Quitman, GA

Quitman's courthouse square and two broad, planted avenues still organize the city's historic core. Quitman was laid out in 1859 as the seat of newly created Brooks County, incorporated as a town that year, and became a city in 1904. The 2020 census counted 4,064 residents. The Quitman Historic District includes the courthouse-centered commercial grid, late-19th- and early-20th-century brick storefronts, wood-frame homes, churches, a school, and former industrial properties. US 84 and Georgia 33 run through the historic center, while US 221 continues south toward Florida.

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Today Quitman serves as county seat and a service center for Brooks County farms. Farming and automotive work shape the local economy, while the Camellia City name recalls the plants associated with Quitman and Betty Sheffield, a local camellia figure. The Brooks County School System Performing Arts Center and Quitman Museum add public destinations near the historic district. East Screven Street and Court Street place county government, shops, homes, and institutions within a legible center, with open farmland beginning beyond the surrounding residential and commercial development.