Fairfax Courthouse

“ Together with its immediately adjacent grounds, the present courthouse complex occupies almost the entire four-acre tract which was the original site. This tract still forms a square near the center of the City of Fairfax, at the intersections of two main roads, Routes 236 (Little River Turnpike) and 123 (Chain Bridge Road) . The general setting is gently rolling terrain, and the courthouse site is on a slightly higher elevation than the surrounding area, with stone retaining walls on the two sides facing the turnpike and road. ”

“ Its origins as a political and social institution have been attributed to various prototypes in Tudor and earlier English history. By the time Fairfax County was established in 1742, this institution and its functions in colonial Virginia had been clearly formulated and accepted. [43]
The County Court evolved from the colony's original court established at Jamestown and consisting of the Governor and Council sitting as a judicial tribunal. In 1618, the Governor ordered courts to be held monthly at convenient places throughout the colony to save litigants the expense of traveling to Jamestown. ”

“ Usually built in a central location, with more regard for accessibility from all corners of the county than for proximity to established centers of commerce, the courthouse came to be a unique complex of buildings related to the work of the court. In time, most of these clusters of buildings grew into towns or cities, but throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries many places shown on Virginia maps as "Court House" consisted literally of a county courthouse and its related structures standing alone beside a crossroads. ”

“ The reader will note that the early Fairfax County officials gained an understanding of the importance of democratic government in our nation through their participation in county government while the people they served developed a sense of community through their interaction at the courthouse. The present courthouse stands as a monument to the governmental and social prosperity Fairfax County has enjoyed. ”

“ The May 1798 Fairfax County Court Order Book did specify that the courthouse should be forty-by-thirty feet with a twelve-foot portico, the gaol forty-by-twenty, the clerk's office twenty-by-eighteen and covered with slate or tile, a gaoler's house twenty-four-by-eighteen feet, and that stocks, pillory and whipping post also be provided by letting the entire [Pg 59] "... building of the same to the lowest bidder." ”

“ Tradition holds that the benches had been pews at one time in Jerusalem Baptist Church located on the Ox Road between Fairfax and Fairfax Station. This church had been built on the site of the old colonial "Payne's Church."
Illustrating the period when gaslights replaced candles, an elaborate brass chandelier fitted for gas illumination has been found in the courthouse attic. It is possibly the fixture which the sheriff was directed at the February 1890 court to purchase, for a price not to exceed $25.00. In about 1902, electric lights were installed. ”

“ When civil government ceased to function at the courthouse, competing groups that claimed civil authority in Fairfax County used jail facilities in neighboring Alexandria and Leesburg when the need arose. During the latter years of the war, when Union troops occupied the courthouse, the jail offered its facilities as a storehouse as well as a place of detention for military prisoners. But the Army of the Potomac had little time or incentive to keep the jail in good repair, and so, like the courthouse, it suffered extensively from the war. ”

“ During the 1870's, repairs and construction of additions to the original building restored the jail to service. The 1879 G. M. Hopkins Atlas showing the courthouse complex depicts the jail as being larger than the courthouse in size. In 1884, fire destroyed this building, and arrangements had to be made to use the Alexandria city jail until a proper new jail could be constructed for the county. ”

“ In addition, buildings were customarily provided to house the office of the Clerk of the Court, and to accommodate the justices of the assize and their entourage of lawyers and others who accompanied them as they rode circuit among the counties of the colony. In England, the "assizes" were sessions of the justices' courts which met, generally twice a year in each shire, for trial of questions of fact in both civil and criminal cases. The county courts in colonial Virginia continued to be called assizes for much of the 18th Century. ”

“ Associated Buildings and Structures. Certain structures were associated with the courthouse because they were required by statute, and others had their origin in custom and convenience. In 1792, when the legislature of the new state government revised the law relating to organization of the local courts, it reenacted most of the features of the system which had been followed in colonial times. By law all counties had to build and maintain a courthouse, jail, pillory, whipping post, and stocks. ”

“ The central location of the new courthouse and the improvement of its accessibility through the construction of several turnpike roads commencing in the early 1800's, led naturally to the growth of a community around the courthouse. In the vicinity of the crossroads a few buildings antedated the courthouse. Earp's store, probably built in the late 1700's, was one such building, as were dwelling houses reputedly built by the Moss family and Thomas Love. ”

“ Appointments to the county court in some instances seemed almost hereditary, for when a justice of one of the prominent local families died or retired to attend to other interests it frequently occurred that his place was taken by a younger relative. Historian Charles Sydnor has noted that during the twenty years prior to the War of Independence three-fourths of the 1600 justices of the peace appointed in Virginia came from three hundred to four hundred families. ”

“ From the rear of the balcony were doorways into a jury room and small office which occupied the second-floor space over the entrance arcade. Three rows of benches, each raised one step above the one in front, provided additional seating space for visitors in the balcony. The ceiling of the courtroom was sheet metal (tin) with a pattern of ridges arranged in rectangular shapes. Central heating was provided by hot water radiators.
In 1929, an addition was constructed on the south side at the rear of the original courthouse, making an L-shaped building. ”

“ Innovations which were made in adapting these styles to American use were, in most instances, attributable to the differences in building materials and the types of skilled labor which were available to the American builder.
The Origin of the Courthouse Design. The architectural design which James Wren selected for the Fairfax County Courthouse utilized several features which already were familiar hallmarks of public buildings in colonial Virginia, and in particular the colonial capitol at Williamsburg—probably the most impressive public building in Virginia at that time. ”

“ Colonial Virginia statutes specified that each county should "cause to be built a courthouse of brick, stone or timber; one common gaol, well-secured with iron bars, bolts and locks, one pillory, whipping post and stocks." [3] In addition, the law authorized construction of a ducking stool, if deemed necessary, and required establishment of a 10-acre tract in which those imprisoned for minor crimes might, on good behavior, walk for exercise. ”

“ Within the four-acre courthouse tract, a half-acre was laid off to provide space to build an office for the Clerk of the Court. [28] This original tract did not provide enough ground for the jail yard and other grounds comprising the courthouse compound. [29] Accordingly, in March 1800 the Court ordered William Payne to prepare a new survey of the compound, enlarged to accommodate all of the facilities required by the law. The area of this new survey was ten acres, capable of accommodating courthouse, jail, clerk's office, gallows and pillory, a stable, a storehouse and possibly an ordinary. ”

“ The fact having been brought to the notice of the Court that degradations were being committed upon the Mt. Vernon Estate, the Court, under the Chancery powers vested therein, appointed Jonathan Roberts, the present Sheriff, Curator, to take charge of all [Pg 37] property in Fairfax County, Va. belonging to the heirs of John A. Washington, dec. [97]
After the cessation of fighting in April 1865, Governor Pierpont moved his government from Alexandria to Richmond. ”

“ Nothing remains of the building but the walls and the roof." Moreover, the work of renovation had to be carried out under the double difficulty of shortages of funds and labor that was skilled in cabinetmaking and metalworking. In the end, the restoration of the courthouse was a gradual process in which first one and then another improvement was added. No grand design seems to have been followed or a complete record of accomplishments maintained. Hence, evidence of the courthouse furnishings is seen in such separate notations in the Court Minute Books as follow ”

“ As the institution of the county court grew during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and became the hub of county government, the monthly sessions of the court furnished an opportunity for general gatherings of the county's residents and visitors to transact both public and personal business. A scene that must have been typical of almost any Virginia county in the early nineteenth century has been described by historian John Wayland as follows:
Court day once a month was looked upon as a great event ”

“ In 1750, Fairfax County's western border closely approached the edge of English settlement in Virginia. Settlements in the western part of the County were growing far less rapidly than in the centers of population in the eastern part. Alexandria, established as a town in 1749, showed signs of becoming a major seaport, and its merchants complained that travel to the courthouse at Springfield was burdensome, and that service of process and execution of writs was well-nigh impossible. ”

“ James Wren, and constructed of brick "covered with slate." [130]
During the next forty years, the functions of the clerk grew in both size and importance as he was called upon to serve both the County court and the circuit court. The need for repairs combined with the need for more space required increasing attention to the old building, until, in 1853, it was determined that a new office building for the clerk must be built. Newman Burke, George W. Hunter, Jr. and Alfred Moss were appointed commissioners to oversee the demolition of the old office building and the construction of a new one. ”

“ Examination of the courthouse attic in July 1967 revealed a brass chandelier with six arms, approximately 24 inches long, fixed to a central hub. Burners at the end of each arm were fitted to hold glass globes or lamp chimneys. Fairfax County Court Minute Book, 1888–1892, p. 216. The end of the gaslight era occurred shortly after 1900, when, according to Thomas Chapman, former Clerk of Circuit Court, electric lights were installed in the clerk's office in 1902 and shortly thereafter in the courtroom. ”

“ Some person or persons have entered the Court House Building in the night, without authority and have damaged Said building and have greatly annoyed the citizens living nearby by violently ringing the bell. ”

“ Directly or indirectly, the justices of the county court influenced the selection of all other county officers. The clerk of the court was elected outright, but others—including the sheriff, coroner, inspectors and commissioners for special duties, and militia officers below the rank of brigadier—were commissioned by the governor from lists submitted by the justices. ”

“ He was deputy clerk under his father for nine years, succeeding him in 1880. Elected to the new position of clerk of the Circuit Court in 1881, he served in that capacity until 1887, and again from 1904 to 1935.
Henry Wirt Thomas, (1812–1890) , was born in Loudoun County, Virginia. He served as commonwealth's attorney in Fairfax and was elected to the state legislature for a number of terms between 1841 and 1875. Following the Civil War, he was appointed judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Virginia and later appointed lieutenant governor to fill out an unexpired term. ”

“ The sheriff was also the custodian of the county jail and its prisoners. He had the authority to decide on and collect bail, and he was liable for a fine if a prisoner escaped. He appears generally to have taken his responsibility for the county jail lightly, for there is evidence of widespread [Pg 22] contracting for others to provide the guard for the jail and the food for the prisoners. Other officials who were part of the colonial county government performed specialized functions, but unlike the clerk and sheriff, took no part in the general administration of county business. ”

“ The jury room uses the space above the first-floor portico, an area 12 × 19 feet. The doors to the room are 2 feet 10 inches by 6 feet 10 inches, with 4 panels. Doors and frames are painted white, with brass doorknobs and modern locks set in the doors. The wall between the jury room and balcony is a new stud partition which is finished with white plaster, as is the ceiling. Lighting is provided by 3 recessed lights set in the ceiling and equally spaced. The walls of the room have a 3-inch baseboard, but no wainscotting. ”

“ The streets around the courthouse were thronged with all sorts of men; others, on horseback, riding up and down trying to sell their horses. Men in home made clothes, old rusty hats that had seen several generations, coarse shoes and no stockings, some without coat or vest, with only shirt and pants.... ”