Greene County, a rural Piedmont county, was formed from Orange County in 1838 and was named for Gen. Nathanael Greene, a Revolutionary War military hero. Its county seat is Stanardsville. William Donoho and William B. Phillips, master builders who had learned the classical vocabulary from Thomas Jefferson while constructing the University of Virginia, designed the Greene County courthouse in 1838. Madison County, in the hills of the Piedmont against the Blue Ridge Mountains, was formed from Culpeper County in 1792. It was named for James Madison, the “father of the American Constitution” and the fourth president of the United States. The county contains a portion of Shenandoah National Park. President Herbert Hoover had a rustic retreat constructed in the Blue Ridge Mountains here during his presidency from 1929 to 1933. Its county seat is Madison.