2010 courthouse tribute

September 2010

1904 Coweta County Courthouse Restored

TributeA

Published by The Times-Herald

2 — The Times-Herald Courthouse Tribute — September 17, 2010

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September 17, 2010 — The Times-Herald Courthouse Tribute — 3

Editor’s note: Assistant NewsEditor Winston Skinner shareshis memories of the historicCoweta County Courthouse, aswell as some of the history of thebuilding.

By W. WINSTON [email protected]

“But above all, the court-house: the center, the focus, thehub; sitting looming in the cen-ter of the county’s circumfer-ence like a single cloud in itsring of horizon, laying its vastshadow to the uttermost rim ofhorizon; musing, brooding, sym-bolic and ponderable, tall ascloud, solid as rock, dominatingall: protector of the weak, judi-ciate and curb of the passions andlusts, repository and guardian ofthe aspirations and hopes. . . .”

— William Faulkner,“The Courthouse [A Name forthe City],” in “Requiem for aNun”

Built in 1904, the currentCoweta County Courthouse haslong since been an iconic image.

The dome has adorned thecover of several books relatingto the history of the county andbeen placed on T-shirts andChristmas ornaments. In recent

decades, Hollywood has discov-ered its classic lines and used itas a backdrop for movie and tel-evision productions.

The courthouse is also a placewhere stories linger like hiddenlayers of paint. Baseball playershave slept there. Many a trialwas held there — including onethat inspired a best-selling bookand a popular television movie.A Confederate soldier lay instate in the gracious central hallof the courthouse, and — overthe course of its century-plus ofhistory — dozens of peoplehave come to work there filingdeeds, answering phones, issu-ing marriage licenses and gunpermits.

I have my own memories ofthe courthouse. When I cele-brated my 18th birthday, one ofmy rites of passage was comingto the building, birth certificatein hand, and finding EvelynCartledge, the longtime voterregistrar, in her tiny officetucked beneath the south stair-well.

Most of my memories of thecourthouse go back to stories Iwrote. I interviewed CarlMcKoy — I can’t remember ifhe was still called the ordinaryor if he had become the probatejudge by then — for a series of

stories about wills. He told meabout the importance of havingone, and then he also showedme some interesting willsincluding one for a lady who —overhearing her favorite niecetell about what she would dowith her aunt’s belongings —changed her will, left her prop-erty to another niece and thendirected that her personalbelongings be destroyed using astring of verbs like burned,crushed and pulverized.

I have covered numerouscourt trials in the majesticcourthouse. I recall how intimi-dating and judicial NathanKnight was as state court judge,and in superior court I saw twomen sentenced to die. I alsorecall a case in which the defen-dant represented himself,attacked a police detective andstarted a general melee thatended with the city police haul-ing most of the defendant’s fam-ily to jail.

I have frequently had to gothrough documents and makenotes in those hallowed halls.Once when I was going over theindictment list in one of thevaults, I was just a few feet fromactor James Garner who wastucking in his shirt and mentallypreparing himself for the next

scene in the 1990 Hallmark Hallof Fame production “DecorationDay.”

When I became a pastor, AnnWilliams, who was for yearsactive in the United Daughtersof the Confederacy, asked me tolead a Christian burial servicefor William Thomas Overby.Overby, known as “the NathanHale of the Confederacy,” hadbeen hanged by Union troops inVirginia in 1864 and buried on afarm near Front Royal.

In late 1996, Overby’s remainswere brought back to Newnan.An authentic Civil War era cas-ket was built and placed in thehallway at the courthouse. Fromthe courthouse, I walked in theprocession to Oak HillCemetery on Jan. 5, 1997 alongwith men dressed asConfederate soldiers, ladies inantebellum apparel, Overbyfamily members and formerGeorgia Gov. Lester Maddox,who was the keynote speaker.The casket was carried on ahorse-drawn artillery caisson.

Courthouses are importantsymbols. The quote fromFaulkner — ferreted out andshared by Coweta resident JohnThrasher — speaks to theirunique role.

“The Georgia Courthouse

Guide,” published in 1992 by theGeorgia Department ofCommunity Affairs, also elabo-rates on the role of these majes-tic buildings:

“The courthouse and its sur-rounding square became thefocus of many communities.County seat status was anattraction for commercial andresidential development.County government was anindustry. Courthouse squaresbecame regional centers foragricultural activities asGeorgia’s farmers brought theirproduce to market. The squaresbecame community assemblyspaces featuring celebrations,commemorations, political ral-lies, and, in some cases, publichangings. Courthouse groundswere typically adorned withmonuments celebrating thecommunity’s history and itsleaders and memorials to itswar veterans. During courtweek, courthouses and theiradjacent squares were excep-tionally busy places.”

It is hard for us to imaginethe Court Square without thecourthouse, but the current oneis actually Coweta’s third. Theoriginal log structure was

Courthouse iconic symbol for Cowetans

[Continued on Page 4]

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replaced in 1829 by a GreekRevival brick structure of twostories constructed by Col.William Hitchcock. The oldBanks County Courthouse inHomer looks very much like the1829 building before the clocktower was added. It was aroundthat structure that large tentswere erected during the CivilWar to serve as makeshift hospi-tals.

In the 1890s and early 1900s,many counties in Georgia werebuilding new courthouses. Myfriend, local historian GeorgiaShapiro, related that Coweta’scounty commissioners caughtcourthouse fever and tried —unsuccessfully — to float a bondissue to build a new courthouse.

The commissioners decidedto build a new courthouse any-way and to simply add its costto the annual tax levy. A movearose “to stop the demolition ofthe old courthouse,” Shapirosaid.

R. D. Cole of Newnan hadgotten the contract to build thenew courthouse. He had hiscrews start demolition of the1829 structure about 3 a.m. Bythe time people got to town,“the building was half down,”she said.

Apparently, a courthouse thathad been built in Carroll Countywas one of the spurs that movedthe Cowetans to hire J.W.Golucke to prepare his classicdesign. The Neoclassical

Revival style was a popular onein Georgia. Coweta’s courthouseis one of 58 built in that style inGeorgia between 1887 and 1937.

The courthouse has seen itsshare of political events. Mr.Harold Barron often told a storyfrom his boyhood about a bar-becue held on the Court Squarefor Ellis Arnall, who grew up inNewnan and served as attorneygeneral and then governor. Mr.Harold and other teenage boyshad been recruited to serve bar-becue and Brunswick stew at arally. There were so many peo-ple that Mr. Harold went homewithout getting to taste any ofthe barbecue. The next morn-ing, everyone who had partakenwas sick. It turns out there hadbeen rain and runoff from thecourthouse’s copper roof hadcontaminated that stew.

Gov. Arnall mounted his lastcampaign for public office as awrite-in candidate for governorin 1966. The kickoff for thatcampaign took place in theupstairs courtroom.

Most often the courtroomwas a site for trials. The mostfamous took place in 1948 whenJohn Wallace was tried for themurder of William Turner fol-lowing a determined investiga-tion headed by Coweta CountySheriff Lamar Potts. SheriffPotts was also the manager forthe Newnan Browns, a profes-sional baseball team of the day.The players slept in an upstairsspace in the courthouse, andoldtimers remember them walk-

ing from the Court Square toPickett Field for games andpractices.

As the years passed, manyfunctions moved out of thecourthouse. A county jail wasbuilt on Greison Trail, and theexpansion and growth of countyservices required other loca-tions and facilities.

I’ve already mentioned“Decoration Day,” but othermovies have also featured thecourthouse. The grand juryroom was transformed into ajudge’s office for Raymond Burrin the television film “GrassRoots,” based on the novel byMeriwether County nativeStuart Woods. I also recall tak-ing pictures of Corbin Bernsenon the courthouse stairwell dur-ing the filming of that movie.

Michael Gross was on thecourthouse grounds for scenesfrom “In The Line of Duty:Manhunt in the Dakotas” whichfirst aired in 1991.

The courthouse and itsgrounds continue to be a placethat symbolizes what is goodabout life in Coweta.Ceremonies have been held onthe grounds to commemoratethe Sept. 11 anniversary and forthe National Day of Prayer.

It has been exciting to watchthe courthouse get its latestfacelift. The crown jewel of thecounty stands ready to be thesetting for another century ofstories.

Courthouse memories shared[Continued from Page 3]

Photo by Bob FraleyAlbert Johnston shows new chairs in the grand jury room. The horse-shoe-shaped table has been refinished and replaced in the north-west corner room adjacent to the courtroom. Two of the originalchairs from the grand jury room were located and were in goodenough shape to be refinished and installed. The rest of the chairsfor the grand jury room, the jury box, jury room and conferenceroom are new and very similar to the original in design and style.


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The Coweta CountyConvention and Visitors Bureauis the face of the county — andin this case, visitors are greetedwith a warm smile.

“Quite often, we’re the onlyimpression some tourists get ofour county,” said Pam Mayer,the welcome center coordinator.“Our number one goal is to wel-come tourists into the commu-nity — and we define a touristas someone who doesn’t have aCoweta County tag.”

Soon, the visitor’s center willbe uprooting from its long-standing location on WaltSanders Memorial Drive offHwy. 34 East to relocate andresume operations in the newlyrenovated Coweta CountyCourthouse in downtownNewnan.

“Although we promote theentire county, it’ll be nice to bein the heart and soul of thecommunity,” said Mayer.

The visitor’s center will con-tinue to serve as an informationresource for the county, accord-ing to Mayer. They offerbrochures and rack cards, TheTimes-Herald newspaper and

the Coweta Living welcomeguide.

“If a tourist walks in the door,we find out if they’re just pass-ing through, a newcomer, or avisitor,” said Mayer. “It helps usdefine what kind of packetwe’re going to build for them.Our number one goal, however,is to get them to stay — to movehere.”

The welcome center func-tions as a meet and greet as wellas an information resource. Italso serves as a regional visitor’scenter for the state.

“We have brochures for allnine travel regions, as well asmaps and the state visitorsguide,” said Mayer. “We’re pro-viding the next level of servicefor the state of Georgia, whichmakes us an authority on a littlebit of everything.”

Despite being 3.9 miles fromthe interstate once they makethe move to the courthouse,Mayer feels that the operationsof the convention and visitorsbureau will be easier fromdowntown.

“Most people who come herecome into town anyway,” shesaid. “Last year we saw over8,000 people, and we expect toadd more traffic this year.”

Mayer said that the majorityof their traffic comes to CowetaCounty with one overwhelmingrequest.

“History is one of our numberone attractions,” said Mayer.“People want to see the historichomes in all of our communi-ties.”

The convention and visitorsbureau sends tourists out notjust to Newnan’s Main Streetand historic neighborhoods,but also to attractions inMoreland, Sharpsburg,Grantville, Senoia, Turin andRoscoe. It’s their job to sendthem out into the communitiesto get a taste and feel for every-thing Coweta has to offer. Andthat includes attractions, sight-seeing, food, shopping, lodgingand events.

The visitor’s center will offi-cially operate from the historiccourthouse beginning Sept. 20.The office is sharing the build-ing with Coweta ProbateCourt.

“They have restored it withthe original colors and settingand created a warm space,”said Mayer. “We will havechairs for people to sit andread through material. Or, theycan stroll around the Court

Square and visit the coffeeshop.”

Hours of operation will beMonday through Friday 9 a.m.to 5 p.m., and 9-4 on Saturday.

Mayer said that anticipationhas been mounting since therenovation project began in

2008, and now, “here we are.”“We bring the experience of

Coweta County alive,” saidMayer. “This helps tourists stayand visit longer. We wantawareness in our local commu-nity as well. We want everyoneto pop in and visit us.”

Visitor’s center moving to courthouse

Photo by Bob FraleyCoweta’s welcome center, relocating to the courthouse, functionsas a meet and greet as well as an information resource. It alsoserves as a regional visitor’s center for the state and offersbrochures for all nine travel regions, as well as maps and the statevisitors guide, said coordinator Pam Mayer.

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As part of the extensiverestoration and adaptive reuseproject at the 1904 courthouse,the various monuments andmarkers on the courthousegrounds were restored andrepaired, as were the oil paint-ings of Coweta’s two governors,

Gala preview funding memorials upkeepEllis Arnall and William YatesAtkinson.

The restoration and repairwork was paid for by CowetaCounty; however, plans are formoney to be raised to reim-burse the county for the cost,as well as to set up a fund forongoing maintenance.

A ticketed dinner anddessert gala preview of thecourthouse the evening ofSept. 18 is the first fund-raiserfor the restoration and mainte-nance fund. Another is the saleof engraved bricks which willbe placed around the court-house, replacing current land-scape bricks.

Mark Mitchell, chairman ofthe Courthouse Committee,which is made up of Cowetansfrom different areas of thecounty, said he expects thebricks to be available “for sometime to come.”

“We want to make sure,going forward, that there is aplan in place and some funds,to at least be able to continueto monitor those monuments,and make any repairs and domaintenance that is needed forthem,” Mitchell said.

Matt Gentry of GreaterAtlanta Memorials did therepair and cleaning work on allthe stone monuments, as wellas the bronze plaques and alu-minum historical marker.

The marble Confederate sol-dier, and his granite base, onthe east side of the courthousetook the most work.

The solider was cleanedwith a light, and very fine,blasting of sand. “He wasmildewed pretty good,” Gentrysaid. Gentry also discovered ahairline crack in the soldier’scape. It was easily fixed bybeing filled with epoxy, whichkeeps moisture from gettinginto the crack.

The crack was not seriousbut, over time, it could havegrown, as water would get in,freeze, expand, and enlarge thecrack.

Marble is a much softerstone than granite. That makesit easier to carve, but also moresusceptible to damage, accord-ing to Gentry. The granite basefor the soldier, as well as thegranite base of the WilliamMcIntosh monument, basicallyonly needed a good cleaning.

Gentry said he gave CowetaPublic Buildings Director TomLittle a product that can be puton the stones every few yearsto keep them in good condi-tion.

As for the bronze plaquesand aluminum markers, “yousandblast them back to baremetal,” Gentry said. Then, here-stained them and re-high-

Photo by Jeffrey LeoMatt Gentry of Greater Atlanta Memorials did the repair and clean-ing work on all the stone monuments, as well as the bronzeplaques and aluminum historical marker. The marble Confederatesoldier, and his granite base, on the east side of the courthousetook the most work.

lighted the letters, in a processcalled gilding.

Gentry’s family is in themonument business, and hedoes quite a lot of monumentinstallation and custom sand-blast work. But nearly all of itis in cemeteries.

“This is the first renovationI’ve ever done at a courthouse,so it was pretty neat,” he said.

The two oil paintings wereworked on by Robert Rautonof Bulkhead Fine Restorations.

The two paintings by DavidReese, dating from 1980, werein pretty good shape, Rautonsaid.

“They weren’t really dirty,”he said. “They were dirty, butnothing like we would getfrom something 100 or 150years old,” he said.

The main problem, instead,was what Rauton called a“sheen differential.”

The unevenness of thesheen made it hard to see thepaintings from certain angles,Rauton said. He’s not sureexactly what caused the prob-lem. Rauton said he assumesthat the original varnish wasapplied evenly, but some partsof the painting soaked upmore varnish than others.

“Both had a bit of this,” hesaid. “In our cleaning processwe had to use different sol-vents because different areasof the paintings needed differ-ent levels of cleaning,” he said.

Then there was a tiny bit ofretouch work, and applicationof a new coat of varnish.

Modern soy-based varnisheswill not yellow over time likeoil-based varnishes, Rautonsaid.

Gov. William Yates Atkinson isshown in this photographic por-trait from the Newnan-CowetaHistorical Society collection. It isthe only full-length photo of thegovernor and may have beenused in the painting of a portraitthat once hung in the CowetaCounty Courthouse. The portraitwas given to Meriwether Countyafter new portaits of Atkinson andGov. Ellis Arnall were done for thecourtroom by artist David Reeseand dedicated Feb. 18, 1980.

Gov. Ellis Arnall in the 1970s,speaking to Newnan-CowetaChamber of Commerce.

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As part of the re-opening ofthe historic Coweta CountyCourthouse, a biographer ofEllis Arnall will give a talkabout William Yates Atkinson.

Atkinson and Arnall are thetwo Newnanites who haveserved as Georgia’s governor.Both were progressiveDemocrats who are remem-bered for their efforts toimprove education and boostGeorgia’s economy. HaroldPaulk Henderson, an authorand retired history professor,will speak at the dedication ofthe Georgia Historical Societymarker honoring Atkinson onSunday at 4 p.m. at the court-house.

Henderson is the author of“Georgia Governors in an Ageof Change: Ellis Arnall toGeorge Busbee” and “ThePolitics of Change in Georgia:A Political Biography of EllisArnall.”

Atkinson was Georgia’s 55thgovernor, serving from 1894-1898. Arnall was the state’s 69thgovernor — serving from 1943-1947.

At the conclusion ofHenderson’s lecture Sunday,the program will move outsideonto the grounds for the dedi-cation of the newest monumenton the courthouse grounds.Following the program,Henderson will autographcopies of his books. The twobooks relating to Arnall and“Ernest Vandiver: Governor ofGeorgia” will be available forsale that afternoon.

The placement of the monu-ment is part of an effort by theGHS to commemorate Georgiagovernors in their home com-munities. Locally the markereffort was supported by theNewnan-Coweta HistoricalSociety, the Coweta CountyGenealogical Society and theAtkinson family.

Arnall will not be eligible fora plaque of this kind for severalyears, according to PatriciaPalmer, spokeswoman forCoweta County. The GHS Website indicates markers recogniz-ing individuals “generallyrequire the subject to havebeen deceased 25 years ormore.” Arnall died in 1992.

Atkinson was born Nov. 11,1854 at Oakland plantation inMeriwether County. He wasone of four governors born inMeriwether County. The otherswere Joseph MeriwetherTerrell, who oversaw the estab-lishment of agricultural col-leges; John Marshall Slaton,

who pardoned Leo Frank; andWilliam James Samford, gover-nor of Alabama in 1900-1901.

Atkinson’s father had eightchildren by two marriages. Thefuture governor was a hardworker on the family’s farmand initially seemed not muchinterested in school. His par-ents sent him to a school inGreenville and he went on tograduate from the University ofGeorgia Law School in 1877.

Atkinson opened a law prac-tice in Newnan the followingyear. His brother also moved toNewnan and became theschool superintendent.

Less than a year after hemoved to Newnan, W. Y.Atkinson was appointed countycourt solicitor. He served aspresident of the stateDemocractic convention in1890 and was elected to fourterms in the state legislaturebefore running for governor.

An anti-trust bill, a commis-sion to select textbooks forschool and election reform leg-islation were all accomplish-ments of Atkinson’s adminis-tration. He also establised acommission to study condi-tions in the state’s prisons.

He also advocated the cre-ation of the lieutenant gover-norship, a post not createduntil 1945. Atkinson was knownfor his opposition to lynching,and he personally tried to dis-suade the crowds who lynchedSam Hose in Newnan in 1899.

In 1880, Atkinson marriedSusan Cobb Milton, descendantof Florida Gov. John Milton.They had six children. Theiryoungest, Georgia AtkinsonBradfield, was the only child ofa Georgia governor actuallyborn in the governor’s mansion.Late in life, she became a notedwatercolorist.

Susie Atkinson put together apetition campaign that helpedher husband get legislationpassed to create Georgia StateCollege for Women inMilledgeville. The school isnow known as Georgia Collegeand State University, andAtkinson Hall is a campus land-mark.

William Yates Atkinson diedat 44 on Aug. 8, 1899 — follow-ing a bout with appendicitis.His widow opened an insur-ance agency, got appointed asNewnan’s postmaster, playedthe piano at Newnan’sEpiscopal church and was oneof the first women in Newnanto drive her own car. TheAtkinsons are buried in thePresbyterian Section of OakHill Cemetery.

Ellis Arnall was born on

Arnall biographer to speak about Atkinson SundayMarch 20, 1907 in a WesleyStreet home, where Leslie andCarol Toole now reside.Arnall’s paternal grandparentslived a short walk away in thehome that now belongs to Boband Georgia Shapiro.

The Arnalls were a promi-nent Newnan family. The gov-ernor’s mother, Bessie EllisArnall, was from UnionSprings, Ala. and was distantlyrelated to Cornelia EllisWallace, who was onceAlabama’s first lady.

Arnall grew up in Newnanand was quarterback on theNewnan High School team. Hisfamily was active in CentralBaptist Church.

Arnall attended MercerUniversity briefly and graduat-ed from the University of theSouth in 1928 — majoring inGreek. He followed inAtkinson’s footsteps — earninghis law degree at theUniversity of Georgia.

Returning to Newnan topractice law, Arnall joined theNewnan Civitan Club. In 1932,he was elected to the GeorgiaGeneral Assembly. At 31, hebecame Georgia’s youngestattorney general.

While he was governor,Arnall appointed theUniversity System board ofregents — creating a systemthat insulated the state’s uni-

versities from political pres-sure and ensuring accredita-tion. He led in updating theGeorgia Constitution, workedto modernize the penal systemand led the state to lower thevoting age to 18 and to abolishthe poll tax.

In 1947, Eugene Talmadgewas re-elected governor withM. E. Thompson as lieutenantgovernor. Talmadge’s healthwas poor, and a write-in cam-paign was mounted forTalmadge’s son, Herman.

When Eugene Talmadge diedthree weeks before his termwas to begin, Talmadge sup-porters insisted the legislatureshould pick a successor. Theyelected Herman Talmadge, butArnall refused to relinquish thegovernorship until the matterwas resolved by the courts.Thompson eventually becamegovernor.

Arnall served briefly asdirector of the Office of PriceStabilization during theTruman presidency. In 1966, heran for governor again but wasnot successful. His write-incandidacy left the top two can-didates — Republican Howard“Bo” Callaway and DemocratLester Maddox — without amajority, and the legislaturechose Maddox.

Arnall founded an Atlantalaw firm — Arnall, Golden and

Gregory. The former governorwrote two books, “The ShoreDimly Seen” and “What thePeople Want.” As an attorney,he represented Walt Disney.

Arnall married MildredDelaney Slemons of Orlando,Fla. in 1935. Their son, Alvan,became an attorney. They alsohad a daughter, the late AliceHarty.

Mildred Arnall died in 1981.The following year, the gover-nor married Ruby HamiltonMcCord, a Kentucky nativewho had sold the Arnalls aCadillac. They married atCentral Baptist Church inNewnan but resided in Atlanta.

Ellis Arnall died Dec. 13, 1992.Three former governors —Maddox, Herman Talmadgeand Carl Sanders — wereamong those attending hisfuneral.

A portrait of Atkinson hungfor decades in the main court-room of the historic court-house. New portraits ofAtkinson and Arnall werepainted by David Reese anddedicated in Feb. 1980. Thoseportraits have been cleanedand will be returned to the spotabove the judge’s bench in theupstairs courtroom. The olderAtkinson portrait was given toMeriwether County.

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Turning 94 last week, long-time Coweta public officialLeroy Johnson notes that he’snearly as old as the CowetaCounty Courthouse.

“It’s just a few years olderthan I am,” said Johnson. Buthis mother’s good genes — shelived to be 98 — helped ensurethat Johnson would still bearound to witness the unveil-ing of the new renovation/restoration at the heart of theNewnan Court Square.

“Other than my arthritis, I’mstill in pretty good shape,” saidJohnson, who still drives by thecourthouse on occasion to notethe progress of the old buildingwhere he once met every cou-ple of weeks with his fellowcounty commissioners.

In those days, he recalls, the“whittlers’ club” would congre-gate on the west side of thecourthouse in the morning,then migrate to the east side inthe afternoon, to get out of thesun. Meanwhile, the men whopreferred to spend their timeplaying checkers would typi-cally gather in one corner oranother inside the building.

“I don’t think they ever both-

ered anybody, really,” he said,noting that the whittlers andchecker players were mostlyretired men over 40.

“They’d bring their lunchand they’d be up there all daylong,” he said. “The whittlerswould have these piles of shav-ings all around. They werereally good, though. Theycould make some pretty nicethings.”

He learned very quickly thatit was best not to speak to thegentlemen as he made his wayto the commission chambers inthe northwest corner of thebuilding.

“You’d break their concentra-tion if you talked to them, andthey didn’t much like that,” hesaid. “I don’t know if anyoneplays checkers much thesedays or not.”

Johnson was first elected toserve on the board of commis-sioners on Sept. 8, 1954, to suc-ceed his father, who had diedwhile still in office.

“I was 38 years old, so theylooked on me as a little boy,”said Johnson. “In those days, 38was considered a little tooyoung. So they expected me tosit down and be quiet. But mydaddy had served for 21 yearsbefore me, so I knew a little

something about it. It didn’ttake me too long to get on theirgood side.”

He remembered coming totown was an event when hewas a young boy growing up inTurin on a farm.

“We didn’t get to come totown too much,” he said. “Butwhen we did come, it was quiteamazing to a little fellow likeme.”

Johnson remembers that onthe east side of the CourtSquare there was a Kessler’sstore, Lee-King Drug Store, and

the First National Bank, locatedwhere Brothers Limited is now.

On the north side was anoth-er drug store, a men’s clothingstore, a ladies’ clothing store,and “various little shops,” hesaid.

On the west side of thesquare was the Alamo Theater,another men’s clothing store, adrug store, and two hardwarestores, including the oldJohnson Hardware.

On the south side of thesquare was a “big general mer-chandise store,” a barber shop,and yet another men’s clothingstore.

“On the corner, where theBank of Coweta is now, a fellownamed Mansour had an eatingplace, and he cooked on akerosene stove,” said Johnson.

“Downtown Newnan waspretty active, in those days,” hesaid. “Even the upstairs hadsome small businesses likeinsurance and things like that.It was pretty busy.”

The biggest trial he recalls is,of course, the John Wallacemurder trial that served as thebasis for the book and TV film,“Murder in Coweta County.”

“That was the biggest oneever, in Coweta County,” hesaid.

There were deputies posted

at the door, and “if you wantedto get up and use the restroomor go to Lee-King to get a sand-wich, you’d lose your seat,” hesaid.

“I managed to get a seat forevery day of the trial, but one,”he said.

He remembers that thejurors were sequestered at ahotel where 10 EastWashington Street restaurant isnow located.

Heard County fortune tellerMayhayley Lancaster’s testimo-ny made a particular impres-sion on him, he said.

“Wallace had been to see her,and she knew he was guilty,”said Johnson. “She had all thesedifferent stances she’d make.But with her statements, shestuck to her word.”

Various renovations andrepairs were done to the court-house during the four decadesJohnson served as county com-missioner, but none as exten-sive as those undertaken thistime around, he said.

“We would repaint and fixthe ceiling,” he said. “But wedidn’t have much money, youknow. We talked about puttingan elevator in at one time, andyou talk about getting chewedout — whew! The people didn’tlike it. So we didn’t do that.”

Leroy Johnson, and father, served inCoweta Courthouse as commissioners

Leroy Johnson in his days as aCoweta County Commissioner.

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t is hard to believe that only 30 minutes south of Atlanta you can find a place so charming, so historic, so embracing of the past, yet so

welcoming to the future.

Visit Newnan, known as the “City of Homes” and where country music star Alan Jackson once walked. Explore museums in Moreland that honor Southern humorist Lewis Grizzard and literary genius Erskine Caldwell. Stroll through Roscoe’s Dunaway Gardens, a breathtaking floral rock garden. Shop for antiques or take a driving tour in the historic districts of Senoia, Grantville, Newnan, and Sharpsburg.

You will definitely want to Explore Coweta!

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Newnan, Georgia 30263www.explorecoweta.com

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By ALEX [email protected]

From the top of the newly-renovated Coweta CountyCourthouse, you can look in anydirection and see the stamp puton downtown Newnan byHeadley Construction.

Bill Headley, who founded thecompany in 1971, says he isgrateful his company wasselected to do the work that hasturned the aging 1904 architec-tural icon into a showplace thatwill soon serve again as thesymbolic and civic heart ofCoweta County.

“Our company motto is‘Building A Better World,’”Headley says. “And we’ve doneplenty of projects in downtownNewnan. But our office is justfour blocks from the courthouseand we see it every day whenwe come to work. This hasn’tbeen our biggest job, but it wasvery important to our family tobe involved.”

Bill’s son Mitch, who nowserves as company president,echoes his father’s sentiments,

saying, “We wanted to be a partof this project because of ourrelationship with Newnan andCoweta County. It would beheartbreaking having to driveby that courthouse every dayand see someone else doing thework.”

Headley Construction willcelebrate its 40th anniversarynext year, but had only beenopen eight years when it did itsfirst work on the courthouse —repairing the dome during 1979and 1980.

“It was a mess,” Bill Headleysays. “Once we stripped themetal covering off the dome wewere surprised at what wefound, including lots of bulletholes. It was from people shoot-ing at pigeons. They’ve alwaysbeen a problem up there.”

Mitch Headley was stillattending high school at thetime and didn’t work on the ‘79 -‘80 dome restoration, but hadalready made a contribution tothe Court Square by then. Mitchis one of four Headley sons.Mitch and Luke work forHeadley Construction while

Matthew operates his own busi-ness, Headley Heating & AirConditioning. Bill, Jr. servednine years in the U.S. Navy andis now a family physician inJesup, Ga.

All four boys earned the EagleScout designation while mem-bers of Troop 57 at CentralBaptist Church.

For his Eagle Scout project,Mitch decided to clean theConfederate statue that standson the east side of the court-house. After receiving permis-sion from the county, Mitcherected scaffolding, summonedthe rest of the scout troop andeveryone scrubbed and cleaneduntil the statue looked good asnew.

“I didn’t get paid for thatCourt Square job,” Mitch says.“But I got a lot of satisfactionfrom it.”

While Mitch doesn’t remem-ber the work involved with the‘79 - ‘80 dome repair, he doesremember something else.During the job, Bill Sr., anAuburn graduate, hung up ahuge “War Eagle” sign on a scaf-

fold. He says he was urged to doit by the late Bill “Whupper”Lee, an Auburn alumni and for-mer cheerleader who ownedLee-King Drugs, which at thetime stood across from thecourthouse on East CourtSquare.

The Auburn banner goteveryone’s attention, but failedas a recruiting tool. At least forMitch, who later attended andgraduated from Georgia Tech.

When Headley Constructionwasn’t working on the court-house, employees were busy onnumerous other projects in his-toric downtown Newnan.Highlights include work on theBank of Coweta’s Court Squarebuilding, the adjacent lawoffices of Rosenzweig, Jones,Horne & Griffis, P.C., CentralBaptist Church, First BaptistChurch, First United MethodistChurch of Newnan, NewnanPresbyterian Church, theCommercial House, Bank ofAmerica, the downtownNewnan fire station, severalbuildings used by CowetaCounty, and The Times-Herald

offices on Jefferson Street.Headley’s work also includes

renovations and additions to itsown offices just across the rail-road tracks from downtown andthe conversion of the formerNewnan Cotton Mill to loftapartments.

“It was always important forus to be visible in our home-town,” Bill says. “That was oneof our goals, to be part of thecommunity and we’re proud ofwhat we’ve done here.”

The current courthouse reno-vation was actually two differ-ent jobs. The first, done threeyears ago by Headley, involved aselective demolition in the oldcourthouse once all countyemployees vacated and movedinto the Coweta County JusticeCenter or other county offices. The demolition involved tear-

ing out all “modern” additions(“modern” meaning as recent asthe 1970s), stripping walls backto the original plaster, removingwalls that had been added overthe years and removing dropceilings.

Headleys put family stamp on Newnan

Photo by Bob FraleyHeadley Construction has put its stamp on the Coweta County Courthouse and much of downtown Newnan. Bill Headley, right, founded the Newnan-based company in1971. His son Mitch, left, is now company president and headed the recent courthouse restoration.



“Before the new renovationwas done, everyone had to seewhat was there to start with sothey could study the structureand plan to rebuild it as close aspossible to the original,” Mitchsays. “So we took it down to thebare bones.”

Once Headley started the cur-rent renovation, Mitch and Billweren’t surprised when somesurprises showed up.

“When you do a historicalrenovation, the most importantthing is defining the scope ofwork and planning for unex-pected contingencies,” Bill says.“We knew we’d find things wedidn’t expect — and sureenough, we did. But we wereable to handle it.”

The biggest challenge was thestructural restoration of thecourthouse dome prior torecovering the structure withnew copper. Once work began,everyone was surprised to learnthat the dome had actually shift-ed and was leaning by threeinches.

County employees theorizedthe dome may have been shiftedoff center years ago when windsfrom a gulf coast hurricaneblew through town, causingextensive flooding and heavywind damage.

“They thought maybe thewind got under the dome andmoved it,” Mitch said.

The three-inch lean was just

one of many problems. “Whenwe looked in there it was quitealarming,” he said. “We had tobasically start from scratch andrebuild the structural supports.”

Mitch says another majorconcern was the 800-pound bellinside the dome. “It shouldn’thave even been standing,” hesays. “There was basically noth-ing holding it up.”

The biggest problem wasjacking up the huge dome so itcould be stabilized and leveled.The work involved building anew foundation for the domerunning almost all the way tothe building’s floor. But the jobwas done to everyone’s satisfac-tion.

While the structural workwas going on, Headley officialsworked with the architects whostudied layers of old paint andfreshly-uncovered floors todetermine original colors andfinishes for the restoration.

“We all worked together tomake sure we got it right,” Billsays. “It was a team effort andeverybody gave it their best.”

Renovations includedupgrading all mechanical sys-tems and retrofitting the struc-ture to meet current buildingcodes and handicapped accessrequirements. Even the old boil-er and steam piping wereremoved from the basement.

“I think it’s going to be betterthan ever,” Bill says. “Theupgrades make it easier for

everyone to use the buildingand have access to it.”

The Headleys expected tofind some unexpected items inthe nooks and crannies of theold building and weren’t sur-prised when workers cameacross an old rotating wiredrum basket formerly used forjury selection. Names ofprospective jurors were writtenon slips of paper and put in thebasket, which was rotated toshuffle the papers before jurors’names were drawn.

“The workers thought it wassomething for playing bingo,Mitch says. “They’d never seenanything like it.”

Headley Construction’s two-year labor of love is now com-plete and the public will have achance to savor the resultswhen official grand openingceremonies are held in just afew days.

No one is more excited thanBill and Mitch Headley.

“We always wanted to beinvolved in local projects likethis,” Mitch says. “This isn’t mybiggest project, but it’s the mostimportant to me. Best of all, itssomething I can look at everyday.”

“Our goal has always been tobe a family business that caresabout the community,” Bill says.“We put everything we had intothis job and we’re proud of ourwork. I hope everyone will bepleased, and I think they will.”

[Continued from Page 12]

Headleys oversee two courthouse projects

Photo by Jeffrey LeoThe glass clock faces were cracked and broken but the metal num-bers and clock hands were salvaged. “We were able to saveenough of the original glass that was not damaged to combine andcomplete the outside portion of one of the clock faces,” said archi-tect Courtney Swann. “The rest was replaced with new glass.”

Photo by Jeffrey LeoExtensive work was done to the structure of the courthouse clocktower and the copper coverings and decoration. Ultimately, fullreplacement using remaining copper cladding as patterns was themost economical approach. Deterioration of wood in parts of thetower was more than expected, at some levels the entire exterior wallstructure had to be rebuilt, said architect Courtney Swann. Some ofthe shoring, such as a “wagon wheel” support for the bottom ring ofthe dome has been left in place, a reminder of the work that wasrequired and for peace of mind, he said.

Photo by Jeffrey Leo

With its fresh copper-clad clock tower now weathering to a “dull penny” glow, the 1904 CowetaCounty Courthouse was being made ready for its Sept. 18-19, 2010, grand reopening.


Photo by Bob FraleyResearch taking core samples of the walls and trim determined the original color palette and finishesfor the courtroom from 1904. The colors are rich and nature based. The trim features a faux finish,making the pine look like a more expensive oak.

The citizens of CowetaCounty voted in 2005 for thehistoric Coweta CountyCourthouse renovation projectto be part of the 2006 SpecialPurpose Local Option Sales Tax.

The project was funded withone percent sales tax paid by allwho shop in Coweta, explainedCoweta Public Affairs DirectorPatricia Palmer.

Because of the courthouse’simportance to all of Coweta, theeight Coweta County munici-palities agreed to contribute aportion of their SPLOST pro-ceeds to help cover the renova-tion costs.

The courthouse belongs to

the taxpayers of Coweta Countyand is maintained by CowetaCounty Government, Palmernoted. The Coweta CountyBoard of Commissioners award-ed the project contracts whilecounty staff oversaw the workand handled the day-to-daydecisions.

A citizens committee on thecourthouse renovation hadmembers appointed by eachcounty commissioner, by theNewnan City Council and bythe Newnan DowntownDevelopment Authority.

Jack Pyburn & Associates wasawarded the renovation projectas architect. Pyburn joined

Lord, Aeck & Sargent before theproject began significantly butremained as primary architec-tural firm.

Headley Construction ofNewnan was awarded the con-struction contract.

Coweta Superior Court wasthe sole occupant of the historicCoweta County Courthousewhen the last court operationsmoved out to the Justice Centeron Greenville Street.

Coweta Probate Court andthe Coweta Convention andVisitors Bureau were selected asthe occupants for the court-house building following therestoration.

Coweta’s citizens voted tofund courthouse renovation

Photo by Sarah CampbellMasterfaux President Kathy Corum adds faux wood grain to woodtrim in the courtroom of the 1904 Coweta County Courthouse.Walls of the large second floor courtroom have been painted invarious shades of green — reproductions of the original colorscheme. The faux graining was used originally by the courthousebuilders so that lower quality, unmatched wood could be used,thus saving money. Basically all the wood, except for the floors, inthe public areas of the has been faux painted, said Coweta PublicAffairs Director Patricia Palmer.

Photo by Bob FraleyThe horseshoe-shaped table was refinished and replaced in the grand jury room. Two of the originalchairs from the grand jury room were located and were in good enough shape to be refinished andinstalled. Seen at the far end, they are a darker color than the new, similar, chairs.

Photo by Bob FraleySafety glass was installed behind the low balcony railings in thecourtroom.


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James Wingfield Golucke,the king of Georgia courthous-es and designer of the historicCoweta County Courthouse, isburied in a historic cemeteryin eastern Georgia — his roleas a courthouse architectunheralded.

Golucke is buried in theCrawfordville Cemetery in his-toric Crawfordville, countyseat of Georgia’s least populat-ed county. The cemetery wasgiven by Alexander HamiltonStephens, a prominent 19thcentury Georgia politician whoserved as vice president of theConfederacy.

Stephens’ home, LibertyHall, is now a state historicsite. It is in sight of the ceme-tery where Golucke rests.

Coweta’s courthouse —beloved by local citizens and a

magnet for filmmakers — isone of 19 designed by Goluckethat still stands. Another nineare no more.

Ross King, executive directorof the Association of CountyCommissioners Georgia, com-mented on how often Golucke’sname pops up in informationabout courthouses from theturn of the last century.

“He had a phenomenal riseto fame; and although he hadno formal training, he becameone of the most famous andcritically acclaimed architectsof his time,” wrote Rhoda Fone,a genealogist related toGolucke’s wife.

Georgia writer and historianWilber W. “Pete” Caldwell saidthere is no doubt that Goluckedesigned more Georgia court-houses than any other person.Caldwell is the author of “TheCourthouse and the Depot:The Architecture of Hope in

Coweta courthouse designer was prolifican Age of Despair.”

Golucke was born June 14,1857 in Wilkes County. Hisfather was Edmond Golucke,who was born in the LucogeKingdom in Westphalia — nowpart of Austria — in 1827.Edmond Golucke, who changedthe spelling of his surnamefrom Goluche, came toAmerica in 1848.

Caldwell described EdmondGolucke as “an Austrian cabi-net maker.”

In 1854, Edmond Goluckemarried Cornelia SusanWingfield, a Wilkes Countybelle. She was the daughter ofJames Nelson Wingfield andSusan Gordon Wingfield.Cornelia Golucke had four chil-dren before she died in 1862.

Fone — in a post onRootsweb — listed the inscrip-tion from Cornelia Golucke’stombstone at ResthavenCemetery in Washington, Ga.— “She was a devoted wife andmother, a dutiful daughter, kindand affectionate sister and asincere steadfast friend to herfamily. Her death has caused avacancy which is uncompara-ble; they have the consolationthough they are left to mournher loss, she has only passedthrough the land of the dead tolive through a happy andunending eternity.”

The following year, EdmondGolucke married his wife’s

younger sister, Leonora SabinaWingfield. They also had a son.

The Golucke family movedfrom Washington — in WilkesCounty — to Crawfordvillebetween 1870 and 1880. OnApril 21, 1878, James WingfieldTerrell married AnnuletDarracott, a Taliaferro Countynative. Rhoda Fone postedinformation about J. W. and her“Aunt Annie” on Rootsweb. Shenoted that Annie Golucke’sgrandmother, Ann ConnellAndrews Chapman, was firstmarried to Marcus Andrews, abrother of Garnett Andrews, aprominent writer, judge, U. S.Congressman and unsuccessfulcandidate for Georgia governor.

According to Fone, J. W. andAnnie Golucke were living inHancock County in 1880. By1889 they were living inAtlanta where he wasemployed as a machinist at theWoodward Lumber Company,she reported.

By the early 1890s, he was inAtlanta where “he worked for asash and door company,”Caldwell said.

Golucke “was evidently quitegifted,” Caldwell said, and putup a shingle describing himselfas an architect. His first court-house projects were in 1894 inJohnson County and PikeCounty.

“There was no accreditationfor architects” at that time,

according to Caldwell. Fewschools in the country —fewer in the South — taughtarchitecture. Some architectstrained in Europe, and othershad been apprenticed to expe-rienced architects. Many —

Golucke’s courthousesacross Georgia

The following Georgia courthouse projects are among thoseattributed to James Wingfield Golucke. He also designedcourthouses in Alabama and perhaps other states.

1895 - Johnson County-Wrightsville 1895 - Pike County-Zebulon 1897 - Henry County-McDonough - Similar design to Union

County's Courthouse, undergoing a $3 million restoration.1898 - Clayton County-Jonesboro1898 - Habersham County-Clarkesville 1899 - DeKalb County-Decatur1899 - Cobb County-Marietta 1899 - Union County-Blairsville 1900 - Schley County-Ellaville - Similar design to Union

County's Courthouse1900 - Baker County-Newton - Similar design to Union

County's Courthouse1901 - Fannin County-Blue Ridge 1901 - Hart County-Hartwell1901 - Madison County-Danielsville 1902 - Tattnall County-Reidsville1902-03 - Bartow County-Cartersville1902-03 - Meriwether County-Greenville1902-03 - Pierce County-Blackshear1902-03 - Twiggs County-Jeffersonville 1904-05 - Cowetta County-Newnan1905 - Forsyth County-Cumming 1905 - Morgan County-Madison1905 - Putnam County-Eatonton1905-06 - Jones County-Gray - Similar design to Union

County's Courthouse1905-06 - Worth County1906 - Toombs County-Lyons

Source: Union County Historical Society Web site —http://unioncountyhistory.org/page43/page51/page54/page55/page55.html

The gravesite of JamesWingfield Golucke inCrawfordville makes no men-tion of his role as a designer ofnumerous Georgia courthouses,including Coweta County’s.


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like Golucke — simply adaptedskills they had to designingsuch structures.

Golucke’s early designs wereRomanesque. After 1900, hemoved toward the ClassicalRevival style easily recogniza-ble in such courthouses as theones in Newnan and one coun-ty south in Greenville. One ofhis most prominent projectswas the granite DeKalb CountyCourthouse in Decatur — theonly one not constructed withbrick.

Like most architects of theperiod, Golucke often reusedplans. The Hart CountyCourthouse has the samedesign as the one in DeKalb,except in brick. Courthouses inMcDonough, Gray, Newton,Sylvester and Blairsville weredesigned by Golucke and arealmost identical.

“Certainly, the one inNewnan is notable,” Caldwellsaid. He noted that mostClassical Revival courthousesof the time featured white trim,but the Coweta courthouse hasdark trim.

Golucke came on the sceneat a time when counties acrossGeorgia were building new,grand courthouses in anticipa-tion of an economic boom asrailroad service expandedacross the South. Caldwellnoted the Coweta courthouse

was built at a time that a newrail route was being plannedfrom Raymond to Columbus.

Golucke popularized adesign that featured porticoson each of a courthouse’s foursides. “I don’t think that wasGolucke’s original idea,”Caldwell said.

Golucke had a reputation foroffering lower bids than otherAtlanta architects for court-house projects. He was notpopular with many of his com-petitors who sometimes criti-cized his lack of training. “Hewas getting all the work,”Caldwell noted.

Golucke also designedGandy Glover’s home onTemple Avenue in Newnan.The Queen Anne home hasbeen used in TV and film pro-ductions including mostrecently television series“October Road” and the movie“Get Low” starring RobertDuvall and Bill Murray.Golucke’s other projectsincluded at least two Alabamacourthouses, the SpaldingCounty Jail and Locust GroveInstitute in Henry County.

In Milledgeville, he designedbuildings at Central StateHospital and Terrell Hall onthe Georgia College and StateUniversity campus.

In 1907, Golucke was jailed inBaker County for alleged mis-appropriation of funds in con-nection with building that

county’s courthouse. He unsuc-cessfully attempted suicide atthe jail in Newton on Oct. 5,1907. He wrote that he couldnot stand the confinement inthe jail and the disgrace it hadbrought upon him and his fam-ily. Golucke maintained hisinnocence, but admitted he hadfailed to closely follow thecourthouse’s construction.

There have been rumors thatGolucke “was framed by somelocal boys,” but those storieshave never been verified,Caldwell said.

On Oct. 26, 1907, JamesWingfield Golucke died. He“died down in Baker County injail,” Caldwell stated. Thearchitect’s death has beenattributed both to gastritis andto “brain fever.”

A marker at the entrance tothe Crawfordville Cemeterynotes the property was a giftfrom Stephens in 1873. In anarea close to the entrance arethe graves of several blackTaliaferro County residentswho were servants of Stephensand his family. Stephens andhis brother, Linton, are buried ashort walk away on thegrounds of Liberty Hall.

James Wingfield Golucke isburied in the family plot withhis father, a brother and a hisfather’s second wife. His tomb-stone lists simply his name anddates of birth and death. Otherfamily members are buried

elsewhere in the cemetery.A visible reminder of the

courthouse king’s family formsa focal point of Crawfordville’sdowntown area. Golucke Parkincludes a mural, greenspaceand benches and picnic tables

made of rock.A bandstand sits at one end

of the park, which was dedicat-ed in 1997 in memory of MaryMcCord Golucke, who marriedRalph Wesley Golucke, one ofthe architect’s nephews.

Golucke’s work was prolific[Continued from Page 15]

Photo by Bob FraleyScaffolding is removed after copper work on the clock tower wascompleted in Oct. 2009. All the copper on the dome and cupolawas replaced as part of the $7.5 million restoration. That includedthe painstaking reproduction of dozens of ornamental pieces. Sheetmetal contractor, Steinrock Roofing and Sheet Metal, was recog-nized with the 2010 Copper in Architecture Award for the work.


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By SARAH FAY [email protected]

Twenty-two years afterCoweta County Probate Courtmoved from the 1904 CowetaCounty Courthouse, it’s movingback.

Probate Court will occupythree of the four quadrants ofthe first floor of the courthouse,and will also use the offices,and courtroom, on the secondfloor.

The move — and it will be abig one — will likely start theweekend after the courthouseopening events on Sept. 19.

Probate Judge Mary Cranfordsaid that plans are to move vari-ous divisions over a few week-ends.

She’s a little nervous. “I guessit’s the waiting that gets to you,”she said. “It’s not nervous somuch as… just knowing whatwe’re in for,” she said. “A periodof confusion where everythingis just not going to be in place

and working the entire time,”she said.

“The plan is to keep bothoffices functioning as much aspossible, to move it piecemeal,”she said.

The most important part ofthe move will be transportingthousands of records to the twovaults waiting at the court-house.

Probate Court is home tomany of the oldest records inCoweta County.

It has all the Coweta Countymarriage records and estaterecords, such as wills, datingback to 1826. There are also allthe birth and death recordsback to 1919.

And those are just the majorrecords. There are oaths ofoffice issued to county officials,f irearms licenses, and allrecords from guardianships andrecords regarding mentally illpeople. Until 1973, those wereknown as “lunacy” records.

Probate Courtmoving back tocourthouse

Photo by Sarah CampbellCoweta Probate Judge Mary Cranford displays a will index book. Pictured is a hand-written copy of awill from 1853.[Continued on Page 18]


There are also “old recordswe don’t do anymore,” Cranfordsaid, including plat books andeven “whiskey records.”

“There is definitely a lot ofhistory in here,” Cranford said.

The estate records, marriagerecords, and many other recordsare public documents and willbe in the pubic vault.

The estate records are popu-lar amongst historians andresearchers.

“Reading old wills can bevery interesting,” Cranford said.

Birth and death records,guardianship and mental illnessrecords, and firearms licensesare not public, and are in thenon-public vault.

Many non-public records canbe accessed by family members— for instance, you can look upthe birth and death certificatesof your ancestors.

There are at least two copiesof every public record. There isthe original will or marriagelicense, and a copy of it in theindex.

The oldest indexes containhand-written copies of wills andlicenses. The entire will is re-copied into the index. Morerecent records are photocopiedinto the indexes.

The newest records aren’t inindex books at all. Instead, theyare scanned in and are availabledigitally.

Many older records have alsobeen scanned in, and can belooked at on computers in theProbate Court offices.

Rarely, if ever, does someonesee the actual original record.

Instead, they use the indexes forresearch.

The oldest records are triplefolded and stored in smallboxes. More modern recordsare double-folded and stored inlarger file boxes. The newestrecords are stored unfolded, instandard file folders.

For all their age, the records,stored in fire proof and temper-ature-controlled vaults, haveheld up pretty well, Cranfordsaid.

“You will get some that arevery delicate when you openthem up,” she said. She has putsome into flat files, but whenrecords are already folded, it’sbest to leave them that way.

The probate court was found-ed at the same time CowetaCounty was. Originally, it wascalled the “Inferior Court.”Later, it became the Court ofOrdinary. Then, in the 1970s, thename was changed to ProbateCourt.

Probate Court has three maindivisions: licensing, probate, andguardianship.

Each division will occupy onequadrant at the courthouse.Interestingly enough, theConvention and Visitors Bureauwill be located in the northeastquadrant that used to houseProbate Court.

When county officials werediscussing uses for the restoredcourthouse, everyone knewthey wanted to have a govern-ment function there — ideally, acourt function.

Cranford wasn’t in favor of itbeing her office.

“I was… against it because Iknew what it was going to do.

Not that it isn’t a beautiful oldcourthouse, and a lovely placeto work,” she said. “But knowingmy office and how it functions…knowing it is going to take morepeople, it’s going to cost more.”

Cranford has six employees.Each works in a particular divi-sion, but the way things are now,they can cover for each otherand help each other.

In the courthouse, they willbe in separate areas.

Cranford said she talked tothe commissioners about theproblem several years ago andthey agreed to add the person-nel “I would need to make itwork,” she said. She’s asked fortwo additional part-timeemployees.

There will be advantages, ofcourse.

A real courtroom is one. Thecurrent probate courtroom atthe County AdministrationBuilding on East Broad Street issmall. The reception area forthe public in the court officescan get very cramped at times.And there are no judge’s cham-bers, or conference rooms forfamily members.

“The new courtroom willfunction much better,” Cranfordsaid. There will be plenty ofroom for video education forguardians and conservators,judge’s chambers, and otherrooms for meetings and confer-ences that are needed as part ofthe sometimes heart-wrenchingand controversial guardianshipprocedures.

“It is going to be nice to havethat kind of space,” Cranfordsaid.

Probate Court returning[Continued from Page 17]

In addition to Judge Mary Cranford, Coweta County Probate Courthas six employees. Left to right are Debbie Conner, Hellen Ferrell,Ernestine Wingfield, Jan Dukes, and Bonnie Cowles. Not pictured isMelissa Key.

Indexes contain all the records at Coweta Probate Court, includingmarriage licenses. For many years, marriage licenses were separat-ed by race.


Robert Dearman callsNewnan home and for f iveyears worked almost in theshadow of the Coweta CountyCourthouse — which hisgrandfather helped build.

Dearman was a firefighterfor the City of Newnan from1964-1969 when the city firedepartment was located onLaGrange Street near theCarnegie Library. His grandfa-ther, John Thomas Dearman,was a brick mason who workedon the courthouse, which has

recently been restored.Information gathered by

Marie M. Lewis, a family histo-rian, shows Tom Dearman andhis wife, Emma, had been mar-ried one year when the 1900U.S. Census was taken. Thetwo — he was 21 years old andshe was 22 — were living inNewnan with relatives.

Their residing in Newnanmade it easy for Thomas tofind work with R. D. ColeCompany when the courthousewas being constructed in 1903.At least two of their childrenwere born while they were inNewnan — Roy Samuel in 1900and Ruby in 1902. Another

daughter, Sybil, was born in1905.

Tom and Emma Dearmaneventually moved to Unadilla.They were living in that southGeorgia town when their lastchild, Marvin, was born March4, 1906.

Emma Dearman died inchildbirth. For a time, all thechildren lived with TomDearman’s sister, Mamie.According to information pre-pared by Lewis, “Marvin wasvery tiny, and Mamie wouldtake a pitcher and get goats’milk to feed him.”

In 1908, Tom Dearman mar-ried again. He and his second

wife, Jessie Lee, had a son,Robert Guy. The children fromhis first marriage came to livewith him — except Marvin,who grew up with his aunt. She“raised him as her own,”according to Lewis’s research.

Robert Dearman also knewthat his father had grown up inhis aunt’s home, and thatWillard Dean, a prominentlocal pastor for many years,was also from that family.

John Thomas Dearman diedJune 15, 1935 — when RobertDearman was less than twoyears old. “I never knew any ofthem,” he said.

Robert Dearman said he

grew up “in the old mill villageover on Berry Avenue.” MarvinDearman, who was a supervi-sor at the textile mill, died ofcancer in 1947 after a long hos-pital stay.

It is said that Tom and JessieDearman were musically tal-ented and — at one time —played in a Salvation Armyband. Jessie Lee Dearman latermarried David T. McAbee andlived in Spartanburg, S.C.

Tom Dearman and manyother Cowetans found workbuilding the 1903 courthouse,which stands as a lasting trib-ute to their craftsmanship.

Tom Dearman recalled as worker atcourthouse during construction in 1903


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The need for the renovationproject at the 1904 CowetaCounty Courthouse had sever-al triggers — movement ofCoweta Superior Court to thenew Justice Center buildingon Greenville Street, require-ments of new tenants, needfor an elevator and otherimprovements, and ongoingrepairs that indicated moresignificant issues neededattention.

In 2005, a citizens committeewas appointed by the CowetaCounty Board ofCommissioners with somemembers selected by theNewnan City Council to helpdetermine what offices shouldbe located in the courthouse,explained Coweta CountyPublic Affairs DirectorPatricia Palmer, who servedon the committee.

“After that job was complete,this committee provided feed-back on issues throughout thebuilding process and thenplanned opening festivities,”she said.

“It was clear from the begin-ning that we would not fullyknow the condition of the sup-porting structure of the domeand clock tower until the cop-per and the interior structurewas removed,” she said. The

framework supporting thedome proved to be in worseshape than anyone could haveknown.

There were also questionsabout the interior finishes, thefloor, chair styles, light fix-tures, landscape and more.

“Some we were able todetermine and some we hadto make decisions based onthe best estimates of whatmight have been in place atthat time,” she said. Photos ofthe courtroom were scarce,but citizens stepped forwardwith photos that showed theoriginal chairs and judge’sbench.

In the fall of 2008 as the ren-ovation was about to be get-ting under way in earnest bycontractor HeadleyConstruction of Newnan,Steve and Susan West ofNewnan shared “before andafter” views of the courtroomfrom the mid 1970s. The pic-tures were hanging in Steve’soffice from a five-year renova-tion completed in 1975 thatwas done by his father,William C. West. The court-room had dark wood trim andauditorium-type seats beforethe 1970 remodel, whenlighter-colored wood bench-type seating was installed, the

What triggeredrenovation?

This “before” view of the courtroom was provided by Steve andSusan West of Newnan. It was among pictures that were hanging inSteve’s office from a five-year renovation completed in 1975 doneby his father, William C. West. The courtroom had dark wood trimand auditorium-type seats before the 1970 remodel, when lightbench-type seating was installed, the pictures showed.

Photo by Bob FraleyIn April 2008 project architect Courtney Swann takes photos of some of the damaged areas on thecourthouse dome from a bucket hoisted by a crane.

pictures showed. Lord, Aeck & Sargent archi-

tect Courtney Swann notes,“In rehabilitating the historicCoweta County Courthouse,as with any rehabilitation proj-ect focused on preservationand restoration, the need forhistoric documentation isalways a force behind deci-sions.”

Exterior documentation was

readily available in the form ofphotographs and historic post-cards, he said.

But, he added, “It took acommunity wide requesthowever, to obtain any photo-graphic documentation of theinterior of the courtroom.The interior photos providedthe information for the origi-nal configuration of thejudge’s bench as well as the

type of seating that existed inthe courtroom audience.”

Another level of documenta-tion that was undertaken wasa paint analysis to determinethe original paint colors. Thisanalysis revealed the use offaux wood graining to give theappearance of stained and var-nished wood along with thehistoric color scheme for thewalls, Swann said.


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This is a cross section of a paintchip removed from the plaster“pilaster shaft” in the courtroom,viewed through a microscope.

Photo by Bob FraleyGetting a look at the Coweta County Courthouse courtroom in April 2007 before the latest restorationare participants in a state “Heart and Soul” bus tour. Leading the group to see the grand jury roomand courtroom was Newnan City Councilman George Alexander, left; and helping share the court-house history was local history buff Elizabeth Beers, back. In the 1970s the light-colored wood benchseating shown here was installed and a light paint scheme added.

As near as anyone can tell,the courtroom on the secondfloor looks virtually identical tothe way it did in 1904.

Research taking core samplesof the walls and trim deter-mined the original color paletteand finishes. The colors arerich and nature based, saidCoweta Public Affairs DirectorPatricia Palmer, who served onthe Courthouse RestorationCommittee.

The trim features a faux fin-ish, making the pine look like amore expensive oak. This isalso on some of the originalplaster trim, Palmer said. In1904, it was cheaper to use theless expensive wood and pay

Courtroom restored to 1904 appearance, colors the labor to finish the wood in away that made it look moreexpensive.

The metal ceiling tiles of thecourtroom were retained andrepaired. Some of the tiles weremodified for installation of sup-plemental lighting, fire suppres-sion, and sound system speak-ers.

The four chandelier fixturesare not historic but in keepingwith the context of the court-room.

Thanks to the photos sharedby community members, it wasdetermined that the originalseating in the courtroom waswood backed, metal framedindividual theater-style seats.

“That era seat has been addedon the main floor and pew seat-ing is in the balcony,” Palmersaid. The balcony railingrequired glass panels for safety.

The main courtroom flooringis cork. An original piece of thecork flooring was found underthe jury box, confirming its useoriginally, Palmer said.

Wood and concrete hexago-nal tiles complete flooringthrough the rest of the building.

All the windows were refur-bished, and interior fixed tran-som windows above the opera-ble windows are once againexposed.

Halls were painted in theoriginal color scheme as sup-ported by the finish analysis,Palmer said.

“There was no documenta-tion of the historic light fixturesfor the halls, so again the selec-tion of fixtures that were inkeeping with the context of thebuilding and provided sufficientlighting were the primary con-siderations,” she said.

The horseshoe-shaped tablewas refinished and replaced inthe grand jury room in the sec-ond floor northwest corner.

Two of the original chairsfrom the grand jury room werelocated and were in good

enough shape to be refinishedand installed in the room,Palmer said. The rest of thechairs in the grand jury room,the jury box, jury room and theconference room are new andvery similar to the original indesign and style.

Following the weekend grandopening Sept. 18-19, 2010, theCoweta Convention andVisitors Bureau and CowetaProbate Court offices will fillthe first floor’s four quadrants.

Modifications for new walls

were necessary in the officequadrants to meet the users’needs, Palmer said.

Even though the ProbateCourt will no longer beaccessed in one space, three ofthe quadrants of the first floorof the courthouse will house aspecific function of the ProbateCourt.

The Visitors Center and CVBoffice will occupy the fourth,northeast quadrant — years agothe space of Probate Court.

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Old buildings can’t speak forthemselves but if the newly-renovated Coweta CountyCourthouse could pick aspokesperson, it might beVernon “Mutt” Hunter, whohas probably logged moretime in the building than anyliving resident of CowetaCounty.

Hunter, now 82, has calledCoweta home his entire life.He started working for CowetaCounty on Friday, Jan. 13, 1950as a records keeper at theCoweta County Prison. Hewas 19 years old and had justmarried his wife, Sue.

Several years later, Hunterhad earned a degree inaccounting and moved to thecourthouse to serve as chiefadministrative assistant toCharlie Arnall, longtime Clerkof the Coweta CountyCommission. At the time,there was no county adminis-trator and Hunter says theClerk of the Commission ranthe county’s official business.

“It was a different way ofdoing things back then,”Hunter says. “Mr. Charlie wasin charge of everything. Andhe got things done.”

Hunter had been at thecourthouse less than a yearwhen Arnall retired andHunter took over asCommission Clerk. By then hefelt he was ready to move onto a bigger job than he hadever dreamed of while grow-ing up.

“For a man who came out ofthe cotton fields, I finallymade it to town,” he says. “Iwas doing pretty good.”

One of Hunter’s first priori-ties was improving personalhygiene conditions in thebuilding. Tobacco chewingwas common and cuspidorswere scattered all over thebuilding to accommodate theflood of tobacco juice. Hunterknew it was a problem whenhe accidentally stuck his footunder a table and it landedsquarely in a spittoon.

“I told everybody thosethings had to go,” Hunter says.“They pretty much went awayby themselves. I’m not surewhere they went but they allgot gone.”

At the time, all the county’smajor office holders worked inthe courthouse.

In addition to Hunter, TheTax Commissioner, Clerk ofSuperior Court, Justice of thePeace and Probate Judgecalled the courthouse home, asdid Coweta Sheriff LamarPotts.

“If you had a big county job

you were in there,” Huntersays. “It was truly the center ofeverything that went on. Justabout everybody in the countycame by one time or anotherto pay taxes, pay fines, getmarriage licenses and any-thing else you can think of.Folks were always there.”

And they were always underattack from what Hunter calls“the biggest problem I hadwhile I worked at the court-house.”

He isn’t referring to corruptpoliticians, but unruly pigeonsthat terrorized citizens fromdaylight to dusk before retreat-ing to their roosts in the court-house eaves and dome.

“Those things made a mess,”Hunter says. “You couldn’t walkacross the street without gettingbothered. Everybody com-plained and I knew somethinghad to be done.”

Someone suggested puttingout a granular chemical reputedto a be a good pigeon poison.Hunter ordered the substance tobe spread around the upperreaches of the courthouse, butsoon heard a rumor that thesubstance was harmful tohumans, too.

“They said if a pigeondropped a pellet on a bald man’shead it would kill him,” Huntersays. “I sure didn’t want that.”

Hunter called the companythat made the substance andwhen officials didn’t deny theproduct’s deadliness, Hunterhad the poison removed.

Luckily, another solutionappeared when a county main-tenance worker asked permis-sion to shoot the pigeons.Hunter approved, but didn’trealize the man intended to startthe job that same day.

“It was lunch time and all of asudden it sounded like a war outthere,” Hunter says. “There wasgunfire and people were run-ning and screaming and thesirens started going off and itwas a mess. I had no idea whattrouble that would cause. Butit’s still the best way to get rid ofpigeons. I hope they take care ofthe problem now or the pigeonswill ruin that new dome. Pigeonmess and copper are a bad mix.”

Hunter also encountered“people” problems at the court-house. Coweta’s expert checkerplayers held their daily gameson a table right outside Hunter’sfirst floor office window. Huntersays the checker players fussedand argued and the noise oftengot so loud he was unable towork.

Hunter decided to solve theproblem by offering the checkerplayers a spot in an unusedupstairs room. He says they had-n’t been there long before thetrouble began again.

Hunter logs plenty of time at courthouse

“They had a fist fight up thereand it caused a commotion,”Hunter says. “It was a big dealto be the champion checkerplayer of Coweta County andpeople took it seriously. But Ihad to move them back out-side.”

There were some lightercourthouse moments, too.Hunter says spectators loved togather on Monday mornings towatch as Sheriff Potts and hisdeputies poured confiscatedmoonshine into the street gut-ters on West Court Square.

“I don’t know if they pouredout everything they confiscat-ed,” Hunter says. “But it was agood show and people liked towatch.”

Years ago a majority of coun-ty residents voted at the court-house and Hunter says that on

Photo by Alex McRaeMutt Hunter at home in Turin.

election day, the crowd was solarge and unruly county work-ers sometimes had to abandontheir offices. Once the votingwas done, the crowd hungaround to get the results asvotes were counted in theupstairs courtroom. Temperssometimes grew short, Huntersays.

“There were no brawls, hesays, “but there were plenty ofsquabbles breaking out. Tensiongot pretty high.”

The main event was whencourt was in session. WhenHunter started working at thecourthouse, there was only onejudge and all trials were held inthe courthouse. Hunter sayswhen court was in session, itwas a major social event.

“People came in from all overthe county,” he says. “They’dbring their wives and childrenand pack a lunch and spend thewhole day in that courtroom. Itwas packed.”

Hunter says trials were sopopular people begged to beselected for jury duty. “Farmerswould ride horses to town andcome by and see if they couldsit on a jury,” Hunter says.“Everybody wanted to be partof it.”

The biggest legal event everhosted at the courthouse wasthe trial of Meriwether Countyland baron John Wallace, whowas accused of killing a blackman. The Wallace trial was the

basis for Margaret Anne Barnes’book “Murder in CowetaCounty,” which was made into amovie starring Johnny Cash.

Hunter wasn’t working at thecourthouse during theWallace trial but attended afew sessions of court and sayshe was impressed.

“I thought it turned out theway it should have,” Huntersays. “Everybody did their joband did it right and the juryreached the right outcome.”

Hunter is glad to see the oldbuilding restored to its formerglory. He was serving as anelected Coweta CountyCommissioner when funds forthe latest restoration wereapproved and says movingcertain government functionsback into the building is a pos-itive step.

“I’m well pleased with whatthey’ve done to the court-house,” he says. “I didn’t wantit fixed up as a shrine becauseif it ceases to be used for apurpose, it eventually falls offthe budget. As long as youkeep county offices in there ithas to be on the budget and ithas to be maintained. I hope itwill continue to be used day inand day out. The courthousehas been a central part ofNewnan and Coweta Countyand I hope it will always be abusy place.”

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Also available through the Visitors Center in their new home in the renovated courthouse.

Non-historic interior addi-tions to the 1904 CowetaCounty Courthouse wereremoved as part of therestoration.

The non-historic demolitionwas done first. This removedall portions of the buildingthat had been added over theyears, along with the removalof the HVAC and other sys-tems that were being replaced.

Walls and rooms that had

been added were all taken out,down to the original floorplan.There was demolition ofadded walls, particularly onthe second floor in the court-room area. Concrete floorsand ceilings on the first floorthat were installed when vaultspace was expanded wereremoved.

“It is often necessary to com-plete a non-historic demoli-tion project during the design

development phase for therehabilitation of historicallysignificant structures such asthe historic Coweta CountyCourthouse,” explained Lord,Aeck & Sargent architectCourtney Swann.

The non-historic demolitionremoves added/modern mate-rials and features to exposehistorically significant detail-ing and features. Once re-exposed, it could be seen what

Out with the non-historic, in with new technology

Photo by Bob FraleyA food prep kitchen has been added on the third floor, now accessible by elevator.

Photo by Bob FraleyThere is bench seating in the courtroom balcony. Flooring in the balcony is wood, cork flooring wasplaced on the main courtroom floor after investigation found that was the original material.


Among lifelong CowetaCounty residents who are nowgrandparents, many have aChristmas memory of the lightsstrung from the dome of theCoweta County Courthouse.

Downtown Newnan contin-ues to be decked in holidaysplendor each December, butthe lights strung from the domehave not been around fordecades. Newnan Water andLight Commission used to putthe lights up each year.

Metal cables from the dometo each of the four corners ofthe square were left in place allyear round. Strings of lights

were then attached with metalstraps each year.

Hal Jones, 79, helped putsome of the lights up in 1954. “Iwas supposed to put in waterand sewer lines. I didn’t foolwith power lines — electricallines,” he recalled.

The imminent arrival of SantaClaus, however, caused plans tobe rearranged.

Jones remembered that histask was to put the lines in placeon the cable that stretchedtoward the northwest corner ofthe Court Square — across fromthe Alamo, which was then amovie theater.

“I don’t remember who wasup there with me. Somebodywas,” he said.

Jones does remember that heworked on the project forawhile but was then asked to doother work. “I was pulled off thejob after I started,” he said.

Apparently, 1954 was not thefirst year for the Christmaslights. The metal cables “werealready there” when he startedhis work, Jones recalled. “I thinkthey were up there several yearsafter that.”

Jones never had to help withthe Yuletide light project again.He only worked for NewnanWater and Light about sixmonths. Jones found a job at theGeneral Motors plant atLakewood near Atlanta andretired after more than 36 years.

Christmas lights once descendedfrom dome to corners of square

This photo of the Court Square Christmas lights was taken by JohnF. Caldwell Jr. of Newnan in 1973.

features needed repair in arehabilitation project — thegoal being to feature the his-toric character of the building.

“For example, the removal oflowered ceilings throughoutthe office areas of the court-house revealed the plastercrown molding at ceilings andthe extent of ornamentalwood trim remaining aroundthe transom windows on boththe doors and windows,”Swann said.

Among additions and

improvements a new andimproved HVAC system wasinstalled.

New restrooms were addedon the first and second floorsand the restrooms with theoutside entrance were signifi-cantly improved.

An elevator was added,greatly improving accessibili-ty.

A catering kitchen/break-room was added, as weremodern telecommunicationsand security features.


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The exterior masonry of the1904 Coweta CountyCourthouse was cleaned andrepaired, including repointingof the brick and stone base, saidCoweta Public Affairs DirectorPatricia Palmer.

Stone columns and stepswere also repaired.

Copper on the upper parts ofthe building other than theclock tower did not requirereplacement, but was cleaned.

The courthouse grounds pre-sented both “obstacles andopportunities,” Palmer said.

Removal of trees and shrubsclose to the courthouse andreinstallation of lawns were asignificant point of discussionfor the advisory committee, shesaid.

“While it was necessary toremove most of the trees, due toage and sickness, more treeswill be replaced on each side ofthe sidewalk entries to thecourthouse grounds this fallwhen the weather is more con-ducive,” she said.

Sod was installed and verylimited shrubs were planted.

At some point in the last 100years, the brick wall around thecourthouse was changed fromits original angular corners tocurved walls, Palmer said.

Portions of the wall were recon-structed, restoring it to the orig-inal square shape.

By restoring the historicsquare shape to the landscapewall, the area between the walland the city sidewalks wasaltered as well.

“A big consideration in how tofinish this area was the successof Newnan’s downtown eventsand the impact of foot traffic onthe area,” Palmer said.

“Originally this area had beena lawn, but there was concernabout the maintenance andreplacement needs with somuch use,” she said.

Placing sidewalk there wouldhave been another 12 feet ofhard surface with no break. Thecompromise was to install brickpavers between the entrywaysto the courthouse and the cor-ners and to place lawn in thesquares where trees will beplanted.

The one existing flag pole atthe west entrance was replacedwith three, allowing display ofthe U.S., Georgia and CowetaCounty flags.

Exterior monuments havebeen placed over the years byvarious groups and for variousreasons. They had not beencleaned or repaired in many

Grounds presented obstacles, opportunities

years, in some cases never,Palmer said.

“All of these monuments

needed cleaning, new finishingand sealing and in some casesrepair work to insure they con-

tinue to remind us of local sacri-fices for years to come,” shesaid.

Contractor: Headley Construction, Newnan.

Project Architect: Lord, Aeck & Sargent, Atlanta -Courtney Swann.

Among vendors for the Coweta County Courthouserestoration:

—A Abby Lawn Care, Inc., Brian Lowery, Tyrone, GA.—ALTM Fabrication, Inc., Larry Huggins, Newnan.—Architectural Concrete Co., Inc., Kevin Kent

Palmetto, GA.—Architectural Window and Door, Inc., Gary

Veclotch, Tyrone, GA.—Atlanta Blind & Shade, Marietta.—Atlanta Electrical Inc., Tim Frier, Villa Rica, GA.—Big Dog Demolition, Barry Caldwell, Marietta, GA.—Carl E. Smith & Sons Building Materials, Turin, GA.—Carpet Sales and Consultants, Inc.—Sally Chao, CSC Flooring, Marietta, GA.—Cascade Services Co., Atlanta, GA.—Champion Millworks, Kenny Carnes, Tyrone, GA.—Commonwealth DRW, Kathy Corum, Dacula, GA.—Concrete & Masonry Supply, Scott Roth, Fairburn,

GA.—Concrete Supply, Billy Arnold, Fayetteville, GA—Creative Painting Specialists, Steve Wallis,

Jacksonville, FL.—Estes Landscape Design, Inc., Rob Estes,

Newnan, GA.—Fire Away, Inc., Paul Green, Conyers, GA.—Full Compass Systems, WI, sound equipment.—Future Home Services, LLC, Gary Maddux, Pine

Mountain, GA.—General Crane, Johnnie Rodgers, Fairburn, GA.—Georgia Specialty Equipment, LLC, Tripp

Copeland, Fayetteville, GA.—International Bronze, NY, project commemorative

plaque.—J & J Concrete, Inc., Willie Walton, Newnan, GA.—Joe Burton Company, Roger Johnston, Tucker,

GA.—K & S Glass Co., Wayne Kelly, Newnan.—Kenner and Son, Inc., Mike Kenner, Colbert, GA.—Lovvorn Door & Window Co., Ben Lovvorn,

Rockmart, GA.—Merrell & Associates Inc., Tony Rogers, Carrollton,

GA.—Piedmont Geotechnical Inc., Kevin Burnette,

Newnan.—Ponsford, Gordon Ponsford - ceiling work, con-

crete pavers, balcony work.—Sargent Mill Woodworking, LLC, Robert Aulicky,

Newnan.—Schindler Elevator Corporation, Scott Wallace,

Smyrna, GA.—Shatone, Tony Neja, Whitesburg, GA.—Sign-A-Rama, Newnan, exterior location signs.—Spalding Plumbing, Inc., Bobby Amon,

Experiment, GA.—Steinrock Roofing, Tim Steinrock, Louisville, KY.—U.S. Bronze, NY, directional signage.—Walker Concrete, Leah Croft, Stockbridge, GA.—West Georgia Fire Extinguisher, Dennis Stanford,

Carrollton, GA.

Work, equipment and materials suppliers:

— Cover photo by Jeffrey Leo

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2010 courthouse tribute

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