Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 08/17/1994
NRHP Listing Date 09/30/1994
NRHP Reference Number 94001178
William A. Howard, an associate of Thomas Jefferson’s master builder, Dabney Cosby, Sr., built the Cumberland County Courthouse in 1818. Designed in the Jeffersonian Classical style, the compact building is dominated by a finely executed Tuscan portico. The form departs from the norm by being only one story in height and by having the portico on the long side. Howard also designed the diminutive brick clerk’s office east of the courthouse. Completed in 1821, the clerk’s office features a full Doric entablature and a portico with unusual octagonal columns, probably resulting from a misreading of pattern-book instructions for column construction. Also located on the courthouse green (which centers the Cumberland Courthouse Historic District) is the original county jail, and a 19th-century well. Several prominent Virginia lawyers, including Patrick Henry, John Marshall, Edward Carrington and Richard Randolph, practiced law here.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: February 22, 2023
