The House To Be Of Brick

After fire destroyed the frame courthouse near the Po River in 1838, tavern owner Lewis Rawlings and his wife Ann offered 10 acres of land near his tavern on the road to Fredericksburg for a new site, and the county quickly accepted. The Commissioners chose Malcolm F. Crawford of Charlottesville, Virginia, a disciple of Thomas Jefferson who had built 27 of the dormitories at the University of Virginia, to build the new courthouse. Crawford also constructed the Caroline, Page, Madison, and Rappahannock County courthouses. Gabriel Long built the walls in 1838, and the Commissioners, apparently having learned a lesson, insured the new building; in 1847 it was insured for $5000 at a cost of $20. The first courthouse photograph, taken in 1866 by George H. Bell, shows in the background the massive earthworks of Lee's defensive line from May 1864, while in the foreground are the battered walls and the famous well. Union artillery fire caused heavy damage to the courthouse in May 1864, but little is unchanged today, and the Commissioners had advertised bids to construct the new building.

Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia · United States