Volume 18, no. 3 • October 2000STUDENTS TOUR DOWNTOWNEarly fall has been a busy time at the Troup County Archives for giving tours of the building and of downtown. Third grade students from Hollis Hand and Cannon Street Elementary Schools plus home schooled students and Cub Scouts have toured in late September and October. Beautiful fall weather and a historic downtown have greeted each group. Tour guides have included former Society President Glenda Major and Archives staff Charles Kelly, Paul Wetherington, and Kaye Minchew. The guides encourage kids to look up and around AND think about the people who have walked these streets in earlier years. These school children now recognize ghost windows, dripping bricks, dentil molding, different kinds of columns and more. They can now "read" buildings. For example, they can look at the Hutchinson-Mallory and Holmes buildings and tell you what years they were built! They know that Victoria’s Jewely once was a bank. The fact that this information is on the building does NOT mean they are cheating! Instead, the students are reading the building and letting the exterior tell them details. Tours generally start either near the Archives or the old theater OR at the northwest corner of the Square at the First Baptist Church. By the time students reach the Courthouse, they recognize that the architecture of the Courthouse is different than elsewhere in downtown. The Victorian facade of the upper floor of the old Davis Pharmacy, which hides behind the trees on the northeast corner of the Square, is also pointed out. The entire tour does not center on buildings; however, as historical figures are discussed as well. Some of the people discussed are LaFayette and his role in the American Revolution, Horace King the one time slave who became a master covered bridge builder, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who drove our streets and spoke at the old Colonial Hotel, and John F. Kennedy who traveled around the Square while campaigning in 1960. Locals are discussed as well, including the Mansour family who opened a small discount store in the middle of the west block of Court Square in 1917, the generations of Troup County residents who saw movies at the old theater, and the ladies of the Junior section of the Women’s Club who had to petition to have a women’s restroom included in plans for a new courthouse before it was built in the 1930s. If you are visualizing all this and taking your own tour of downtown in your mind, great. But be sure to throw in a little of the unexpected. Perhaps, it is a young student who worries about LaFayette being so young when he came to America, or maybe it is fire trucks zooming by and blaring their horns on the way to a fire or even a helicopter being towed up Main Street (we have no clue why a helicopter was being towed). Perhaps the favorite surprise has been getting to go inside the courtroom. Most groups are taken inside the Courthouse but the courtroom is visited only when court is not in session. Bringing thirty students into a courtroom could be a disruption to court cases and juries. When the courtroom is empty or when the judge and jury are taking a break, groups go in the courtroom. One group lead by Mrs. Major got to see “Judge Jeannette” at her bench during a State Court break. Actually, they were introduced to Judge Little but comparisons to Judge Judy of television fame may have come to mind. Another group happened to be in the courtroom just before Jackie Ward Taylor was being sworn in as Clerk of Court. They witnessed history as a new clerk took office. (Our students did not realize what a happy and sad moment this was for Jackie. Her mother, Ramona Ward, who was planning to retire as clerk at the end of the year, died unexpectedly the week before.) Jackie was sworn in to serve as clerk until December 31st and is seeking reelection. While the group waited for Jackie to arrive, Vickie Sue McWaters, Judge of Magistrate Court, presided over a mock trial of one student accused of skipping school. With other clerks serving as attorneys, and fellow students serving as members of the jury, the student was found GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY! Students are encouraged to start looking up and around wherever they are -- in their neighborhood, in Hogansville or West Point, or away on vacation. If your group wants to arrange a tour, please call the Archives at 884-1828.  This group of Cannon Street students toured LaFayette Square and got a close-up view of decorations for Special Olympics! DOWNTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICTThe City Council of LaGrange will be voting on establishing a historic district in the downtown commercial area of LaGrange in late October or early November. A public hearing was held on Thursday, October 5th. At least thirty-two people turned out in support of the district. Two others appeared with questions about the effect of the district on their buildings. Both property owners seemed satisfied with the responses. The LaGrange Daily News carried an editorial on October 4, 2000, which noted the relationship between the district and suggestions which came from the strategic planning meeting for the City of LaGrange held in September. The editorial began: A newly-recommended ‘vision’ for downtown LaGrange...affirms what many Troup County residents recognize instinctively. The charm and beauty of our downtown area are among the community’s greatest assets. The planners took it a step further: Preserving and enhancing LaGrange’s charming character is not just essential to downtown’s future, they said. It is the key to growth and prosperity in other areas of town, too. The Troup County Historical Society first proposed the district and historic preservation ordinance three years ago.  Students serve as jurors in an impromptu trial during a downtown tour. MUSEUM APPLICATIONIn July, the Troup County Historical Society applied for a transportation enhancement grant from the Georgia Department of Transportation to develop a transportation museum and an interpretive center for a downtown walking trail. The application went through the City of LaGrange. The requested amount is for $1,000,000 with matching funds to come from the Historical Society. Though this amount seems huge, these monies and more are needed to adapt the old Seymour’s building at the corner of Main and Broome Streets into a museum and interpretive center. Built in 1925 and designed by Atlanta architects Ivey and Crook, the building would require extensive renovation to be adapted as a museum. Whether focusing on the impact of railroads or covered bridges or modern automobiles, transportation, would be a major theme in the museum. Announcement of the awards is expected to be made in February, 2001. MILLENNIUM VIDEO
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