The King William County Court House is the best preserved of Virginia’s eleven colonial court buildings. Erected in the second quarter of the 18th century, the T-shaped structure is regarded as the nation’s oldest courthouse in continuous use. Precedent for its arcaded front is the arcade connecting the wings of the first Capitol in Williamsburg. Such arcades were traditional public gathering places. Lending additional character is the Flemish-bond brickwork with glazed headers and rubbed-brick corners and arches. The courthouse grounds are surrounded by a 19th-century brick wall built to keep out wandering livestock. Most of Virginia’s early colonial courthouses were located near the geographic center of their counties, unrelated to any town. The King William County Court House followed this pattern and still preserves its rural setting.
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