Nottoway County Courthouse
Why it's listed
Nottoway County Court House, completed in 1843, serves a small Southside Virginia county seat that is little more than a crossroads of about a dozen buildings. Builder Branch H. Ellington gave it a three-part plan: a temple-form center with a tetrastyle Tuscan portico of stuccoed columns, flanked by lower one-bay wings with pedimented gable ends. The front walls are laid in thin-jointed Flemish bond, the roofs are slate, and tall triple-hung sashes and white marble sills and lintels add refinement. The courtroom fills the center section, with the judge's chamber in the south wing and the jury room in the north. The interior was extensively remodeled, leaving little original fabric beyond window trim. The building is valued as one of roughly fifteen Virginia courthouses in the Jeffersonian or Roman Revival manner and as one of the latest. A broad, tree-planted lawn, a Confederate monument and an early clerk's office complete the setting.
Significance in brief: The nomination calls it one of the most beautiful of about fifteen Virginia courthouses in the Jeffersonian or Roman Revival style and one of the latest examples, finished nearly twenty years after Jefferson's death. It uses a three-part Palladian plan, a temple-form center, a tetrastyle Tuscan portico and triple-hung sash. Its exterior is essentially unaltered, and it remains the focal point of its small county seat.
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 73002045, listed August 13, 1973. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Off U.S. 460 on VA 625, Nottoway |
|---|---|
| County | Nottoway County |
| Listed | August 13, 1973 |
| Reference number | 73002045 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 19th Century (specific date 1843) |
| Architect / builder | Branch H. Ellington (builder) |
| Architectural style | Jeffersonian or Roman Revival |
| Areas of significance | Politics/Government, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition listed as good; exterior essentially unaltered and well preserved; interior extensively remodeled in recent years; occupied and in government use. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 37.12815, -78.07985 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
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 73002045.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q15262627
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.