Among Halifax County’s oldest-surviving houses, Cedar Grove dates to the late 1770s, as indicated by aspects of the one-story house, which may have been built for William Smith. Early features include hewn and mill-sawn framing members, wrought nails, and tarred fish-scale wooden shingles. Merchant James Warren acquired the property in the early 1800s, and by the 1830s it became the home of his daughter Sarah and her husband, planter and later mill owner Jacob Blane Sr. Federal-style remodeling dates to this period, followed by the addition of Greek and Gothic Revival architectural elements at mid-century. Jacob Blane built an office with Gothic Revival-style features that survives today in front of the house. Other historic structures on the property include log and frame farm buildings, an early smokehouse, and a cemetery. Cedar Grove remained in the Blane and inter-related families until 1945.
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