The Boydton Historic District is one of the best-preserved small county seats in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Sitting atop low rolling hills, the town of Boydton is one of the few earlier Virginia towns that was not built along or near a river. In addition to its beautiful classical Mecklenburg County courthouse, the district contains significant church and school buildings, a great variety of houses, and typical rural commercial buildings. The oldest building in the district is the rambling, picturesque Boyd Tavern, begun in the 18th century. The most unusual is the Beales, Berlinger & Gregory Studebaker dealership building built in 1918, featuring an ornamental metal façade, corner finial, and recessed first story—a rare survival for almost any Virginia locality. Much of the historic commercial portion of the Boydton Historic District was built in the first half of the 20th century due to a fire in 1907. Unique is the verdant field of the Cedar Crest plantation complex, which, like an English town common, is bordered by the Presbyterian Church, the St. James Episcopal Church cemetery, large houses along one side, and the Classical Revival plantation house itself.
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