Gloucester Courthouse

Gloucester Courthouse is a Virginia historical marker in Gloucester County, dedicated 2016.

Gloucester County · dedicated 2016 · Main St. adjacent to courthouse circle

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Gloucester County was formed from York County in 1651. Its first brick courthouse, one of Virginia's earliest, was erected by 1685. The county built a new courthouse in 1766, and the Virginia General Assembly established Botetourt Town around it in 1769. John New’s Ordinary (later the Botetourt Hotel), built ca. 1770, featured dining rooms, a billiards room, and a ballroom. A debtor’s prison and clerk’s office were built by 1824, followed by a new jail (1873) and clerk's office (1896). Excavations have located other houses and taverns in the village. Union forces occupied the county seat at various times during the Civil War, and Union and Confederate troops skirmished here on 29 Jan. 1864.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

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John Carter Brown Library, Brown University

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Marker program managed by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

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On the National Register nearby

Gloucester County Courthouse Square Historic District130 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.