The Fairfax County CourthouseNetherton, Ross De Witt
History
The Fairfax County Courthouse
Netherton, Ross De Witt
Courthouses -- Virginia -- Fairfax County -- History; Law -- Virginia -- Fairfax County -- History
Ordered that the Com'r of Public Buildings have the sawdust
removed from the floor of the Courtroom, and have said floor
covered with a substantial cocoa matting at the expense of the
Court.[155]
December Court, 1882.
... Some person or persons have entered the Court House Building
in the night, without authority and have damaged Said building and
have greatly annoyed the citizens living nearby by violently
ringing the bell. It is therefore ordered by the Court, that such
trespass ... will be punished to the full extent of the law.[156]
The bell referred to by the Court was a standard feature of many
Virginia courthouses, and was rung to announce the convening of court
sessions. In the Fairfax County Courthouse, the bell was hung in a
cupola on the roof, and rung with a bell-pull passing through the
building's attic to the balcony level of the courtroom.[157]
A major change in the appearance of the courtroom occurred with the
installation of wooden benches in the public section of the chamber.
Tradition holds that the benches had been pews at one time in
Jerusalem Baptist Church located on the Ox Road between Fairfax and
Fairfax Station. This church had been built on the site of the old
colonial "Payne's Church."
Illustrating the period when gaslights replaced candles, an elaborate
brass chandelier fitted for gas illumination has been found in the
courthouse attic. It is possibly the fixture which the sheriff was
directed at the February 1890 court to purchase, for a price not to
exceed $25.00. In about 1902, electric lights were installed.[158]
During the restoration of the courthouse following the Civil War one
major alteration of the exterior appearance of the courthouse occurred
when the brickwork between the windows on the first and second floors
was removed to change the windows into single two-story-long vertical
openings. The courthouse windows remained this way until 1968 when
renovation of the original section of the courthouse was carried out,
and double rows were reestablished as they appeared in photographs
taken during the Civil War.
[Illustration: The old courthouse, 1800, prior to restoration in
1967.]
[Illustration: The old courthouse after restoration in 1967.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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