{"nrhp_refnum":"99001603","name":"Provost","other_names":["Oakville","072-0055"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"4801 Cartersville Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Powhatan","county":"Powhatan County","state":"VA","lat":37.60244006700003,"lon":-77.98457556174434,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-12-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Provost, also called Oakville, is a weatherboarded frame house with outbuildings at 4801 Cartersville Road near Powhatan in Powhatan County, Virginia. Construction is believed to have begun around 1800, and the house was enlarged several times.","why_significant":"The house served the surrounding rural community as a general store, ordinary, post office, telephone exchange and local vital statistics office between 1867 and 1945. It is significant under Criterion A for local commerce and government, and under Criterion C because its additions reflect changing community needs.","narrative":"Provost is a frame house on a 61-acre tract in rural north-central Powhatan County, Virginia, begun around 1800 and first known as Oakville. It sits at a crossroads where the stage coach route west from Richmond met the road from Powhatan to Cartersville. Over time it was enlarged to meet public needs. A store addition in the mid-nineteenth century housed a general store that operated from at least 1867 until about 1945. In 1902 the building was extended again for a post office, which ran until 1939. A telephone exchange was added in the 1920s, and from 1933 to 1945 the house served as a local office recording births and deaths. The property includes a smokehouse with attached wash house, a corn house and a machine shed. It was listed because its changing uses show how a rural Virginia community's needs evolved, and because its additions record that history in the building itself. It is again a private home.","period_of_significance":"Ca. 1800 - 1945","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Early Republic: Federal","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Currently a private residence, described as well maintained, with a small apartment in the two-story east section.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:59.961285-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/6826/41682644/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/99001603.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99001603/fbb8f3e7d0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99001603/fbb8f3e7d0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Mojo Hand","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Provost_Powhatan_VA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Mojo Hand</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Provost_Powhatan_VA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682644","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provost_(Powhatan,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15268785"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/powhatan-county/provost-99001603/"}