Pittsylvania County Courthouse | |
Location | US 29, Chatham, Virginia |
---|---|
Coordinates | 36°49′31″N79°23′54″W / 36.82528°N 79.39833°W |
Area | 0.5 acres (0.20 ha) [1] |
Built | 1853 |
Architect | Shumaker, L.A. |
Architectural style | Colonial Revival, Italianate |
NRHP reference No. | 81000643 |
VLR No. | 187-0007 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 29, 1981 [2] |
Designated NHL | May 4, 1987 [3] |
Designated VLR | June 16, 1981 [4] |
The Pittsylvania County Courthouse is located at 1 North Main Street in downtown Chatham, Virginia, USA. Built in 1853, this Greek Revival building was Pittsylvania County's third courthouse. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987, because it was the scene of events leading to Ex parte Virginia , a United States Supreme Court case extending the Equal Protection Clause to state actions such as jury selection. [1] [3]
The Pittsylvania County Courthouse is located on the east side of US Business Route 29, at the northeast corner of Bank Street. The original portion of the building, built in 1853, faces west, with a modern addition extending to the east along Bank Street. It is a two-story brick building, with a combination of Classical and Italianate styling, designed by L.M. Shumaker. It has a pedimented Greek Revival portico, supported by four fluted Doric columns, and is topped by a tall cupola housing a bell and clock. [1]
Both the county, formed in 1767, and the town of Chatham were named for William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, then the de facto leader of the British government. The present court house replaced a structure built in 1783, one block west of where the old offices of the clerk still stands. The court was removed to this locality from Callands in 1777.
In 1878, Judge J.D. Coles, a district judge, was arrested for violating the Civil Rights Act of 1875 by excluding African Americans from the jury selection process for grand juries and trial juries. Coles filed for release from custody, on the grounds that his rights as an individual and as an officer of the state had been violated. In Ex parte Virginia , the United States Supreme Court ruled against Coles, indicating that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provided redress against the operation of state laws and the actions of state officials. It was one of a small number of victories for advocates of civil rights in the period. [1]
Chatham is a town in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of Pittsylvania County. Chatham's population was 1,232 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Danville, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town was originally called Competition, but the name was changed to Chatham by the Virginia General Assembly on May 1, 1852.
Dinwiddie County Court House is a historic courthouse building located at the junction of U.S. 1 and VA 619 in Dinwiddie, Dinwiddie County, Virginia. It was built in 1851, and is a two-story, brick temple-form building in the Greek Revival style. It measures approximately 37 feet (11 m) wide and 78 feet (24 m) long, and features a front portico added in 1933. The courthouse was the site of the Battle of Dinwiddie Court House in the closing stages of the American Civil War. The Dinwiddie County Historical Society is currently located in this building.
Berry Hill Plantation, also known simply as Berry Hill, is a historic plantation located on the west side of South Boston in Halifax County, Virginia, United States. The main house, transformed c. 1839 into one of Virginia's finest examples of Greek Revival architecture, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1969. The surviving portion of the plantation, which was once one of the largest in the state, is now a conference and event center.
Hanover County Courthouse is a historic courthouse located in the community of Hanover Courthouse, the county seat of Hanover County, Virginia. Built about 1735, it is one of the nation's oldest courthouses still in use for that purpose. It is historically notable as the site of the Parson's Cause case, which was argued by Patrick Henry in 1763. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973. A modern courthouse complex stands nearby, which now houses most of the county's judicial functions.
Hanover County Courthouse Historic District is a national historic district located at Hanover Courthouse, Hanover County, Virginia, USA. The district includes four contributing buildings in the county seat of Hanover Courthouse. They are the separately listed Hanover County Courthouse (1735), the old jail (1835), the clerk's office, and the Hanover Tavern now known as the Barksdale Theatre.
The Lynchburg Courthouse is a historic courthouse building located at Lynchburg, Virginia. Built in 1855, it occupies a prominent position overlooking the steeply descending steps of Monument Terrace. The building is executed in stucco-over-brick on a granite ashlar basement and is an example of the Greek Revival. The building is capped by a shallow dome located over the intersection of the ridges. At the top of the dome is a small open belfry consisting of a circle of small Ionic columns supporting a hemispherical dome. The front of the court house has a three-bay Doric portico.
The Lancaster Court House Historic District is a national historic district consisting of 25 structures, including one monument, located in Lancaster, Virginia, Lancaster County, Virginia. Four of the buildings make up the Mary Ball Washington Museum and Library, founded in 1958, whose purpose is to preserve and interpret the history of Lancaster County, Virginia.
The Cumberland County Courthouse is a historic courthouse building located at Cumberland, Cumberland County, Virginia. It was built by Dabney Cosby, a master builder for Thomas Jefferson, in 1818. It is a brick, one-story, rectangular, gable-roofed courthouse. The building features the Tuscan order throughout and a tetrastyle portico. Also included are the contributing small, brick, one-story clerks office; the brick, two-story, gable-roofed former jail; and Confederate Civil War monument (1901).
The Aurora Highlands Historic District is a national historic district located at Arlington County, Virginia. It contains 624 contributing buildings, 2 contributing sites, and 1 contributing structure in a residential neighborhood in South Arlington. Aurora Highlands was formed by the integration of three subdivisions platted between 1896 and 1930, with improvements in the form of modest single-family residences. The district is characterized by single family dwellings with a number of twin dwellings and duplexes, three churches, a rectory, two schools, two landscaped parks, and commercial buildings. The oldest dwelling is associated with “Sunnydale Farm” and is a Greek Revival-style dwelling built about 1870. The predominant architectural style represented is Colonial Revival.
Caroline County Courthouse is a historic county courthouse located at Bowling Green, Caroline County, Virginia. It was built about 1830, and is a two-story, four bay wide, brick temple form building in the Jeffersonian Roman Revival style. The building is surrounded by a Tuscan entablature with a Tuscan pediment at either end. The front facade features an open arcade one-bay deep on the ground floor with six rounded arches.
Gloucester County Courthouse Square Historic District is a national historic district located at Gloucester Courthouse, Gloucester County, Virginia. The district encompasses 17 contributing buildings including the Gloucester County government buildings and those structures bordering the square, housing private businesses, offices and residences. The courthouse was built about 1766, and is a one-story, T-shaped brick structure with a hipped roof. Other notable buildings include the Botetourt Hotel ; the Botetourt Lodge; W. C. Tucker's Department Store Building; S and S Hobbies; and the Kearn's Real Estate storage house.
Gloucester Downtown Historic District is a national historic district located at Gloucester Courthouse, Gloucester County, Virginia. The district encompasses 57 contributing buildings and 5 contributing sites. It includes the central business district and limited residential development directly connected to the historic court circle and Main Street extending east to Edge Hill, to include the Gloucester Women's Club.
Nottoway County Courthouse is a historic courthouse building located at Nottoway, Nottoway County, Virginia. It was built in 1843, and is a three-part Palladian plan building in the Jeffersonian or Roman Revival style brick structure. It has a temple-form main block and features a tetrastyle Tuscan order portico. It has flanking one-story wings.
The Pittsylvania County Clerk's Office is a historic county clerk's office located at Chatham in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. It was built in 1812, and is a one-story, L-shaped brick structure. It housed the county clerk's office until 1853, when those offices were moved to the newly constructed Pittsylvania County Courthouse. The building was restored by the Pittsylvania County Historical Society and houses a small museum.
Burnett's Diner, also known as Main Street Lunch, S&K Diner, and Chatham Cafe, is a historic converted streetcar diner located at Chatham in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. It was built in 1923, and used as a streetcar in Danville, Virginia. It was brought to Chatham in 1939, and converted for use as a diner. It was restored in the 1980s.
Yates Tavern, also known as Yancy Cabin, is a historic tavern located near Gretna, Pittsylvania County, Virginia. The building dates to the late-18th or early-19th century, and is a two-story, frame building sheathed in weatherboard. It measures approximately 18 feet by 24 feet and has eight-inch jetty on each long side at the second-floor level. It is representative of a traditional hall-and-parlor Tidewater house. The building was occupied by a tavern in the early-19th century. It was restored in the 1970s.
Chatham Historic District is a national historic district located at Chatham, Pittsylvania County, Virginia. The district includes 188 contributing buildings, 2 contributing sites, and 1 contributing object in the central business district of the town of Chatham. The district includes a variety of government, commercial, residential, religious and educational buildings and structures dating from the early-19th century to the mid-20th century. At the center of the district is the separately listed Pittsylvania County Courthouse. Other notable buildings include the Judge Tredway House, Tunstall-Hargrave House, The Oaks (1832), Morea (1837), Hugh Weir House (1835), Planter's Bank, Thompson's Drug and Haberdashy Building, Corinth Christian Church, Emmanuel Episcopal Church (1881), Chatham Presbyterian Church (1886), Canada-Melton House, United States Post Office, Chatham High School, Chatham Elementary School (1925), Chatham Savings Bank, Masonic Temple, Collie Hotel/William Pitt Hotel, Beauty Plaza, and the Moses Building. Also located in the district and separately listed are the Clerk's Office, Bill's Diner, and Burnett's Diner.
Spotsylvania Court House Historic District is a national historic district located at Spotsylvania, Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The district includes 24 contributing buildings in the historic core of Spotsylvania. The principal building is the Spotsylvania Court House, a two-story Roman Revival style brick building built in 1839-1840 and extensively remodeled in 1901. The front facade features a tetrastyle portico in the Tuscan order. Associated with the courthouse is a late 18th-century jail and office and storage buildings erected in the 1930s. Other notable buildings include the Spottswood Inn, Berea Church (1856), Christ Church (1841), Dabney Farm, J.P.H. Crismond House, Harris House, and Cary Crismond House.
The Old Fairfax County Jail was built in 1885, behind the Fairfax County Court House. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, expanding the previously listed Fairfax County Court House. It is located in the City of Fairfax Historic District.
Albemarle County Courthouse Historic District is a historic courthouse and national historic district located at Charlottesville, Virginia. The district encompasses 22 contributing buildings and 1 contributing object centered on Court Square. The original section of the courthouse was built in 1803 in the Federal style and is now the north wing. The courthouse is a two-story, five-bay, T-shaped brick building with a Greek Revival style portico. Other notable buildings include the Levy Opera House, Number Nothing, Redland Club, and Eagle Tavern.