Skip to main content

Small Towns of Virginia Series - Charlotte Court House

Image
By
This sleepy little rural town in Central Virginia can easily be overlooked.  Located miles from the Interstate or four lane US and Virginia Highways, Charlotte Court House in many ways is easily forgotten.  However, this tiny town of slightly over 400 residents holds a lot of Virginia and American History.

VA 47 and VA 40 run through Charlotte Court House.
 In 1799, Charlotte Court House saw the passing of the torch from an aging Patrick Henry and a young John Randolph.  The great debate over states' rights was the last for the fiery Henry and the first in public for Randolph.  Randolph would go on to serve in the US House of Representatives and U.S. Minister to Russia.  Henry, who was serving in the Virginia General Assembly representing Charlotte County at the time of the debate, died three months later.
 
Charlotte Court House is not the original name of the town.  Originally named The Magazine, then Daltonsburgh, followed by Marysville (which was the town's name at the time of the Henry-Randolph debate), Smithfield, and finally named Charlotte Courthouse at the turn of the 20th Century.  However, that was not the last name change for the Charlotte County Seat.  In 1989, Charlotte Courthouse became Charlotte Court House, which it remains today.  Fittingly, there are still many listings of 'Charlotte Courthouse' today. 

The Charlotte County Courthouse built in 1823.
Charlotte Court House saw minimal action during the Civil War.  In June 1864, a Union foraging party entered the town after destroying rail lines in nearby Keysville, Meherinn Station and Burkeville Junction.  The brief Union occupation went rather uneventful and many residents were relieved when Union forces did not burn any parts of the town down.

Within the courtyard of the Charlotte County Courthouse sits a Veterans and Confederate Soldiers Memorial.

Today, Charlotte Court House is a charming small village that takes pride in their history.  There are numerous historical building within the town.  In addition to small inns, shops and restaurants.  In recent times, the 1993 movie "Sommersby" was shot here.

A small general store in Charlotte Court House.

Site Navigation:
Labels:

Comments

Unknown said…
OMG! I am moved to see my home town talked about ANYWHERE! I LOVE THIS PLACE! I learned a few things too! Lol. Thank you for doing this.It makes my American heritage feel that much more American!
5:51 PM
Hazel Harrison said…
I grew up 10 miles from CCH. My Mom went to school and graduated from Charlotte High School in 1938 and I graduated from Randolph-Henry High School in 1957. Both of our lives were totally centered in and around this wonderful little town.
3:23 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

By
In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l
3 comments
Read more

Ghost Town Tuesday; Mannfield, FL and the stairway to Hell

By
Back in 2015 I went searching the Lecanto Sand Hills for the original Citrus County Seat known as Mannfield.  Unlike Centrailia in Hernando County and Fivay in Pasco County I did find something worth seeing. Mannfield is located in the Lecanto Sand Hill section of Withlacoochee State Forest somewhat east of the intersection of Citrus County Route 491 and Mansfield Road. Mannfield was named after Austin Mann and founded in Hernando County in 1884 before Citrus County Split away.  In 1887 Citrus County was split from northern Hernando County while Pasco County was spun off to the south.  Mannfield was selected as the new Citrus County seat due to it being near the county geographic center.  Reportedly Mannfield had as many as 250 people when it was the County Seat.  The town included various businesses one might include at the time, even a sawmill which was common for the area.  In 1891 Citrus County voted to move it's seat to Inverness which set the stage for the decline of M
6 comments
Read more

The Lincoln Highway Bridge Rails

By
The Lincoln Highway Bridge Rails are presently located at the eastbound truck parking area near Mile Marker 6 of Interstate 80 in Washoe County, Nevada.  These bridge rails were part of the Mogul Road culvert which was completed in 1914 as part of the Northern Branch of the Lincoln Highway.  The railings were intended to be a common feature of the Lincoln Highway but ultimately were only installed at one other location in Tama, Iowa.  During 1926 US Route 40 would be carried for a time through the Lincoln Highway Bridge Rails.  The bridge rails were abandoned during a realignment of US Route 40 during the 1930s but were ultimately salved during the construction of Interstate 80 in 1970.  Part 1; the history of the Lincoln Highway Bridge Rails During 1912 Indiana Businessman Carl G. Fisher conceptualized the Lincoln Highway as a major transcontinental Auto Trail.  The Lincoln Highway was formally dedicated on October 31, 1913, and was aligned west of Fallon via split branches over the S
Post a Comment
Read more