.jpg)
Approximately 12 miles east of Swainsboro is Twin City, home to George L. Smith State Park and one of Georgia's most newly-listed* National Register Historic Districts. The Twin City Historic District encompasses approximately 255 acres of historic residential, commercial, and community resources associated with the development of two towns that were incorporated as one in 1921. The Historic District runs northeast to southwest following the railroad bed (tracks were removed in 1952). The northeast part of the district is the historic commercial and residential area of Summit; the southwest part of the district is the historic commercial and residential area of Graymont. Between the two towns, immediately south of the intersection of Railroad Avenue and US Hwy 80, is the area established in the early 1900s as the "civic center."
The small town of Summit began c. 1889 with the charter and then construction of the Rogers & Summit Railroad (later the Millen & Southern Railway); the town was chartered in 1898. The town of Graymont, established in 1896 and chartered in 1900, was located one mile away from Summit and had its own depot and post office. Even after their incorporation into one town, they maintained separate post offices until 1952. Until 2014 and the formation of the City of McRae-Helena, Twin City was unique in Georgia as the only town to have been formed by the merger of two existing cities. Still, Twin City is “the little city with a big history.”
The Twin City Historic District has several areas of significance: architecture, for its excellent example of historic residential, commercial, and community landmark buildings representing the common architectural types and styles found throughout Georgia in the mid-19th through the mid-20th centuries; commerce, as the two historic central business districts, represent the typical stores and businesses found in small rural communities in Georgia; and community planning and development, as the original plans for both Summit and Graymont are excellent examples of a railroad strip-type town in Georgia with the main street running parallel to the railroad through the center of town.
The historic district boasts 136 resources including an original 1830s log cabin and excellent examples of house types from Late Victorian to the modern movement. The city is a time-capsule community for architectural house types. Architectural styles include Queen Anne, Folk Victorian, Craftsman, English Vernacular Revival, Classical Revival, and International Style. House types include Queen Anne Cottage, New South cottage, Georgian cottage, Georgian house, English cottage, gabled-wing cottage, bungalow, central hall, and ranch house.
*as of February 8, 2014
Historic Twin City Map
Letter from Historic Twin City, GA
Twin City, GA Map, 1921 (PDF, 6MB)