Old Campbell County Courthouse

This elegant Greek Revival building reflects the influence of Virginia's earlier Jeffersonian courthouses. The public's approval of Campbell's courthouse led to its being the model for the Pittsylvania County Courthouse built a few years later. The brick courthouse is cruciform in plan, all four gables are pedimented, and the facade has a four-columned Doric portico resting on a high, brick podium. Because of the cross wing, the building visually bears a resemblance to the courthouses with three-part massing. The wooden cornice is tall and the building's openings are surmounted by lintels with corner blocks featuring roundels. Rising above the roof are two interior chimneys and an octagonal cupola with a weather vane. Inside, the circuit courtroom on the main floor is elaborate and intact, including a highly decorated cornice and a paneled ceiling with ornate medallions. Behind a modern judge's rostrum, the original Doric aedicule has an all-seeing eye set within a medallion. Realistically portrayed in glass, the eye stares out at the courtroom. The aedicule's pilasters feature the fretwork characteristic of Asher Benjamin, whose pattern books clearly influenced the architectural details of the courthouse. In the twentieth century, a number of county buildings were constructed around the old courthouse.