
The historic Main Street business district steals the show in Cedartown
This northeast Georgia city’s historic downtown is the perfect place for enjoying a sidewalk tour. It’s an excellent place to enjoy checking out the variety of architectural styles that were popular from the 1880s to the 1910s.
Underated as a historic-places destination, it takes more than a couple of hours to properly enjoy the Cedartown Historic Commercial District, the large number of historic houses that are within a short bike ride of it and the Waterworks and Big Spring Park Historic District.If you’re a historic-places enthusiast, you will discover that Cedartown’s Main Street steals the show in a city that — for its size — has a great deal of historic experiences to offer.
Gallery: Cedartown Historic Commercial District
One of the most nostalgic structures is the c. 1941 West Theater which is currently painted a mint green color. The downtown historic district was listed with the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. Follow this link to view a PDF of the district’s application to the Register: Cedartown Commercial Historic District. On the southern edge of the district you will find a replica of the c. 1920s train depot that was torn down in the 1970s. The city built it in 2004 at the same location as the old one had stood. It serves as a welcome center for the hundreds of bikers, joggers and hikers who use the Silver Comet Trail each week. The depot is also a museum. It’s a good place to learn about one of the the city’s most famous natives: mid 20th-century Hollywood actor Sterling Holloway who is best known as the voice of Winnie the Pooh.
Three other nationally-registered historic districts are found in the city:
- Waterworks, Woman’s Building and Big Spring Park Historic District
- Northwest Cedartown Historic District
- South Philpot Street Historic District
The Waterworks, Woman’s Building and Big Spring Park Historic District and the Northwest Cedartown Historic District are adjacent to each other on the northwest side of the Main Street area, so it’s pretty easy to combine them in one sidewalk tour. There are places to park along Wissahickon Avenue.
Gallery: The Waterworks, Woman’s Building and Big Spring Park Historic District
The Northwest Cedartown Historic District was listed with the National Register in 2008. Many of the district’s older and more interesting houses are found in the portion of the district nearest to downtown and the park shown above.
According to the sprawling district’s National Register application, “common architectural styles found in the district are Queen Anne, Folk Victorian, Craftsman, English Vernacular Revival, and Colonial Revival. Common house types in the district are Georgian cottage, Georgian house. Queen Anne house. New South house, gabled ell, bungalow, English cottage, American Small House, and ranch houses.” The most interesting houses are located on Wissahickon Avenue, Cave Spring Road and N. College Street.
Gallery: South Philpot Street Historic District
- Hawkes Children’s Library
- St. James Episcopal Church
The c. 1921 Hawkes Children’s Library is currently a museum
The historic library building is near to the c. 1950s Polk County Courthouse which has several statues in its lawn. The statues honor Cedartown and Polk county natives who became celebrities. One of them was pro golfer, Doug Sanders, who was born in Cedartown in 1933.
The Doug Sanders statue in one of several found in front lawn of the Polk County Courthouse
FUN FACT: The first courthouse in Cedartown was built in 1852, but Union troops burned it down during the Civil War along with 65 other buildings.
Please see my articles about other historic places in nearby towns:
- A walking tour of Cave Spring’s historic places
- My top 3 excuses for visiting Rockmart’s historic downtown