Did you know that Rome, Georgia, was one of the pioneers of historic preservation in the state? How about that Rome has the oldest and largest intact Victorian main street in Georgia?
These are just a few of the fascinating facts that Brittany Griffin, associate planner, has to share. Griffin has led the Rome Historic Preservation Commission for the past four years. “If you ask me why historic preservation is important to Rome, I can’t give you a straight answer other than historic preservation is Rome,” Griffin says. “If we didn’t have historic preservation, I personally don’t think we would have what we have in Rome today.”
A State Pioneer
When Congress passed the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966, Rome was one of the first Georgia cities to jump on board the national movement, passing its own historic preservation ordinance in 1978, two years before the state adopted its preservation ordinance in 1980. “Because we adopted our ordinance before the state ordinance, we are still one of the nine that are grandfathered in, so we are lucky enough to make our own rules and make our own pace,” Griffin says.
Rome’s decision to join the national push for historic preservation had a lot to do with Broad Street, now the oldest and largest intact Victorian main street in the state of Georgia. According to Griffin, a nationwide movement from city centers to suburbs in the 1970s meant that businesses on main streets began to struggle.
“When you participate in historic preservation, it opens you up to a lot of state funds, so that’s why they jumped on it so early,” Griffin says. “[Rome] saw that they had something great here downtown that was still intact, and those early pioneers in Rome decided to do something about the fact that all the businesses were shuttering.”
According to Griffin, one of the benefits of historic preservation is the possibility for state and federal funding. Rome has taken advantage of state funding in order to maintain its standard of conservation, eventually leading to a statewide order called the Rome Rule. “Rome was getting way too many funds at one point, for the rehab of our downtown and our historic districts, that they actually had to cut us off so that other municipalities could get money statewide,” Griffin explains.