{"nrhp_refnum":"90001998","name":"Louisa County Courthouse","other_names":["DHR file # 54-81"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of Main St. and VA 208","address_restricted":false,"city":"Louisa","county":"Louisa County","state":"VA","lat":38.024594207000064,"lon":-78.00382485999995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-12-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, five-bay Classical Revival brick courthouse built in 1905 on Main Street in the town of Louisa, Virginia, set within a complex that includes an old jail, the Crank Building, the Ogg Memorial Building, a Civil War monument and a worn courthouse threshold.","why_significant":"The courthouse is significant under Criterion C as an outstanding example of Classical Revival public architecture, designed by regionally prominent Richmond architect D. Wiley Anderson. Its temple form and classical detailing were chosen to evoke rational, representative government. The complex also reflects a tradition of local government on or near this site since the eighteenth century.","narrative":"Louisa County's seat of government centers on a brick courthouse completed in 1905 on Main Street in the town of Louisa. Two stories tall and five bays wide, it has a pedimented portico with four Ionic columns and an octagonal drum, dome and lantern rising above the roof. It was the fourth courthouse for the county and the third on this site, replacing an 1818 building judged beyond repair. Richmond architect D. Wiley Anderson, who designed many houses and public buildings in Virginia, drew up the plans. The surrounding complex holds an old jail first built in 1818 and rebuilt in 1868 after a fire, the 1830 Crank Building, the 1917 Ogg Memorial Building that began as a bank, a Confederate monument and a worn threshold from the earlier courthouse. The grouping was listed for its architecture, with the classical temple form seen as an expression of ideals of representative government, and its period of significance runs from 1830 to 1917.","period_of_significance":"1830-1917","architect_builder":"Anderson, D. Wiley","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The courthouse remains in use as a courthouse. The Ogg Building serves as county offices and the District Court, and the old jail is a museum run by the Louisa County Historical Society.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:01.100303-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/77/6816/41681677/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/90001998.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001998/aea827e827-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001998/aea827e827-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Calvin Beale","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louisa_County_Courthouse_(Built_1905),_Louisa_(Louisa_County,_Virginia).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Calvin Beale</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louisa_County_Courthouse_(Built_1905),_Louisa_(Louisa_County,_Virginia).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681677","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisa_County_Courthouse_(Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712750"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/louisa-county/louisa-county-courthouse-90001998/"}