Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 07/06/1971
NRHP Listing Date 09/22/1971
DHR's Virginia Board of Historic Resources easement (Hanover Tavern)
NRHP Reference Number 71000980
This county seat village retains the essential ingredients of a rural Virginia courthouse settlement. The focal point is the arcaded courthouse of ca. 1737-42, a major monument of Virginia’s colonial public architecture. On its surrounding green is the 1835 stone jail and a brick clerk’s office of the same period. Across the road is the Hanover Tavern (pictured above), a rambling late-18th-century hostelry, probably the largest and best preserved of Virginia’s early courthouse taverns. Until recent years the building had long been home of the well-known Barksdale Theatre. It is now restored for exhibition and special events. A late addition to the Hanover County Courthouse Historic District complex is the 1942 Pamunkey Regional Library, an articulate Colonial Revival structure. Hanover Court House witnessed much Civil War activity. It was here that J. E. B. Stuart was commissioned a major general in the Confederate cavalry.
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: May 17, 2021
