Brunswick County Courthouse Square
Also known as: Vdhr # 251-0001; Albertis S. Harrison Courthouse
Why it's listed
Lawrenceville's courthouse square in Brunswick County, Virginia, groups several public buildings around a lawn on the town's main street. The centerpiece is the 1854-55 courthouse, a two-story brick Greek Revival building by Edward R. Turnbull and Robert Kirkland, with a pedimented portico of four Doric columns and a small cupola. A rear addition in 1939 gave it a T-shaped plan. Beside it stands the brick clerk's office of 1893, built when county records outgrew the courthouse. A library, a jail and a Confederate monument complete the square, and a newer courthouse was added in 1998. The county seat was established here in 1814 after the courthouse had moved several times as county boundaries changed. The square was listed as a typical nineteenth-century Virginia shire town center, and its records survived the Civil War through a Masonic connection between Turnbull and a Union raider.
Significance in brief: The original nomination called the square the epitome of a nineteenth-century Virginia shire town, with a harmonious group of public buildings at the center of village life. The county records were also spared during the Civil War because of Masonic ties between the builder and a Union raider. The 2010 update adds Architecture and Political/Government as areas of significance under Criteria A and C.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 74002110, listed December 31, 1974. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 202, 216, 228, 234 North Main St., Lawrenceville |
|---|---|
| County | Brunswick County |
| Listed | December 31, 1974 |
| Reference number | 74002110 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1854 to 1959 |
| Architect / builder | Edward R. Turnbull; Robert Kirkland; Marion J. Dimmock; William Moseley; Browne, Eichman, Dalgliesh, Gilpin and Paxton P.C. |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival, Romanesque, Colonial Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Politics/Government |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The 1974 form rates condition as excellent but altered, and the 2010 update says the 1854 courthouse is partly used for county offices while a new courthouse was built in 1998. |
| Acreage | 1.6 |
| Within district | Lawrenceville Historic District (Additional Documentation) |
| Coordinates | 36.75847, -77.84667 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 74002110.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14712093
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.