Goochland County Court Square

Goochland County Court Square is the civic heart of the county seat, a two-acre walled square dominated by the county court house of 1826. The two-story brick building follows a temple form with a pedimented Tuscan portico, red brick, white trim and green louvered shutters. The front wall is laid in Flemish bond, and most of the original six-over-six window sash survives. Inside, the original gallery and its two staircases remain, along with some early wooden benches. A 1955 rear addition and a 1966 arcade joining an annex are later changes. Other structures on the square include an 1848 stone jail, the original one-story brick clerk's office and a Confederate monument. The court house was built by Dabney Cosby and Valentine Parrish, who supplied the design. Cosby had worked for Thomas Jefferson at the University of Virginia, which probably explains the Jeffersonian character. The group shows how a rural county seat functioned in the nineteenth century.