GeorgiaThe 1919 courthouse that then stood on the Lyons square was the setting for Toombs County's most nationally watched case. On November 20, 1948, Robert "Big Duck" Mallard, a prosperous Black farmer, was shot to death by a mob near Lyons; his widow, Amy Mallard, was jailed on a baseless charge and later testified against two white men indicted for the killing, but one was acquitted and the charge against the other was dropped. The case drew in the NAACP and national press, and Amy Mallard afterward toured the country describing the terror of mob violence in Georgia. The courthouse itself traces a turbulent lineage: a 1906 building by George C. Thomason and J.W. Golucke burned in 1917 and was rebuilt in 1919 to designs by Alexander Blair, a 1964–65 courthouse was demolished in 2024, and the county has since moved to new judicial facilities. Lyons has served as the county seat since Toombs County was created in 1905.
Toombs County Courthouse
The stone-and-brick heart of every Georgia county.
Toombs County Courthouse is a courthouse in Lyons, Toombs County. It is one of 79 historic sites cataloged in Toombs County on Georgia Roam.
The site sits at 32.2029, -82.3277 near Lyons. The nearest cataloged historic site is Toombs County (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Garbutt, Robert and Missouri, House, Lyons Garden Club Building, and Lyons Woman's Club House.
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 1919 courthouse that then stood on the Lyons square was the setting for Toombs County's most nationally watched case. On November 20, 1948, Robert "Big Duck" Mallard, a prosperous Black farmer, was shot to death by a mob near Lyons; his widow, Amy Mallard, was jailed on a baseless charge and later testified against two white men indicted for the killing, but one was acquitted and the charge against the other was dropped. The case drew in the NAACP and national press, and Amy Mallard afterward toured the country describing the terror of mob violence in Georgia. The courthouse itself traces a turbulent lineage: a 1906 building by George C. Thomason and J.W. Golucke burned in 1917 and was rebuilt in 1919 to designs by Alexander Blair, a 1964–65 courthouse was demolished in 2024, and the county has since moved to new judicial facilities. Lyons has served as the county seat since Toombs County was created in 1905.
Sources: en.wikipedia.orggeorgiaencyclopedia.orggeorgiaencyclopedia.orgcourthouses.co
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