Gloucester Downtown Historic District

Gloucester's downtown is a seven-block stretch of Main Street in Gloucester Court House, Virginia, beginning at the courthouse circle and ending near Ware House Road. The county seat grew around a courthouse site used since about 1680, and the Main Street link to it appears on a 1754 plat. The town was formally established in 1769 as Botetourt. Along the street stand the 1766 Georgian courthouse, the c1774 Botetourt Hotel, a Masonic lodge from 1857, Classical Revival banks from 1902 and 1916, and the eighteenth-century Longbridge Ordinary, later home of the Gloucester Woman's Club. Twentieth-century additions include early gas stations, a 1950 Moderne Coca-Cola bottling building and mid-century stores. Intact archaeological deposits lie beneath the courthouse green and several other lots. The district retains its historic layout and most of its buildings. It is significant for archaeology, architecture, commerce, African American heritage, government and law between 1754 and 1960.