Canton’s National Register places: five listings and where they are

Lists of Canton’s historic places online tend to give names without record numbers or dates. We read each record on the National Park Service’s NPGallery and, where we could, the nomination behind it. Below are the five we checked, starting downtown, with the record number so you can look each one up yourself.

What is the Canton Commercial Historic District?

It is the core of downtown. NPS describes it as roughly bounded by Main, Church, Archer and Marietta streets. The nomination draws an L shape: the south side of Main Street between Cannon Street and East Marietta Street, and both sides of East Marietta Street between Main Street and Archer Street. It describes one and a half blocks of mostly brick commercial buildings, one to three stories tall, built from the 1890s to the 1930s, and singles out the marble-clad Bank of Canton (1892) and the Art Moderne Canton Theatre.

• The Canton Commercial Historic District is on the National Register (NRIS 84000962; NPS record dated January 12, 1984). NPS describes it as roughly bounded by Main, Church, Archer and Marietta streets. NPS NPGallery: Canton Commercial Historic District, NRIS 84000962
• The nomination describes an L-shaped district: the south side of Main Street between Cannon Street and East Marietta Street, and both sides of East Marietta Street between Main Street and Archer Street. National Register nomination: Canton Commercial Historic District, NRIS 84000962
• The nomination describes one-and-a-half blocks of mostly brick commercial buildings, one to three stories tall, built from the 1890s to the 1930s. It singles out the marble-clad Bank of Canton (1892) and the Art Moderne Canton Theatre. National Register nomination: Canton Commercial Historic District, NRIS 84000962

The district is also the ground the City’s Main Street program works on. The City says the program was established in 2010 and follows the Main Street Four-Point Approach within the context of historic preservation. On Oct. 20, 2025, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs named Canton a Georgia Exceptional Main Street community. Our Main Street walk goes through the district, and the theatre’s story is in how the City saved the Canton Theatre.

Why is the courthouse marble?

Because the stone was close and cheap. The Cherokee County Courthouse at 100 North Street went up in 1927 and 1928, after fire destroyed the earlier courthouse in March 1927, and was handed over to the county on Nov. 14, 1928. Its nomination describes a five-story Classical Revival building of native marble, bought at a good price from the Georgia Marble Company in nearby Tate. Atlanta architect A. Ten Eyck Brown designed it, with Alfredo Barili Jr. as associate architect. The J.S. McCauley Company built it, and the original jail was on the top floor.

• The Cherokee County Courthouse at 100 North Street was built in 1927 and 1928, after fire destroyed the earlier courthouse in March 1927. It was handed over to the county on November 14, 1928. National Register nomination (Georgia Courthouses survey form): Cherokee County Courthouse, NRIS 81000198
• The courthouse is a five-story Classical Revival building of native marble. The county bought the stone at a good price from the Georgia Marble Company in nearby Tate. National Register nomination (Georgia Courthouses survey form): Cherokee County Courthouse, NRIS 81000198
• Atlanta architect A. Ten Eyck Brown designed the courthouse, with Alfredo Barili Jr. as associate architect. The J.S. McCauley Company built it, and the original jail was on the top floor. National Register nomination (Georgia Courthouses survey form): Cherokee County Courthouse, NRIS 81000198
• The Cherokee County Courthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places (NRIS 81000198; NPS record dated May 28, 1981). NPS NPGallery: Cherokee County Courthouse, NRIS 81000198

The 1928 date is the handover. The City’s walking tour gives 1927 to 1929 for the building and says it was restored in 1997. Our 2012 photo shows a sign for the Cherokee County History Museum and Visitors Center out front. The History Center’s address today is 221 E. Marietta Street.

What is the Canton Wholesale Company Building?

It is listed on the Register on its own, separate from the district. NPS gives its location as 15 Main St. The Canton Cotton Mills No. 2 nomination says that by 1930 the Canton Wholesale Company was one of the affiliates of Robert Tyre Jones’s Jones Mercantile Company, the same Jones who backed the cotton mill. We have not read this building’s own nomination, so we do not describe its architecture.

• The Canton Wholesale Company Building is listed on the National Register on its own (NRIS 97001421; NPS record dated November 13, 1997). NPS gives its location as 15 Main St. NPS NPGallery: Canton Wholesale Company Building, NRIS 97001421

What is Canton Cotton Mills No. 2?

The second plant of the company that made Canton Denim. Its NPS record gives 200 Ball Ground Highway. The nomination says it was built from late 1923 to the summer of 1924 on Ball Ground Highway (Georgia 5), northeast of downtown, and started with 750 looms and 23,000 spindles. The buildings were converted to loft apartments, so they are homes now; see them from the street. The first plant is The Mill on Etowah, and our article on the mills sorts out its conflicting dates.

• Canton Cotton Mill No. 2 was built from late 1923 to the summer of 1924 on Ball Ground Highway (Georgia 5), northeast of downtown. It started with 750 looms and 23,000 spindles. National Register nomination: Canton Cotton Mills No. 2, NRIS 02000293
• Canton Cotton Mills No. 2, 200 Ball Ground Highway, is on the National Register of Historic Places (NRIS 02000293; NPS record dated April 1, 2002). Its buildings were converted to loft apartments. NPS NPGallery: Canton Cotton Mills No. 2, NRIS 02000293

What is Crescent Farm?

NPS lists 1906 and 1922 as Crescent Farm’s significant years and gives its location as GA 5, southeast of GA 140. The New Georgia Encyclopedia says Augustus Lee Coggins built the Crescent Farm Rock Barn in 1906 as a stable for racehorses, using rock from the Etowah River banks, and that it is the headquarters of History Cherokee. We have not found published visiting hours for the barn. History Cherokee’s museum with posted hours is the History Center downtown.

• Crescent Farm is on the National Register (NRIS 89002032; NPS record dated November 27, 1989). NPS lists 1906 and 1922 as significant years and gives the location as GA 5, southeast of GA 140. NPS NPGallery: Crescent Farm, NRIS 89002032
• The New Georgia Encyclopedia says Augustus Lee Coggins built the Crescent Farm Rock Barn in 1906 as a stable for racehorses, using rock from the Etowah River banks. It is the headquarters of History Cherokee. New Georgia Encyclopedia: Canton (last edited June 15, 2022)

Is there a 2010 Canton Historic District?

You may see a search result describe a 2010 Canton Historic District with record number 10000803. We checked that number on NPGallery: its record is in California, on a U.S. Highway 66 listing. A 2010 district for Canton, Georgia may exist, but we have not verified one, so it is not on this list.

How do I see them in one outing?

Start downtown. Our 2010 photo of Cannon Park shows the marble courthouse right behind it, the district runs along Main Street and East Marietta Street, and the Wholesale building is on Main Street. Mill No. 2 on Ball Ground Highway and Crescent Farm on Georgia 5 are outside the center, so plan to drive to those two.

For context first, the Cherokee County History Center at 221 E. Marietta Street covers the whole county’s history, including Native American artifacts, the Civil War, moonshining and desegregation. It is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Our history page tells the town’s story in order, things to do lists more stops, and the day planner puts the downtown ones in walking order.

• The History Center is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed Sunday and Monday. It is also closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. History Cherokee: Visit the History Center
• The History Center covers all of Cherokee County's history. It has Native American pottery and artifacts in the Carolyn Smith Galt Gallery, plus exhibits on the Civil War, moonshining and desegregation. History Cherokee: Visit the History Center

History questions

Written by the Downtown Canton Editorial Team. AI tools help us draft; people check every fact before it publishes.

Dates, rules and hours can change. The organisers have the final word: City of Canton