Department of Historic ResourcesAn official website of the Commonwealth of Virginia Here's how you knowAn official websiteHere's how you know
This antebellum Pittsylvania County Courthouse stands as a landmark to the African American struggle for civil rights in the post Civil-War era. Judge J. D. Coles’s attempt in 1878 to exclude Blacks from jury duty here led to the Supreme Court case of Ex parte Virginia. The court’s ruling held that Judge Coles’s action violated the Civil Rights Act of 1875 and the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U. S. Constitution. The case marked one of the few victories for Blacks in federal court in the generation after 1865. The courthouse, located in the county seat of Chatham, was completed in 1853 by L. A. Shumaker, a regional master builder. The T-shaped structure on its high basement was modeled after the Campbell County Courthouse. Of particular interest is the courtroom with its ornate plasterwork embellishments, a room little changed from the time of Judge Coles’s misguided action.
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 stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia
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
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