In 1634, England's King Charles I ordered a new system of government in the Colony of Virginia, which was to be based on a form of local government used in England: The Shire. A shire was overseen by a Sheriff, who represented the King. Virginia's first shires were:

Accomac Shire Charles City Shire Charles River Shire Elizabeth City Shire

Henrico Shire James City Shire Warwick River Shire Warrosquyoake Shire

Smaller counties were carved from the original, larger counties. The population migrated west, and further counties were duly established.

Each county needed a seat: The place where the county's courthouse, clerk's office and jail would reside. A tavern was also usually present nearby, so that county residents who had traveled to their courthouse could spend the night, before dealing with their legal affairs the following day.

Virgina's county courthouses were meeting places for the community: Court days were held once a month. Locals would gather to chat and gossip, and vendors showed up to supply food, clothing and other necessities. Colonial-era courthouse greens were often surrounded by a low wall, to keep out ever-present livestock.

When colonial Virginia's judicial system was first being developed, it modeled itself after similar institutions in England, where courts regularly sat in a variety of buildings: Nothing resembling a shire courthouse really existed, so there was no pattern to imitate. Virginia's first county courts met in private residences, or in purpose-built log cabins that weren't made to last.

It wasn't until Virginia's capital was moved to Williamsburg at the end of the 17th century, and the subsequent construction of the College of William and Mary, that there was anything like governmental permanence in Virginia...and it had a look. The first public building with an arcaded porch in Virginia was the Wren Building at William and Mary (1700), which effect was so pleasing that the Williamsburg Courthouse was made in 1703 with the same arcaded front. Several Virginia courthouses were designed in a similar manner: King William, Hanover and Isle of Wight's courthouses share that design.

Virginia has several Burned Record Counties, mostly in the eastern part of the state. These counties' court records were destroyed either by accidental fire or intentional jerkitude, the latter of which primarily occurred during the Civil War. Elizabeth City County, one of Virginia's original Shires, had its records destroyed during the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War. In some cases, counties lost their courthouses along with their records.

This site will be a study of Virginia's 95 county seats, all of which I intend to visit and depict in the near future. I am the webmaster of the Hanover County Historical Society, so naturally I am of the opinion that Hanover's is the finest historical courthouse of them all...but I'll need to see them all to be able to officially make that determination!

→Click here to visit the counties' individual pages←
...or click on the county below to see its page!