Orange County
Formed from Spotsylvania County in 1734, Orange County, a pastoral Piedmont county, was probably named in honor of William IV, the Dutch prince of Orange, who married Anne, the Princess Royal, daughter of George II of England, earlier that year. President James Madison lived here at Montpelier and President Zachary Taylor was born here. Some fifty square miles of the county comprise the Madison-Barbour Rural Historic District, an area rich in historic resources including the ruins of Barboursville, the home of Gov. James Barbour designed about 1814 by his friend Thomas Jefferson.
Greene County
Formed from Orange County in 1838, this rural Piedmont county was named for Gen. Nathanael Greene, Revolutionary War military hero. The county seat of Greene County is Stanardsville. William Donoho and William B. Phillips, master builders who had learned the classical vocabulary from Thomas Jefferson while constructing the University of Virginia, designed the Greene County Courthouse in 1838.