-
(Virginia Department of Historic Resources)
Unlike the county seats of Appomattox and Prince Edward, Nottoway's courthouse was not relocated when the railroad line bypassed it. Now little more than a wide place in the road, Nottoway is a secluded spot with a small cluster of architectural treasures set among modern one-story brick civic buildings. The courthouse is the traditional temple-front central block with a four-columned Tuscan portico and full entablature, and with flanking wings. Although most of Virginia's three-part courthouses are either set on a high cellar or have a two-story central block, the Nottoway courthouse has a low foundation and a one-story central block only slightly higher than its flanking wings. The courthouse's white wooden trim contrasts with the Flemish bond red brick walls. Framed by white marble sills and lintels, the windows of the main block have the twelve-pane triple-sash characteristic of Thomas Jefferson's Roman Revival. The interior has been heavily remodeled.
The Clerk's Office (c. 1843) nearby is a modest one-story brick building with additions on the east side and rear. Behind the courthouse, the Office of the Commissioner of Revenue (c. 1900), originally built as the jail, is a one-story brick building with a hipped roof. Like Cumberland County's old jail (CB3), it was painted white as part of its conversion into offices.