The Caroline County Courthouse was erected in the early 1830s to replace a courthouse that stood nearby. The architecturally sophisticated structure, located in the Bowling Green Historic District, is distinguished by its bold Tuscan pediment and arcaded ground floor. Because of the loss of county records, the exact construction date and designer are not known, but the building’s similarity to the Madison and Page County courthouses, both erected by master builders William B. Phillips and Malcolm F. Crawford, has led to the attribution of the Caroline courthouse to them. Phillips and Crawford had been employed by Thomas Jefferson at the University of Virginia where they became proficient in the classical vocabulary. They subsequently built numerous public buildings and houses throughout the state. Caroline’s courthouse is believed to be the county’s sixth courthouse. The interior underwent a modified restoration to its original configuration in the early 1970s.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia