Qualla: Albemarle County Courthouse Historic District

Albemarle County Courthouse Historic District: Introduction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit James Simmons, CC BY-SA 3.0. On Sunday mornings in early 19th-century Charlottesville, the Albemarle County Courthouse on Court Square doubled as a church. Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists took turns using the building for services, in part because the town was too small to afford four sanctuaries and in part because no one objected. Thomas Jefferson attended services there. So did James Madison and James Monroe. The 1803 Federal-style brick building at the center of what is now the Albemarle County Courthouse Historic District has been many things to many people, and most of them are still legible in the architecture.

Image: James Simmons | CC BY-SA 3.0

Albemarle County Courthouse Historic District: An 1803 Federal Building

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jhb 10s (talk), Public domain. The original section of the courthouse was built in 1803 in the Federal style - the restrained Roman-influenced architecture favored by the early American republic. It is now the north wing of the building. The structure is two stories tall, five bays wide, and T-shaped in plan, ...

Image: Jhb 10s (talk) | Public domain

Albemarle County Courthouse Historic District: Court Square's 22 Buildings

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jhb 10s (talk), Public domain. The historic district extends beyond the courthouse itself to encompass 22 contributing buildings and one contributing object around Court Square. Levy Opera House (around 1851) housed local performances and meetings for decades. Number Nothing (around 1820) is a small commercial...

Image: Jhb 10s (talk) | Public domain

Albemarle County Courthouse Historic District: The Jackson Statue

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Anthony Crider, CC BY 2.0. The one contributing object in the historic district is a sculpture of Confederate General Thomas Jonathan Stonewall Jackson. The statue was donated to Charlottesville by philanthropist Paul Goodloe McIntire in 1921, during a wave of Confederate monument construction across the S...

Image: Anthony Crider | CC BY 2.0

Albemarle County Courthouse Historic District: From 1973 to Today

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jhb 10s (talk), Public domain. The Albemarle County Courthouse Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. In 1982 it was incorporated into the larger Charlottesville and Albemarle County Courthouse Historic District, which extended the protected area to include additional ...

Image: Jhb 10s (talk) | Public domain