Public Works and Buildings of Cedartown

Public Works and Buildings of Cedartown. . Northwest Georgia is blessed with many limestone springs. When Van Wert was founded, hollowed out chestnut and cedar logs were fashioned to bring spring water from nearby hills into the village, making it one of the first communities in Northwest Georgia with a municipal water supply. Cedartown's Big Spring was considered sacred by the Cherokee Indians who used it as a water source and council ground. In 1838 Fort Cedar Town was hastily built downstream from the spring to temporarily house Cherokee Indians being forcibly removed on the Trail of Tears. When Asa Prior sold the area to the county for development, he stipulated that the spring remain for public use. Just before the Civil War a hydraulic ram system was installed to pump water to the downtown area, and in 1891 Charles Adamson's Cedartown Land Improvement Company built a waterworks building over the spring, still in use today serving as the city's main water supply., Once Cedartown began building a water system, it established a fire company in 1898. Lacking a proper fire station, Cedartown built its first City Hall to house it in 1901. It was of the Romanesque revival style designed to match the nearby Courthouse and Jail, and also included the City Council, recorder's office, and a public auditorium called the Lyceum. A new City Hall, designed by Atlanta architect O.C. Poundstone, was built on the site in 1935 with WPA funding. The City Hall was replaced by the Civic Complex in 1976 and became a courthouse annex, now called “Polk County Courthouse Number 2.”, [Captions (Counterclockwise from top left)] , . Big Spring Waterworks, built in 1891. , . The County Jail, built in 1874, was on Sycamore Street, behind the City Hall and Courthouse. The Confederate Monument was added by the Daughters of the Confederacy in 1905. , . The Cedartown Fire Department posing in front of the 1901 City Hall. , . The WPA funded City Hall, 1940s. , . U.S. Post Office The Post Office was established in 1833 at the time of the City's founding, and was located in various storefronts until the current Post Office building was built in 1914, when this photo was taken. , . Hawkes Library The Hawkes Children's Library was built in 1921 with the gift of Atlantan Albert King Hawkes, who contributed to the construction of libraries in Griffin, West Point, Grantville and Roswell. It was designed by noted architect Neel Reid and today serves as the Polk County Historical Society Museum. , Images courtesy of Polk County Historical Society