Carroll County Courthouse - Hillsville, VA
N 36° 45.967 W 080° 44.200
17S E 523502 N 4068959
The Carroll County Courthouse was completed in 1875 as the county courthouse in Hillsville, Virginia. It is the site of the infamous Hillsville massacre of March 14, 1912 when 5 people were killed inside the courtroom.
Waymark Code: WM1C6RJ
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 06/18/2025
Views: 0
In the Carroll County Courthouse, a red brick building with white columned entrance, the mountain clan of Allen ran amok on March 12, 1912, during the trial of Floyd Allen, arraigned for freeing two youthful members of the clan who had been arrested for disturbing a church meetmg. Trouble was expected when the mountaineers rode into town and the courtroom was crowded. After the jury's verdict of guilty and the refusal of a new trial. Judge Thornton L. Massie imposed sentence of a year in jail. As the prisoner stood up and shouted, ' I ain't a-goin ' ! ' a volley blazed 'Uke the crackle of mountain laurel,' a witness said. The judge, the commonwealth attorney, the sheriff, the jury foreman, and a witness for the prosecution were killed, and the clerk of court was wounded. Then the Aliens rode off into the hills. Subsequently caught, two were sentenced to death and four to prison. Of these, two were pardoned by Governor E.Lee Trinkle in 1924 and two by Governor Harry F. Byrd in 1926. In the mountains the shooting is remembered in the doleful ballad ' Claude Allen.'-Virginia: a Guide to the Old Dominion 1941
A very well maintained courthouse which is a contributing property to the Hillsville Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. The famous courtroom battle of 1912 held national news until the Sinking of the R. M. S. Titanic surpassed it. The story is very interesting.
Book: Virginia
Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 477
Year Originally Published: 1941
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