Category Archives: Thomasville GA

All Saints’ Episcopal Church, 1881 + 1982, Thomasville

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Established in 1980 on All Saints’ Day, this church initially met in the chapel of Thomas County Community College [now Thomas University]. For a permanent home, the congregation acquired an abandoned Catholic church from Thomasville Landmarks. It was moved to this site on South Hansell Street in 1981 and soon thereafter restored. The first service was held here in 1982.

Jacqueline Kennedy attended services in this church at its original location on Jefferson Street while retreating in Thomasville after President Kennedy’s assassination.

Tockwotton-Love Place Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Gable Front House, Circa 1850, Thomasville

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Records indicate this house was built circa 1850. At some point, likely in the early 20th century, the present porch as added.

Dawson Street Residential Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Eclectic House, 1919, Thomasville

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Like so many early-20th-century revivals, this house features elements of more than one architectural style.

Dawson Street Residential Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Hayes House, Circa 1851, Thomasville

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This home was built by Thomas Jones of Greenwood Plantation as a wedding gift for his daughter Harriet and her husband, Dr. David S. Brandon, a prominent surgeon. [It’s referred to as the Dr. David Brandon House in the National Register of Historic Places]. Dr. Brandon sold the house to Mrs. John R. Hayes in 1862. In the last days of the Civil War, Professor Joseph LeConte of Liberty County was granted refuge here by the Hayes family. LeConte was an important physician, geologist, and early conservationist, but unfortunately, was a racist and supporter of white supremacy. [See link]

Originally a one-story brick house, the second floor and mansard roof were added in the 1870s. The brick was stuccoed at that time. The roof is covered with octagonal slate tiles, featuring a decorative flower design.

National Register of Historic Places

Hardy Bryan House, 1833, Thomasville

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Built for one of Thomasville’s early settlers, the Hardy Bryan House is among the most important surviving antebellum structures in the region. When it was built, Thomasville was still quite rural and the house served as the center of a working plantation. Bryan died in 1859 and the house had several subsequent owners, including the Cater family. Today, it serves as the headquarters of Thomasville Landmarks, an organization at the forefront of local preservation since the early 1960s.

The cross pattée on the pediment has become an iconic architectural symbol of Thomasville.

National Register of Historic Places

Mallette-Golden House, 1908, Thomasville

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This is one of several large-scale Neoclassical Revivals in Thomasville built in the early 20th century.

Dawson Street Residential Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Buster Brown Shoes Neon Sign, Thomasville

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I’m told that the sign has been removed as of 2016.

Thomasville Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

 

Mitchell House Hotel, 1886, Thomasville

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While many towns and cities have lost their historic hotels, Thomasville is fortunate to retain the Mitchell House, a remnant of the 1880s tourist boom which helped make the city what it is today. A renovation was completed around 2009 which features street-level shops and restaurants, as well as luxury condominiums on the upper floors.

Thomasville Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Upchurch Building, 1917, Thomasville

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Built as a mixed-use office building by J. W. Upchurch, this structure [tall building, center right, above] was home to many doctors, dentists and lawyers over the years. It was also known as the Business Exchange. For a time it was also home to the National Weather Bureau. Ron Stevens recalls: Before I began a career in the National Weather Service, as a kid I would ride my bike to the Upchurch Building and go to the old Weather Bureau office there…and hang out. The two employees there would let me walk on the roof and get readings from the weather instruments there. The view was wonderful, down to Florida. Before the Weather Bureau closed in Thomasville, they spent the final year or two at the new “Federal Building”, but it was never as special or memorable as my visits to the Upchurch Building in the ’60s.

Thomasville Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

The Big Oak, Circa 1680, Thomasville

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Perhaps the most famous landmark in Thomasville, the Big Oak (Live Oak Quercus virginiana) is thought to be around 330 years old. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a frequent visitor to Thomas County’s hunting plantations and a photography buff himself, once had his driver stop at the tree while he made a picture from a neighboring front porch.