Charlottesville and Albemarle County Courthouse Historic District

Charlottesville's historic district covers roughly 112 acres and about 300 buildings, taking in the town laid out in 1762 as the seat of Albemarle County, along with its 1818 annexation and parts of the 1860 annexation. At its center are Court Square, with the 1803 courthouse, and a Main Street commercial core that became a pedestrian mall in the 1970s. Around them are churches, a public library, a former school, two small parks with equestrian statues, railroad warehouses and a 1905 train station. Residential streets such as Park Street, North First Street and Altamont Circle show Federal, Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and Bungalow styles. The district was recognized for its role as a regional political center, its links to Thomas Jefferson and to Revolutionary and Civil War events, and its range of 19th- and early 20th-century architecture. Demolition and urban renewal have left gaps, but the original street plan and many historic buildings survive.