Fulton County

150-year-old historic courthouse catches fire in Fairburn, FCFD investigates

FAIRBURN,Ga. — Investigators are working to determine what caused a fire at a historic courthouse in Fairburn.

The old Campbell County courthouse on northeast Broad Street caught fire Wednesday night.

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Channel 2′s Candace McCowan spoke to some of the people who are pushing to restore the building.

“As we progressed to the inside, the crews noticed that they had heavy fire above their heads in the attic,” Fairburn Fire Chief Cornelius Robinson said.

There was so much fire that crews retreated and put the flames out from outside.

But the damage was already done to the structure and the more than 150 years of history it housed.

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“The building was built in 1871. That building was the original courthouse when there was the old Campbell County/Fairburn was the county seat of Campbell county during the 1800s before Fulton county took over,” Robinson said.

The fire marshal is still working to determine the cause of the fire.

But there is an effort now to save the building.

“When I was a child, I took ballet and tap dancing upstairs and my girl scouts, we met up there. This was a courthouse where they actually held court in Campbell County,” Jane Storey of Old Campbell County Historical Society said.

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It’s been vacant for years, and while many have wanted to restore the building, the Old Campbell County Historical Society says there wasn’t funding to do the work.

But with this fire, a group is hoping they can gather supporters and save the old courthouse.

Some are hoping to preserve the history and memories.

Others have different ideas.

“Right now the most important reason is for the film industry because you have buildings like this that can’t be recreated,” Dee ClaBorn said.

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