Location: Quitman
GPS Coordinates: 30.78526, 83.56003
Date Built: 1859-1864, extensively remodeled 1892
Architectural Style: Renaissance Revival/Romanesque Revival
Designer: John Wind (1859) and Bruce & Morgan (1892)
Other Information: In Jan. 1859, a month after the creation of Brooks County, the home of Thomas Folsom in Quitman was used as the county's first court room. Subsequently, a temporary courthouse was built. Later in 1859, work began on a permanent courthouse. With the outbreak of the Civil War, work preceded slowly, especially after the contractor died in 1862. The courthouse was not finished until 1864. In 1892, the courthouse underwent extensive renovation. [See postcard 1, postcard 2, and postcard 3 for photos of the courthouse in the early 1900s before the red brick building was painted white.]
County Courthouse Historical Marker: Click here
County History: Brooks County was created by an act of the General Assembly approved on Dec. 11, 1858 (Ga. Laws 1858, p. 353). Created from portions of Lowndes and Thomas counties, Georgia's 131st county was named for South Carolina congressman Preston Brooks, an ardent supporter of states' rights.
County Seat: Quitman. The act creating Brooks County directed the judges of the inferior court to select a site within four miles of the center of the new county for erection of public buildings. The act further directed that the new county seat be named Quitman. The name honored Gen. John Quitman, former governor of Mississippi, American hero in the Mexican War, and Mississippi congressman at the time ofhis death in July 1858. Inferior court judges picked a site on the railroad connecting southwestern Georgia with Savannah. Quitman was incorporated by an act of the General Assembly approved Dec. 19, 1859.
Maps
Size of County (Total Area): 497.8 square miles
County Rank in Total Area: 31st out of 159
Population:
Brooks County
City of Quitman
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