael House, 16 Hampton Street

This typical classical house, dating from about 1830, suggests elements of 18^th Century styles as well as of later mid-19^th Century styles. The original interiors contained fine cabinet work, including closed compartmented cabinets with paneled doors. Interior woodwork was marbleized.

D.J. Sanders House, 147 Griffin Street

Built in 1896 by McDonough merchant D.J. Sanders, this house was described as one of the handsomest erected to that time. Its original design reflected the Queen Anne Style, but has since been altered. From 1903 the house has been owned by the Green-Copeland family.

H.J. Copeland House, 159 Griffin Street

Build 1906-1907 this house is a typical Neo-Classic Revival structure as expressed during the Edwardian era. The columns are plain Ionic with a Palladian inspired window in the roof gable.

Ras W. Dickerson House, 65 College Street

Build about 1913 of handpicked Georgia timber, this house features 12 half-columns of the Ionic order on the wrap-around porch. It suggests the Chicago school of architecture which marked the beginning of modernism and the use of creativity.

E.M. Smith-Durden House, 138 Macon Street

Build in 1910 this house reflects an updated version of the Classic Revival style so much associated with antebellum Southern culture. The curved balcony over the doorway and fluted Ionic columns are on both the large portico and flanking porches. Col. E. M. Smith was a leading McDonough attorney.

Dr. J. G. Smith House, 126 Macon Street

This Edwardian Neo-Classic Revival house was unusual for its time because it was one of only three or four houses built of brick. The house dates from 1906 and has granite steps, trim and carriage block by the front walk. The two columns supporting the curved front portico are fluted Ionic. Dr. Smith, was a leading McDonough citizen who build a water works to supply himself and neighbors with running water. By 1918 he had constructed a hydroelectric dam and plant on Cotton Indian River to supply the town with electricity.

First Baptist Church, 101 Macon Street

The Baptist congregation organized in 1825 and their earlier Jonesboro Street sanctuary burned in 1875. Another building served the church until 1903, when construction of the present facility began. The cost was $8,000 and the building was dedicated in 1904. Several additions have been made through the years. The arches of the older church have been repeated in the new annex to give a continuity to the overall structure.

Brown House, 71 Macon Street

Pegged together about 1826, this was the home of Andrew McBride, a Revolutionary War veteran from South Carolina. Originally one story, the second floor was added by Mrs. Asa R. Brown when she turned the house into a hotel after her husband's death in 1874. By 1893, the Brown House Hotel was considered "the most hospitable and home like hotel between Macon and Atlanta," and hosted many prominent people.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

T.A. Sloan House, 62 Macon Street

This Neo-Classic Revival house was built in 1910 by Thomas Adam Sloan, prominent McDonough businessman and first president of the First National Bank of McDonough. The house features a large central portico and the roof gable is embellished with a carved face flanked with garland and torches. The columns of the large portico and the wrap around porches are fluted Ionic.

Davis-Bryan-Hutton -Hazelhurst House, 77 Sloan Street

This classical house was built by Abner Davis about 1829 on a 22-acre lot which was part of an 1823 land grant to Revolutionary War veteran Ezekiel Cloud. Davis' possessions in 1831 included 35 slaves and a four wheel pleasure carriage. Remaining in the grounds are a portion of the early formal boxwood gardens, the only antebellum garden now surviving in the county.

B.B. Carmichael House, 103 Keys Ferry Street

Built in 1905 for Benjamin Brown Carmichael, this house is notable in McDonough as an example of free classicism in its movement toward the Colonial Revival, and it reflects an experimental type of style begun at Newport about 1890 by the New York architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White. Located on the second floor is a Palladian inspired window and two small oval windows flanking its arch.

First National Bank, 32 Macon Street

The bank was established in 1905 and moved into this Macon Street Building in October 1906. The bank name remains inscribed over the door. There was a fire in 1910, but the secure vault preserved the bank books. In 1911 the banked moved across the street to the corner of Macon & Keys Ferry.

First National Bank, Corner of Macon & Keys Ferry Streets

The original First National Banked moved to this location in 1911, where a vault, fixtures and a new front were installed in an earlier structure. The interior contains the original marble and bank vault.

McDonough Theatre - Clay Plaza, 2 Macon Street

The theatre was built around 1930 and expanded in 1949, doubling its size without closing to business. Changing times caused the theatre to close in 1970. After some years of vacancy, the building was renovated in 1987 as a mini-mall named in honor of the original owner, E.P. Clay. The history of the building is displayed in the lobby. There is a "penthouse apartment" on the top of the building.

Old Post Office - C.D. Polk Annex, 34 Covington Street

Completed in 1940, this was one of the last Depression-era Public Works Projects inaugurated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The lobby features a mural telling the story of cotton in the South. The mural is by the French artist Jean Charlot, who later became Art Director of the Guggenheim Institute in New York City.

McDonough Welcome Center, Corner of Jonesboro & Griffin Street

C. 1920's, old prototype Standard Oil Station located on the square. The Welcome Center houses the McDonough Hospitality & Tourism Bureau and the Main Street McDonough office.