The Culpeper Historic District in this Piedmont county seat is significant for its architectural cohesiveness and associations with commercial, military, political, and transportation history. Originally known as Fairfax, the town of Culpeper was founded in 1759. Most of the commercial buildings in the Culpeper Historic District are brick structures in vernacular, Italianate, and neoclassical styles. The quiet, tree-shaded residential streets hold a rich variety of domestic architecture. The district’s focal point is the Culpeper County Courthouse, completed in 1874 by Samuel Proctor who crowned it with a fanciful cupola. Commercial history is linked with its early roads, stagecoach routes, and the railroad. Military history is represented by the homes of Revolutionary War general Edward Stevens and Confederate general Ambrose Powell Hill. The town served as a staging area and hospital center for armies of both sides in the Civil War. Though a growing community, Culpeper preserves a genial, typically American small-town ambience.