Editing Villa Rica, Georgia (section)

====National Register of Historic Places====
[[File:VillaRicaRoundBarn20071216.jpg|thumb|right|A photo of the nationally registered historic round barn in Villa Rica, showing its state of disrepair]]
The '''[[Dorough Round Barn and Farm]]''' was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] on January 20, 1980. Located about {{convert|3|mi|0}} southwest of Villa Rica on Hickory Level Road, the farm consists of a 19th-century farmhouse, several other outbuildings, and the famous round barn. Built in 1917, the Round Barn is quite significant architecturally due to its circular shape. When constructed, this would have been considered a progressive agricultural building technique.<ref>{{cite web | title = GEORGIA - Carroll County | publisher = National Register of Historical Places | url = http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/GA/Carroll/state.html | access-date = 2007-12-16 }}</ref> The barn was designed by Floyd Lovell.<ref>{{cite web|title=Carroll County Community Greenspace Program|url=http://carrollcountyga.com/home/Green.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040206091007/http://carrollcountyga.com/home/Green.pdf|archive-date=February 6, 2004|access-date=2007-12-16|publisher=Carroll County, Georgia}}</ref> It had two levels, the upper one smaller than the lower. At the time the barn was added, it was still generally structurally intact. The upper level is now completely gone, and the lower level is falling apart as well. The barn is privately owned, and it is unknown whether there are any plans to restore it.

{{Main|North Villa Rica Commercial Historic District}}

The '''North Villa Rica Commercial Historic District''' was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 31, 2002. This district includes several blocks of buildings, some dating back to 1875, which were built in the early commercial style. The area houses the City of Villa Rica Police Department along with several antique stores, restaurants, and other commercial businesses. The boundary is basically North Avenue, East Gordon Street, West Church Street, and the Southern Railroad line.

The '''Williams Family Farm''' was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 25, 2005. The farm-house, built in 1892, is in excellent condition and sits in front of a [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] camp established in 1937 to help struggling farmers with their cotton fields. There are several outbuildings and an historic landscape. This farm is also known as the Williams-Mitchell Farm.<ref>{{cite web|title=Williams-Mitchell Farm Documentation and Interpretive Plan|url=http://www.westga.edu/~history/centerwilliams.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030502183211/http://www.westga.edu/~history/centerwilliams.htm|archive-date=May 2, 2003|access-date=2007-12-16|publisher=Center for Public History, University of West Georgia}}</ref>

The '''Pine Mountain Gold Museum''' at Stockmar Park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.<ref name="NatlRegister"/> The 1826 gold rush of the city, called "Georgia's Forgotten Gold Rush", was at Stockmar Park, and a museum was built to tell the story. The remains of some original buildings and equipment are on site, along with a stamp mill, grist mill, panning area, and live farm animal exhibit.<ref name="PMGMweb"/>

The '''South Commercial Historic District''' is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, but the completed nomination form is currently held up because of the controversy over the Old Library/Old Clinic for the past several years. The building is one of the most significant in West Georgia and a keystone of the proposed historic district.
[[File:Old Library signed copy.jpg|thumb|right|Old Villa Rica Library 1951-2007]]
The city and the Downtown Development Authority desired to tear down the oldest International design Old Clinic. Built as the Berry-Powell-Berry Clinic, the doctors chose cutting-edge architecture to showcase their practice as cutting edge. Built in 1951, the building later served as the Old Library and then again as a clinic. After several years of efforts to save the structure, the city tore it down in December 2007. Previously insisting for years on the need for parking, immediately after demolition the site was made into a parking lot for local businesses. The city also allowed Tanner Medical Center to demolish the old hospital (1955) which was built with the same architecture and used by the same collation of doctors.<ref>Blevins, Ernest Everett, MFA "'Old Library' a Piece of Villa Rica's History", ''The Villa Rican'', Vol. 72. No. 31 (3 August 2006), 5
Spencer Crawford, "At Least One Still Works to Save Old Building," ''The Villa Rican'', Vol. 72, No. 25 (21 June 2007) 1, 6. Spencer Crawford, "Survey Claims No Need for More Parking," ''The Villa Rican'', Vol 72, No. 2 (11 January 2007), 1, 3. Spencer Crawford, "Should Old Downtown Building Be Saved?" ''The Villa Rican'', Vol. 72, No. 48 (30 November 2006), 1-2. Tony Montcalm, "Downtown Parking Survey Underway," ''The Villa Rican'', Vol. 72, No. 34 (25 August 2005) 1, 11. Tony Montcalm, "Villa Rica Man Fights to Save Old Library," ''The Villa Rican'', Vol. 72, No. 22 (2 June 2005), 1-2. "Villa Rica Old Library" http://www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc34718.php "Villa Rica Old Library Update," http://moderngeorgia.wordpress.com/2006/04/19/villa-rica-library/ Villa Rica, Georgia" http://www.openencyclopedia.net/index.php/Villa_Rica%2C_Georgia</ref>