Halifax has been the county seat of Halifax County since 1777. The town was named for George Montague, the second Earl of Halifax, an English statesman, and was previously called Banister, Houston, and Halifax Court House. Portions of Gen. Nathanael Greene's troops were here in Feb. 1781, George Washington was in the region on 4 June 1791, and John Randolph of Roanoke spoke here to a large gathering during the spring of 1827. The present courthouse, a Classical Revival structure built in 1839, was constructed by Dabney Cosby, Sr., one of Thomas Jefferson's master builders. Union Gen. George Custer camped in the region in Apr. 1865.