Grayson County, formed in 1792 from Wythe County, was named for William Grayson, one of Virginia's first two United States senators. Its court initially met at William Bourne's farm near present-day Fries. At Old Town, earlier known as Greenville, the county erected its first courthouse about 1794. That log structure was replaced in 1834 with a brick Federal-style courthouse constructed by James Toncray, builder of several other courthouses in Southwest Virginia. The clerk's office there dates from 1810. After Carroll County split off in 1842, Grayson County shifted its seat westward to present-day Independence, where the court began meeting in 1851.