Courthouse

The first frame courthouse was replaced in 1803 by the north wing of the present building, containing the courtroom which has served the county ever since. Jefferson was then in his first term as President and had sent his Albemarle neighbor James Monroe on an official mission to France, where he helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase. A year later Meriwether Lewis, Jefferson's private secretary from nearby Ivy, embarked with William Clark on the expedition organized to explore the vast new territory.

After Jefferson retired from the Presidency to Monticello in 1809, he visited this courthouse many times, as did his neighbors and presidential successors Madison and Monroe. As the only large public building in the village, it served not only for court b ut also for meetings of the University's first Board of Visitors, for associations such as the Albemarle Agricultural Society, and for religious services. In 1822, Jefferson wrote, "in our village of Charlottesville, there is a good degree of religion...w e have four sects, but without either church or meeting-house. The court-house is the common temple, one Sunday in the month to each. Here, Episcopalian and Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist, meet together, join in hymning their Maker, listen with atten tion and devotion to each others' preachers, and all mix in society with perfect harmony." Today's front was built just before the Civil War.

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Revised June 12, 1996
This page is maintained by Sue Weber.