Lancaster Courthouse Historic District

Lancaster Courthouse Historic District
Area 100 acres (40 ha)
Architectural style Federal, Gothic Revival, Classical Revival
Governing body Local
NRHP Reference # 051-0081
Designated VLR [1]

Lancaster Courthouse Historic District, is a basically linear historic district in Lancaster County, Virginia along Virginia State Route 3, which preserves a rural "post village".[2]

History

Lancaster County was formed from Northumberland County in 1651, and plans for a courthouse were prepared three years later, and it was built by William Norgham. Although the original Building's exact location is now unknown, it is assumed to have stood very near the Coromotan River, given the order referencing "ye building of a courthouse in Coromotan ..." and mentions an inlet. However, the location proved unpopular, so the courthouse was moved to land of Captain William Ball by 1698. It was moved again circa 1738, and the county seat in 1740. The current courthouse was opened in 1861 and built on what had once been the Upper Tavern. It was remodeled consistent with Thomas Jefferson's Roman Revival courthouse designs in 1937. The complex includes the old clerk's office and former jail, both dating back to the 18th century. The town itself was authorized in 1691 by Virginia's General Assembly, on the west side of the Coromotan River. Furthermore, the county's records date back to the colonial period, unlike many Tidewater counties whose records were destroyed in the American Civil War, since Lancaster County avoided much devastation.

After the war, the county encouraged emigration, even distributing a pamphlet The Northern Neck of Virginia as a Hone for Immigrants in Northern States, Canada and Europe. The 1872 Confederate memorial dates from this effort and is believed to be the first such monument erected in the Commonwealth. The historic district, essentially a linear village, also includes a tavern built circa 1800, a mid-19th-century post office, Carpenter-Gothic church, turn-of-the-century store, and many detached mid-19th-to-early-20th-century dwellings.

Preservation Efforts

Mary Ball Washington Museum and Library preserved the historic Jail and Lancaster House. Preservation efforts increased in the 1980s, with the Virginia Landmarks Registry recognizing the historic district in January 1983. It received its formal Federal Historic District designation that August.


Notable Structures, Monuments and Parks

Maps

http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Counties/Lancaster/Lancaster_Courthouse_mod.pdf

References

  1. ↑ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  2. ↑ http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Counties/Lancaster/051-0081_Lancaster_Court_House_Historic_District_1983_Final_Nomination.pdf

External links