The Northampton County Courthouse Historical District is a nine-acre historic district in Northampton County, Virginia

Northampton County, Virginia

As of the census of 2010, there were 12,389 people, 5,321 households, and 3,543 families residing in the county. The population density was 63 people per square mile . There were 6,547 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile...

, in the United States. The district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

. Three buildings are located on the property: A courthouse and a clerk's office (dating to 1731), and a prison (dating to 1814). The buildings house documents dating back to 1632.

History

The courthouse was constructed by John Marshall in 1731 at the cost of 50,000 pounds of tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

. Built in the Flemish bond style, the brick building measured approximately 35 feet by 23 feet. The Clerk's Office was built adjacent to the courthouse. It features diagonally-battened door fastens and am unusual assortment of variously sized paving stones.

The building remained in use through 1795, when another courthouse was constructed nearby. It was then turned into a family house for a rent of $1 per year, on the condition that the new lessee would fund a new roof for the building.

Preservation

The court house remained in the possession of the original lessee and his descendants until it was purchased by the county in 1913 for $4,000. Preservation Virginia had the building moved to its current location, near the Clerk's Office. The Office and the nearby Jail, both of which had fallen into disrepair, were turned over to Preservation Virginia for restoration and preservation. All three buildings underwent extensive repair in the 1950s. The Clerk's Office currently holds a museum of Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

artifacts, while the Debtor's Prison holds a collection of 19th-century tools.