Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 10/17/1972
NRHP Listing Date 07/24/1973
NRHP Reference Number 73002066
The tiny settlement of Sussex Court House typifies the early-19th-century Virginia county seat, consisting of a scattering of court structures with a few law offices and dwellings. The district is dominated by its Jeffersonian courthouse, completed in 1828 by Dabney Cosby, Sr., who built several court structures in the classical style he mastered while employed at the University of Virginia. For the courthouse, Cosby made use of a pedimented pavilion with an arcaded ground floor instead of the usual columned portico. Across the road is the 1817 former treasurer’s office, a story-and-a-half brick structure. Immediately north of the courthouse is the ca. 1800 Dillard house, a two-story weatherboarded dwelling which likely served as the courthouse tavern. Nearby is the John Bannister house, a two-story wood-frame house which at one time housed a girls’ school.
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: July 1, 2021
