The Lake Acworth Beach and Bathhouse has finally been added to the National Register of Historic Places after an almost five-year push by the city and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

"We're extremely excited about it," Acworth Mayor Tommy Allegood said. "Our city is all about historic preservation, so this is just a continuation of our continued efforts to keep us known as historic Acworth."

Steven Moffson, an architectural historian with the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia DNR, said the city's historic preservation commission first submitted an application for the bathhouse in 2004, and the completed nomination was submitted in August 2005. The bathhouse was finally accepted and listed in the register on Jan.7.

"It's not typical for an application to take almost five years, but we're thrilled that it finally got approved," Moffson said. "This is an honorific designation, which can incur certain tax and grant incentives if cities choose to, but being named to the register is mainly substantial because it establishes a property as being historic and worthy of preservation."

The bathhouse first opened on Aug. 12, 1953, three years after Lake Acworth was created by Mayor Hilton Nichols' closing of the Lake Allatoona floodgates. City leaders hoped that Lake Acworth would boost the city's economy and reduce the destructive effects of seasonal mud flats.

As then-Governor Herman Talmadge toured Acworth on a campaign visit in 1950, he promised the city $25,000 to build the bathhouse, but later gave $100,000 for the project. The Marietta architectural firm of Bothwell & Nash was hired to design "a large, rustic beach house" with an accompanying man-made beach, and the bathhouse continues to be used to by residents more than 50 years later.

"It's still being used frequently, and is a very integral part of our youth summer camps," Allegood said.

Moffson said the bathhouse is significant for its architecture because it includes elements of the Colonial Revival style and the long, rectangular form characteristic of mid-century modern design.

"It has architectural, entertainment, recreation and social histories that all played and continue to play important roles in the building. Its main purpose was as a post-World War II recreational facility, and there really weren't many and are quite rare," Moffson said.

He said there are 2,028 listings in the historic register in Georgia, and 74,000 properties listed. Many of the listings include historic districts, while historic properties are those, such as the bathhouse, that stand alone in the register.

The city of Acworth now has four listings in the historic register, as the bathhouse joins the Cowen Farmstead, Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Collins Avenue Historic District.