Vernon Square–Columbus Square Historic District

	Vernon Square–Columbus Square Historic District
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	U.S. Historic district
	House at Green and Franklin
Location	Roughly bounded by Market, Trumbull, Rittenhouse and Ft. King George Dr., Darien, Georgia
Area	45 acres (18 ha)
Architect	Multiple
Architectural style	Mid 19th Century Revival, Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Late Victorian
NRHP reference No.	85000581
Added to NRHP	March 14, 1985

The Vernon Square–Columbus Square Historic District is a historic area on the eastern side of Darien, Georgia. It encompasses two squares of the original 1805 city plan, although Vernon Square now contains a circular street. The plan was derived from James Oglethorpe's plan for Savannah. The area of Vernon and Columbus Wards was platted in 1805. The historic buildings in the area date back to the mid-19th and early 20th centuries. The houses are mostly modest wood-framed structures with weatherboard siding and wood detail.^[2]

Historical marker discussing the burning of Darien

History

The area thrived as a center of the timber industry in the late 19th century. The area contains houses representing Darien's middle-class white and black families. Darien had an unusually large group of middle-class black families in the late 19th century. McIntosh County frequently had a black representative to the state legislature from 1868 to 1907.^[2]

Contributing buildings

Contributing buildings
Darien city hall
Methodist Church
First African Baptist Church
House at Adams and Rittenhouse. One of the few houses not burned during the attack on Darien in 1863 by Union soldiers.
House at Franklin & Fort King George Road
House in the historic district
House on Ft. King George Road between Franklin and Rittenhouse
St. Andrews Episcopal Church – the original building was one of the churches burned by the US Army in 1863.