Spotsylvania County Courthouse - Spotsylvania Court House Historic District - Spotsylvania County VA
N 38° 12.087 W 077° 35.326
18S E 273318 N 4231334
The Spotsylvania County Courthouse is the focal point of the Spotsylvania Court House Historic District in Virginia.
Waymark Code: WME42J
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 03/31/2012
Views: 3
Spotsylvania County was established in 1720. Its court system was moved from Fredericksburg in 1779.
In 1838, Lewis Rawlings bought 1125 acres of land in the county. He gave the court ten acres in what is now the center of Spotsylvania Court House and the old courthouse was relocated to its present site.
Malcolm Crawford and William Phillips, who had help build the University of VA, completed the courthouse in 1840. It was done in the Roman Revival style which was similar to other courthouses in the Virginia Piedmont at that time.
When the Civil War came to this small town, the courthouse suffered severe damage during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House
.
 | Detail taken from CWDT marker
across street from courthouse. |
Hasty repairs were made to the huge gaping holes left by artillery in an attempt to protect the county records, but by 1900, the building was declared unsafe and many of the records were unsalvagable. During major reconstruction, the basic design of the courthouse was maintained with the original Doric columns, but the red brick was replaced with yellow 'fireproof' brick.
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