"Brick Store" -- Maysville's earlier name

I have known for many years that Maysville was once known as "Wall Street" and "Brick Store." I learned this from a 1906 newspaper article written about Maysville's history. I have never been able to find the source of the name "Wall Street" but suspect it may have been in old postal records which I have yet to research.

As for "Brick Store," Abraham Atkins, Maysville's first merchant, can be credited with that name. In the early 1850's, Atkins built two brick structures--his home and his store -- which were the first brick buildings north of Athens in this area. The store was known from Athens to the mountains of North Carolina as the "Brick Store of North Georgia." Soon the village took on the name "Brick Store" and is even mentioned as such on 1870 census records.

It is believed that Atkins' brick store once stood where Maysville City Hall is presently located. It was apparently destroyed by fire and replaced with new brick store buildings which still stand today as 4, 6, and 8 Homer Street (currently Maysville City Hall and the former Maysville Fish House). Abraham Atkins' son, Hugh Atkins, continued the mercantile business and eventually opened Atkins National Bank at 4 Homer Street. Much of the original bank design has been kept in Maysville City Hall offices.

The Northeastern Railroad came through the village in 1876, following an old stagecoach route from Athens to Clarkesville. According to the late Mrs. Daisy Shubert, the house she lived in at 41 Bacon Street, in Maysville, served as the stagecoach stop for the village. The foundation of the house is made of logs.

Maysville would soon have a depot, although not as large as the one built at Harmony Grove (later Commerce). It would later be replaced with a larger, and nicer, depot, which burned in the 1950's. It was located behind the 1920's-era filling station which now sits at 2 Homer Street. The Stephens Hotel, still standing at 5 South Main, was directly behind the depot, and quite convenient for traveling businessmen and visitors to town.

When railroad mapping was updated, "Brick Store" was changed to Maysville, named for the Mayes family who came to the area from Hebron Church in Franklin County.