Plenty of travel pages still say Ellijay’s 1898 courthouse “still faces the square.” It doesn’t. The building those pages describe, a former hotel that served as the Gilmer County Courthouse for nearly seventy years, came down in 2008. What you see from the square today is its replacement, built on the same spot and designed to look like it.
Here is the short version, then the long one.
- 1898: the Hyatt Hotel is built on the square. It has no connection to the Hyatt hotel chain.
- 1934: Gilmer County buys the hotel and turns it into its courthouse.
- 2003: the fire marshal condemns the building, and the courts move out.
- January 7, 2008: the old courthouse is demolished.
- Today: the Gilmer County Courthouse at 1 Broad Street stands on the same site, with a north section that copies the old building’s look.
A square planned in 1833
The square came before any of the courthouses. The City of Ellijay’s history page says Martin Scalf won the 160-acre lot where the town now stands in the 1832 land lottery. In 1833 Clemons Quinland bought 10 acres from Scalf, kept one and donated the rest to the county. That year’s town plan laid out twenty lots, streets and a public square, with the streets set to give the buildings as much sunlight as possible. Selling the lots paid for a jail and a courthouse.
Ellijay was incorporated and named the county seat of Gilmer County on December 29, 1834. In 1854 a new courthouse went up in the center of the square, replacing the earlier building.
The hotel on the square
The railroad bridge over the Cartecay River was finished in 1884, and rail service brought hotels and industry to town. By 1900, the city says, every building on the square was brick, “including the recently finished Hyatt Hotel.” American Courthouses and the city both date the hotel to 1898. You may see a precise opening day, June 23, 1898, on some sites. That date comes from the 1980 National Register nomination, and we haven’t been able to confirm it, so we’re leaving it out.
The square didn’t stay untouched. A 1912 fire destroyed 23 buildings in Ellijay, and the rebuilding followed new, stricter fire and safety rules.
How a hotel became the courthouse
Gilmer County bought the Hyatt Hotel in 1934. The city’s history describes what followed, from the mid-1930s to 1950, with help from the federal Works Progress Administration:
- the old courthouse was removed from the center of the square;
- the Hyatt Hotel was remodeled into the new courthouse;
- a park was made on the site of the old courthouse; and
- the streets around the square were paved.
That is why the green space sits in the middle of the square today: it’s the footprint of the 1854 courthouse. The city’s page doesn’t give the park a name, so we won’t either.
While it served as the courthouse, from 1934 to 2003, the converted hotel was described as the only courthouse in Georgia that wasn’t originally built as one, according to Wikipedia’s article on the building. Older pages often put that claim in the present tense. It belongs in the past tense now.
Listed, condemned, demolished
The old courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 18, 1980 (reference 80001081), according to Wikipedia’s list of Gilmer County National Register sites, which notes that it was demolished in 2008.
In 2003 the fire marshal condemned the building for building and fire code violations, and on March 27 the courts moved to other buildings in Ellijay. Wikipedia says the Northwest Georgia Threatened Historic Sites Project listed it as threatened in 2005. The county commission voted to demolish the building rather than restore it, and it was torn down on January 7, 2008.
Wikipedia’s article also says the property was removed from the National Register in 2026. We haven’t seen that in a National Park Service list, so treat it as unconfirmed. The safe way to say it: the old courthouse was listed on the National Register.
The courthouse that stands there now
The current Gilmer County Courthouse is at 1 Broad Street, Ellijay, GA 30540, and the county’s main phone is (706) 635-4361, according to the Gilmer County government site. The City of Ellijay calls it “a new courthouse constructed to resemble the old one.”
American Courthouses describes a two-story red brick and concrete building that faces north. Its north section replicates the 1898 courthouse. The architect was JKH Architects of Dalton, and the contractor was The Winter Companies of Atlanta. The same source dates construction to 2007 and 2008. You’ll see 2009 given as the completion year in some places, but we found no primary source for that, so we don’t use it.
So when you stand on the square and look at the columned portico and clock tower, you’re looking at a building from this century that was designed to recall the one it replaced.
Where to see the history now
The building is gone, but the story is easy to follow on foot.
- The square itself. The street grid and the open center are the 1833 plan and the WPA-era park. See our guide to the square.
- Tabor House History Museum. The Gilmer County Historical Society’s museum is at 138 Spring Street, one block off the square, in the restored 1870 Tabor House. The city describes its exhibits as covering Cherokee, Civil War and mountain-life history, with free admission. The Historical Society lists it as open mid-March through mid-December, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and the first four Saturdays of each month (706-276-1861). It closes for the season from mid-December to mid-March.
- The Historic District. Ellijay has a designated Historic District with architectural design guidelines. A Historic Preservation Commission reviews work there and meets on the second Monday of each month at 6 p.m.
Why this matters if you’re writing about Ellijay
If you run a cabin rental, a blog or a tour, three phrases are worth fixing:
- “The 1898 courthouse still faces the square.” It was demolished in 2008.
- “It is listed on the National Register.” It was listed in 1980; the building no longer exists.
- “It is the only courthouse in Georgia not built as a courthouse.” That described the former hotel, and it’s past tense.
For business at the courthouse, call the county at (706) 635-4361 before you go. For other things to do around the square, see things to do.
Questions people ask
Is the 1898 Ellijay courthouse still standing?
No. The 1898 building was the Hyatt Hotel, which Gilmer County bought in 1934 and used as its courthouse. It was condemned in 2003 and demolished on January 7, 2008. The courthouse on the site today, at 1 Broad Street, is a newer building whose north section copies the old look.
Why was the old Gilmer County Courthouse torn down?
In 2003 the fire marshal condemned it for building and fire code violations, and the courts moved to other buildings in Ellijay on March 27, 2003. The county commission then voted to demolish it rather than restore it.
Is the Ellijay courthouse related to Hyatt Hotels?
No. The Hyatt Hotel built on the square in 1898 has no relation to the Hyatt hotel chain. The county bought it in 1934 and remodeled it into the courthouse.
Source: American Courthouses (courthouses.co) – Gilmer County
What is the park in the middle of the Ellijay square?
It sits on the site of the 1854 courthouse, which stood in the center of the square. Between the mid-1930s and 1950, with federal WPA help, that courthouse was removed, a park was made on its site and the streets around the square were paved.
Where can I learn Ellijay history downtown?
The Gilmer County Historical Society's Tabor House History Museum at 138 Spring Street, one block off the square, is open mid-March through mid-December, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and the first four Saturdays of each month. Call 706-276-1861.
Source: Gilmer County Historical Society
Written by the Downtown Ellijay Editorial Team. AI tools help us draft; people check every fact before it publishes.
Dates, hours and fees change. For anything official, the city has the final word: City of Ellijay official site
