Aside from our famous vampires and witches, something that Newton County is known for is its rich local history. Our historic square in Downtown Covington, GA has been a main hub of the community since the late 1800’s. Over the decades, the façade of our Covington Square has remained well-preserved by the Historic Preservation Board as well as the City of Covington and Newton County officials. Some structures have been demolished and rebuilt, but most of the storefronts you see around the Square Park are the same brick and mortar from the original structure— with a fresh face of new businesses!
Today’s “Wayback Wednesday” article is more of a visual blog on our local history than informational, but still interesting to us, nonetheless. We are always intrigued to see various photos from throughout the years of the different parts of our Covington Square. So get ready for a flashback as we bring you images of what the iconic square looked like the year or decade you were born!
The Original Covington Square
First things first, we’re pretty sure no one from the late 1800’s is alive today, unless you’re one of our local vampires in Mystic Falls. But just to give everyone an idea of what the earliest photos recorded of the Covington Square look like, check these archived shots below:
Bank of Covington and Opera House in the late 1800's
Early 1900’s
The Covington Square in Winter of 1907
Savannah Auto Club Endurance Race, passing through the Covington Square in 1908
Photo of the Rapid Transit horse-drawn streetcar system circa 1916
The 1920’s
The roads and parking areas around the Covington Square were paved sometime between 1923 and 1925.
Officials in Covington pose in front of a fire engine at the courthouse steps, 1925
A crowd gathers as merchants give away bales of cotton in the Covington Square
Mowers and Hay Rakes for sale outside Stephenson Hardware on Washington Street, circa 1920's
The 1930’s
Corner of Church Street on the Covington Square
Inside City Pharmacy on Church Street
J.A. Allgood Blacksmith Shop on Hunter Avenue, just off the Covington Square
The 1940’s
Cohen's Department Store at the corner of Washington Street and Monticello Street, circa 1948
The 1950’s
Covington Goodyear and Auto Supply at the corner of Church Street & College Avenue
The Downtown Covington Square on Monticello Street
The 1960’s
The historic courthouse and Covington Square, circa 1960
Christmas Parade on the Covington Square, at the corner of Floyd St and Church St
Aerial view of the Covington Square, circa 1963
White's Department Store at the corner of Monticello Street and Washington Street, circa 1964
Bank of Covington on Clark Street, circa 1969
The 1970’s
Gulf Station at the corner of Washington Street and Emory Street in 1970
Filming the first 5 episodes of the Dukes of Hazzard in 1979
The 1980’s
Covington Square circa 1980
The Downtown Covington Square circa 1984
City Pharmacy Employees Pose with the mural on the Floyd Street side of the building
The 1990’s
Downtown Covington Square, circa 1992
Monticello Street during the 1990's
Locals enjoying a horse-drawn carriage ride on the Covington Square
Carroll and Hugh O'Connor of locally-lensed In the Heat of the Night in the annual Christmas Parade
The 2000’s
Aerial shot of Church Street
Monticello Street on the Covington Square, circa 2007
Present-Day Covington Square
How’s that for a short journey in local history? Covington/Newton County is proud to have so much rich local history preserved to be enjoyed by locals and tourists alike. We are also fortunate in our community to see our square undergo Hollywood transformations to make it look like a different geographic area, or sometimes a different time period. One of the most recent community transformations was with Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors as they make our square look like Sevierville in the 1950's. Do you have any great photos of the square from the decade or year you were born? Please connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and share your shots with us!
