GeorgiaThe Oglethorpe County Courthouse in Lexington was completed in 1887 in a Romanesque Revival style, built of locally made brick and Oglethorpe County granite and wood with a distinctive open clock tower framing the entrance. The county was carved from Wilkes in 1793, and its earliest courthouse was a log structure near Philomath before the seat moved to Lexington by 1806, continuing a courthouse tradition on the square for generations. The Civil War left the area badly depressed: residents drifted off to Athens, Atlanta, and states farther south, and Lexington's economy sank so low that the county at one point considered abandoning the town and relocating the courthouse to nearby Crawford. The building instead endured and remains the focal point of the square. It was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS GA-194) and stands as one of Georgia's older continuously used courthouses.
Oglethorpe County Courthouse
The stone-and-brick heart of every Georgia county.
Oglethorpe County Courthouse is a courthouse in Lexington, Oglethorpe County. It is one of 71 historic sites cataloged in Oglethorpe County on Georgia Roam.
The site sits at 33.8692, -83.1116 near Lexington. The nearest cataloged historic site is Gen. James Edward Oglethorpe (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Governor Gilmer’s Home, Oglethorpe County, and Beth-Salem Presbyterian Church.
This record is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
The Oglethorpe County Courthouse in Lexington was completed in 1887 in a Romanesque Revival style, built of locally made brick and Oglethorpe County granite and wood with a distinctive open clock tower framing the entrance. The county was carved from Wilkes in 1793, and its earliest courthouse was a log structure near Philomath before the seat moved to Lexington by 1806, continuing a courthouse tradition on the square for generations. The Civil War left the area badly depressed: residents drifted off to Athens, Atlanta, and states farther south, and Lexington's economy sank so low that the county at one point considered abandoning the town and relocating the courthouse to nearby Crawford. The building instead endured and remains the focal point of the square. It was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS GA-194) and stands as one of Georgia's older continuously used courthouses.
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