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HERITAGE TOURISM
Quitman - the classic railroad town and southern county Seat
Approximately equidistance between Valdosta and Thomasville, the site for Quitman was chosen shortly after the
creation of Brooks County in 1858. The act creating the town required that, as county seat, it be located within four
miles of the center of the county. For this reason, Quitman, unlike many southern railroad towns, is not located
directly on the line of the railroads intersection that was laid-out before the town’s existence.
Surveyor Jeremiah Smith was contracted to survey and plat the town site and did so in a classic gridiron pattern
and is geographically centered on a survey marker on the courthouse Square. Wilson surveyed the lines and
determined the acreage of lots. Business lots were 40’x140’ while residential lots were of varying size. The lots
were auctioned to the highest bidder and construction of the town soon began and would continue through the
early 20
th century.
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