These Small Towns In Georgia Have The Best Downtown Areas

Georgia's most distinctive downtowns belong to its small towns. Dahlonega built its square around an 1836 gold-rush courthouse. Helen refaced every storefront in Bavarian style after a 1969 vote. Madison came through Sherman's 1864 march with its antebellum blocks intact. Five more line the coast, climb the mountains, and dot the Piedmont. All eight build the whole town around one great Main Street.

Athens

Athens fills about a dozen blocks east of the University of Georgia. The university chartered in 1785 as the country's first state-chartered school. The student crowd packs the independent restaurants, bars, and record stores past midnight. The grid stays flat and walkable. Most nights out happen on foot.

Live music drives the strip. The 40 Watt Club on West Washington Street launched R.E.M. and the B-52s. It still books shows most nights. The Georgia Theatre stages concerts a few blocks over. Its rooftop bar overlooks the streets. Mama's Boy serves Georgia peach French toast to the morning crowd.

Blue Ridge

Blue Ridge grew up around a working rail line. The tracks of the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway still cut through the middle of town. The 1905 depot sends vintage cars on a 26-mile round trip. The route follows the Toccoa River to McCaysville and Copperhill on the Tennessee line.

Independent shops, galleries, and restaurants line both sides of the rails. The Swan Drive-In has operated since 1955. It still shows double features on summer nights. The Chattahoochee National Forest closes in on three sides. The mountains stay in view down every cross street.

Dahlonega

Dahlonega built its square around the oldest surviving courthouse in Georgia. The 1836 building now holds the Dahlonega Gold Museum. The country's first major gold rush took off here in 1828, two decades before California. The federal Dahlonega Mint struck coins on the square until 1861.

The shops sell gold-panning kits, fudge, and mountain crafts. Tasting rooms pour wine from the Dahlonega Plateau. That stretch earned federal winegrowing status in 2018. Gold Rush Days fills the square every October.

Darien

Scottish Highlanders founded Darien in 1736. John Mohr McIntosh led them onto a bluff over the Altamaha River, just after Oglethorpe founded Savannah. They laid the town out on a grid of Oglethorpe squares. The riverfront is still the heart of it.

Skipper's Fish Camp on Screven Street pulls shrimp and oysters off the local fleet. The boats tie up out back. The Old Jail Art Center fills the 1888 county jail on North Way. Galleries and a small history museum share the cells. Fort King George stands just east of the squares. Its blockhouse copies the 1721 fort, once the southernmost British outpost in North America.

Helen

Helen refaced its whole village in Bavarian style on a 1969 vote. Business owners agreed to remake every storefront to save a fading logging town. The gamble worked. The result is the only Main Street in Georgia that looks airlifted from the Alps.

Helen now hosts the longest-running Oktoberfest in the country. The party fills the riverside Festhalle for more than 50 days, September into November. The Chattahoochee River cuts through the middle of the village. Tube rentals crowd the water all summer. Bakeries, beer halls, and candy shops line the cobbled side streets.

Madison

Madison wraps its core around the 1905 Morgan County Courthouse. The town holds one of the largest historic districts in Georgia. It came through Sherman's 1864 march mostly intact. Locals credit Joshua Hill, a Unionist with ties inside the Union command, though the story is hard to pin down.

The Madison-Morgan Cultural Center fills the arts calendar from an 1895 schoolhouse. That building was the first graded school in the Southeast. Galleries and a performance hall sit inside it now. Heritage Hall opens its 1811 Greek Revival rooms for daily tours on South Main Street. Antebellum and Victorian houses line the blocks in every direction.

Senoia

Senoia owes its restored Main Street to Hollywood. Film crews have used the streets as a backdrop since the late 1980s. Driving Miss Daisy shot scenes here in 1989. The Walking Dead rebuilt the streetscape into the fictional Woodbury in 2012. Production stayed in the area across the show's run.

Nic and Norman's stands at 20 Main Street. Actor Norman Reedus and producer Greg Nicotero opened it in 2016. It feeds fans and locals the same burgers. The Veranda Historic Inn rents 1906 rooms a block off Main, in the former Hollberg Hotel. Maguire's and the Senoia Coffee and Cafe handle the regular lunch crowd. Boutiques and antique shops fill the rest.

St. Marys

St. Marys ends its main blocks at the waterfront. The daily ferry to Cumberland Island National Seashore loads at the foot of the street. The island stretches 17.5 miles. Wild horses, empty beach, and the Carnegie family's Dungeness ruins wait at the far end. The ferry is the only way out.

Seagle's Restaurant has served seafood on the waterfront since 1926. The St. Marys Submarine Museum stands a block away. It shows a working periscope and exhibits on the Ohio-class submarines based up the road at Kings Bay. The First Presbyterian Church has held its corner since the early 1800s. Brackish Beer Company pours local brews a few blocks back.

Pick Your Kind Of Main Street

The fun part is how little these eight have in common. Athens hums on student energy and loud guitars. Blue Ridge times its afternoons to a train whistle. St. Marys lets a ferry set the schedule. Darien leans on shrimp boats and Oglethorpe squares. Senoia trades on its film-set storefronts. Helen commits fully to the lederhosen. Dahlonega and Madison hold the history, one with gold and one with antebellum porches. Pick a direction and start walking.