Category Archives: Brick Store GA

Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church, Circa 1870, Newton County

Leave a reply

This beautiful church, whose congregation was established around 1851, is located just up the road from the Brick Store. A history in the archives of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church written in 1950 by Dorothy Gray Bolton suggests the first church was burned during the Civil War and for a time the congregation worshiped in a brush arbor, then a small frame church nearby which was later given to a black congregation upon the completion of this structure. I would guess that would date it to around 1867-1875 but cannot confirm it at this time.

Advertisement

Brick Store, 1821, Newton County

Leave a reply
the brick store newton county ga photograph copyright brian bown vanishing north georgia usa 2016

Built by Martin Kolb, the Brick Store is one of the oldest documented stores (perhaps the oldest) standing in Georgia. Kolb was among the earliest white settlers of Newton County. It stands in what was once the community of Winton and before the growth of nearby Newtonsboro (now Covington), was a center of activity in Newton County. The first session of the Newton County Superior Court met at the Brick Store on 15 April 1822.  The store twice served the community as a post office (1851-1866 & 1887-1906). Peter Knox, who owned the store from 1861-1882, was a member of the International Order of Good Templars (IOGT), a temperance organization. Between 1879 and 1884, the store also served as the meeting hall for the IOGT, known as Brick Store Lodge No. 479.  The store remained in business for 114 years, closing in 1935.

National Register of Historic Places