Charlotte Court House Historic District is a rare example of a 19th-century rural courthouse town, concentrated on two main streets. Begun as Dalstonburg in 1775 during the French and Indian War, and later called Marysville and Smithville, the town was named Charlotte Court House in 1901. The court square contains an 1823 courthouse designed by Thomas Jefferson, an 1830 records office, a 1900 clerk's office, and a 1936 jail. The district also includes antebellum houses, commercial buildings, churches, and a brick tavern. Ambassador David K.E. Bruce donated the library, library garden, and other county office buildings in the 1930s.