Prince William County Courthouse is a historic

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

located at 9248 Lee Avenue,

Manassas Manassas (), formerly Manassas Junction, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. The population was 42,772 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Prince William County, although the two are separate jurisdi ...

Prince William County, Virginia Prince William County lies beside the Potomac River in the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 482,204, making it Virginia's second most populous county. The county seat is the independent city of Manassas. A part ...

. Rehabilitated in 2000–2001, it currently houses some offices of the Prince William County clerk, and the historic courtroom upstairs can be rented for events.

History

The county's fifth courthouse was built in 1892–1893, on land donated by former Union officer and Virginia lawyer and delegate

George Carr Round George Carr Round (September 14, 1839 – November 5, 1918) was a Union soldier (and later officer) who settled in Prince William County, Virginia after the American Civil War. He became a lawyer, superintendent of public instruction in Manassas ...

. After several legal disputes, including one decided by the

Virginia Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrativ ...

, the county government moved to this building near the county's most important railroad station, from the centrally located but increasingly isolated

Brentsville Courthouse and Jail Brentsville Courthouse and Jail is a historic courthouse and jail located at Brentsville, Prince William County, Virginia. The courthouse was built in 1822, and is a two-story, Federal style brick building. It features a fanlight over the main ...

. This became the county's courthouse in 1897. On July 21, 1911, U.S. President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

and Virginia Governor

William Hodges Mann William Hodges Mann (July 30, 1843 – December 12, 1927) was an American lawyer, Confederate soldier and Democratic politician who became the first judge of Nottoway County, Virginia and the last Confederate veteran to serve as the Governor ...

shook hands on the courthouse lawn during the

Manassas Peace Jubilee The Manassas Peace Jubilee was a celebration that began 50 years after the start of the American Civil War, and was held in Manassas, Virginia, mostly between July 16 and July 21, 1911. This first major Civil War veterans' reunion marked fifty yea ...

commemorating the 50th anniversary of the

First Battle of Bull Run The First Battle of Bull Run, called the Battle of First Manassas
. by Confederate States ...

, the first major conflict of the American Civil War. The town of Manassas became large enough for the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

to incorporate it as a city in the 1970s, which caused several complications for the old courthouse. After negotiations, title to the courthouse building and the jail (razed years later) remained in the County, and various town (city) offices moved out of the building. The county property became surrounded by city land, much of which became included in a national historic district in 2004. Meanwhile, by 1980, the space had become too cramped for judicial operations in the growing county, so another courthouse was built about a mile away. This building continued actively use as a county courthouse until 1982. The current (modern) courthouse containing both the Prince William Circuit Court and the Prince William District Court is at 9311 Lee Avenue in Manassas, VA 20110, and has several parking lots nearby.

Architecture

The two-story, Romanesque style polychromatic brick building measures 52 feet by 60 feet and has a hipped roof. The front facade is symmetrical and features a projecting central bay forming a three-story clock tower topped with a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

. an
''Accompanying four photos''
/ref> It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2004.

References

County courthouses in Virginia Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Romanesque Revival architecture in Virginia Government buildings completed in 1893 Buildings and structures in Manassas, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Prince William County, Virginia Brick buildings and structures in Virginia {{PrinceWilliamCountyVA-NRHP-stub