The village was established in 1791 when Sussex County moved its seat here from Lewes, seeking a more central location, albeit one “16 miles from anywhere,” as an early account had it, and landlocked. The town's grid plan was laid out around a central circle (The Circle, ES5) and bounded by a unique, circular outer border that was not broken until 1986. A series of prominent jurists lived in the 104 W. Market Street house now called “The Judges” (c. 1810), one of several frame dwellings that contain sections almost as old as Georgetown itself. These buildings were typically covered in shingles. The Joseph T. Adams House (1868) at 12 E. Pine Street shows how the traditional shingled aesthetic could later be combined with up-to-date gingerbread work. O. H. Bailey's bird's-eye view of Georgetown (1885) affords a glimpse of virtually every building in the thriving county seat. U.S. Government funds flowed to Georgetown during the Great Depression; a WPA Post Office went up on The Circle (1932), and Federal Arts Project murals by Edward L. Grant, Walter Pyle, and Andrew Doragh were installed in a local school. The Georgetown Armory (1939–1940, Martin and Jeffers) at 109 W. Pine Street is brick with limestone trim (over concrete and steel), with a slate roof, in Moderne style. A rare International Style postwar building in town is the International Order of Odd Fellows Hall on N. Bedford Street (1966). Georgetown has undergone rapid growth in recent years.
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