Historic Structures

Union County Historical Courthouse Museum, Blairsville, GA
	In 1899, under a Special Board of Commissioners a new two-story Court House with clock tower was built in the town square. The bricks were made and fired locally. The Ordinary (Judge of the Ordinary Court, equivalent to today's Sole County Commissioner) was John T. Colwell. Designed by architect J.W. Golucke & Stewart, the Romanesque Revival-style Court House is similar to a number of other court houses in Georgia.
The courthouse suffered years of neglect and was in serious disrepair from the 1920’s on. In 1960 the two-ton clock and bell tower was removed due to structural instability. In 1971, the Court House was condemned as unsafe -- but residents were successful in convincing the county's sole commissioner not to tear the historic building down. Through the dedicated efforts of the Historical Society and the residents of  the handsome brick and granite structure still stands at the heart of the town square, a landmark now serving as a local history museum and cultural center. The clock and bell tower was replicated and replaced in November 2000.  The beautifully restored courtroom on the second floor still functions occasionally for city and county court. But on Friday evenings in the summer and fall, it rings with the delightful sounds of our mountain musicians. The Court House clock chimes the time each day, much as it did at the beginning of the last century. Though the traffic around the square has changed in nature and quantity, the building on the square remains substantially the same. For more information visit the Union County Historical Society at www.unioncountyhistwwwory.org
Butt-Mock Home
	The 1906 Butt Mock house anchors our "Museum of Mountain Living" complex in downtown Blairsville, conveniently located just a block south of the Old Courthouse on the Square. The house has now been fully restored and contains exhibits and a gift shop. The expansive lawn is the location for the Mountain Marketplace, a heritage event that celebrates the history, lifeways, and folk traditions of this mountain community. The Historical Society is in the process of saving other historic structures that will form a circa 1880s small mountain farm around the John Payne Cabin behind the Butt-Mock Home.
John Payne Cabin
	The Payne Cabin was built by John Payne and his brothers  just before John and his brothers volunteered for the Confederate Army. It was built for John’s new wife, Louisa, and their eventual seven children. The cabin was built in the Young Cane District and moved to its present location behind the Butt-Mock Home. One of John's brothers and two of his wife’s brothers died fighting for the Confederacy. John helped found Pleasant Hill Church. Later, he supervised roads in Union County.  He is buried at Pleasant Hill church next to his brother David and their wives. All of the replacement logs  are from land once belonging to John Payne.