The Fairfax County Courthouse Part 7

Overshadowing the old courthouse tract, the new center of government nevertheless preserves the evidence of the past by continuing use of the original (north) section of the courthouse building and its 1953 addition, all in an architectural style reminiscent of the colonial period in Virginia. The presence of the past combine with a sense of the present and the future to make the Fairfax County Courthouse both a symbol and a functioning seat of a county government which in the year 1976 had been in existence for more than two centuries.

NOTES FOR CHAPTER VI

[113] Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, _Industrial and Historical Sketch of Fairfax County, Virginia_, (Fairfax: County Board of Supervisors, 1907), p. 5.

[114] Allen W. Moger, "The Rebuilding of the Old Dominion,"

(Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Columbia University, 1940), pp.

95-96.

[115] Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, _Industrial and Historical Sketch_, pp. 5-6.

[116] The campaign to improve Virginia's roads had been waged since the 1890's. See, for example, the rhetoric and argument in favor of road improvements set forth in the _Programme of the Virginia Good Roads Convention_, (Roanoke: Stone Printing, Co., 1894) held in Richmond in October 1894. As to the effects of the rise of automotive travel, see Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, _Historic, Progressive Fairfax County in Old Virginia_, (Alexandria: Newell-Cole, 1928), pp.

20-21, containing a road map of the county's hard-surfaced roads and unimproved roads in 1928.

[117] Porter, _County Government_, p. 291.

[118] Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, _Annual Report, 1969_, p.

6.

[119] Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Minute Book, v. 5, 318, William Deming was the architect of this project. As with previous expansions of the clerk's office, the old building was torn down and the bricks re-used in the new building.

[120] Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Minute Book, v. 5, 318; v.

9 (1939-40), 501; v. 10 (1941-42), 175; v. 12 (1949-50), 4; v. 18 (1950-51), 497; v. 20 (1953), 519.

[121] Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Minute Book, v. 30 (1960), pp. 418-23.

[122] Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Minute Book, v. 32, 264-65 notes that Reston offered 50 acres for the use of the courthouse, and Tyson's Corner and the intersection of Routes 495 and 50 also were considered. See also, _Ibid._, v. 39 (1964), 117.

[123] Fairfax County Deed Book, B-2, pp. 373-376; 503-504. The courthouse commissioners were Charles Little, David Stuart, William Payne, James Wren, and George Minor.

[124] Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Minute Book, v. 36, 313; v.

39, 544. On April 7, 1965 the Board of Supervisors voted to construct a new office building and authorize a referendum for a $5,500,000 bond issue for this project. The bonds were approved by the voters, and the building was built on a 35-acre tract belonging to Mary Ambler, which was condemned by the city and then purchased by the county from the condemnor. The architect for the project was William Vosbeck, and the contractor was the Blake Construction Company, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, _Annual Report_, 1968, p. 4.

CHAPTER VII

THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE COURTHOUSE AND ITS RELATED BUILDINGS

1. THE COURTHOUSE COMPLEX

Among the courthouses built in England's North American colonies, those of Virginia developed characteristics which expressed peculiarly well the prevailing patterns of landholding and manner of conducting local government. Unlike New England, where each small community had its frame meeting house, containing within its walls "all the ideals, political, moral, intellectual and religious of the people who attended,"[125] the seats of county government in colonial Virginia were centrally located in rural settings. A few county courthouses grew into regional centers of commerce, industry and finance; but most remained independent and apart from any surrounding community, and some may still be seen today standing "as solitary sentinels, symbolic of government."[126]

It was also characteristic of Virginia that these courthouses were not single buildings, but were complexes of several structures. The typical courthouse compound was enclosed by a brick wall, inside which were a courthouse, a jail, a clerk's office, and, sometimes, a row or cl.u.s.ter of offices for lawyers. Invariably, also, an inn or ordinary occupied a site within the compound or immediately adjacent to it.

This style of courthouse may be found through Virginia, dating from earliest colonial times; and, although many fine courthouses are found in the early architecture of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, none of these areas developed the design concept of a courthouse compound.

This design concept was used in the courthouses of Fairfax County at Springfield (1742-1752) and Alexandria (1752-1800); and it was followed in the county's third courthouse which was completed in 1800.

The courthouse tract was situated near the geographical center of the County, at the intersection of the Little River Turnpike and the old Colchester Road. The tract consisted of four acres, acquired by a deed from Richard Ratcliffe and his wife Serian. Specified in the deed were structures including a courthouse, clerk's office and goal, "... and every other building and Machine necessary ..."--the latter presumably referring to gallows, pillory, stocks, and the like. The May 1798 Fairfax County Court Order Book did specify that the courthouse should be forty-by-thirty feet with a twelve-foot portico, the gaol forty-by-twenty, the clerk's office twenty-by-eighteen and covered with slate or tile, a gaoler's house twenty-four-by-eighteen feet, and that stocks, pillory and whipping post also be provided by letting the entire "... building of the same to the lowest bidder."[127]

In accordance with statutory requirements, s.p.a.ce was delineated for the prison bounds. This was done in March 1800, and the area was described in a survey and report of the commissioners, as follows:[128]

In obedience to the order of the wors.h.i.+pful Court of this County, hereunto annexed, we the subscribers in company with Col. William Payne, the Surveyor of this County, proceeded this thirteenth day of March Eighteen Hundred, to lay off ten acres of ground for the prison rules of this County, and have ascertained and bounded the same by the following meets and boundaries, ... including the said four acres, the Court house, Gaol, Clerk's office, the brick Tavern, Kitchen, Stables and store house, and beg leave to report the same with the plat thereof hereunto also annexed.--Given unto our hands and seals:

Thomas Gunnell (Seal) N. Fitzhugh (Seal) T. Ellzey (Seal)

Whether all of the buildings mentioned in this report actually existed at that time may be questioned, since the survey plat shows only the courthouse, clerk's office and jail. As to these three, the plat showed the courthouse situated as at present, with the clerk's office almost directly south a distance of about 300 feet, and the jail about the same distance south, but in back and west of the clerk's office.

The plat does not show roads or other features of the platted parcel, but the known position of the courthouse in relation to the turnpike supports the suggestion that the brick tavern referred to was located on the north side of the turnpike, the building later known variously as the Willc.o.xen Tavern, the Union Tavern and the Fairfax Tavern. The other buildings referred to in the report apparently left no traces, for except through an occasional glimpse of them in old photographs of the courthouse, they are not noted in the records of the court.

These buildings formed a cl.u.s.ter which, if it was not all neatly enclosed within the courthouse fence, at least was immediately adjacent to and integrated with the activities centered in the court.

In the first three decades of the nineteenth century, the town of Providence grew up around the courthouse, and by 1835 some 50 dwellings and 200 residents were listed.[129] But the town never eclipsed the courthouse; and, from its commanding position on the gentle hill at the crossroads, the courthouse itself continues to serve as a focal point and symbol of government.

_The Clerk's Office._ An office for the Clerk of the County Court was mentioned in the survey of the courthouse lot made in March 1800, and was shown on a location south of the courthouse about 200 feet and east of the jail about sixty feet. According to the survey the office was a relatively small building, one or one-and-one-half stories high, with a chimney at the south end and a door opening on the east side.

This office was the depository of all important public records in the county, and therefore was a focal point for much of the activity that occurred at the courthouse throughout the year. A news report in the _Alexandria Daily Advertiser_ of February 10, 1806 called for bids for an addition to the clerk's office and repairs on the "public building," all of which should be in accordance with a plan lodged with Col. James Wren, and constructed of brick "covered with slate."[130]

During the next forty years, the functions of the clerk grew in both size and importance as he was called upon to serve both the County court and the circuit court. The need for repairs combined with the need for more s.p.a.ce required increasing attention to the old building, until, in 1853, it was determined that a new office building for the clerk must be built. Newman Burke, George W. Hunter, Jr. and Alfred Moss were appointed commissioners to oversee the demolition of the old office building and the construction of a new one.

Fortunately, the commissioners' notice to builders, inviting bids on these jobs, was published in the _Alexandria Gazette and Virginia Advertiser_ of July 15, 1853, and provides a detailed description of the materials and construction to be used. It included the instruction that such of the old materials as could be used in the rebuilding should be so used.

Like the courthouse building, the clerk's office suffered damage and deterioration during the war years of 1861-65. When the courthouse compound became a headquarters for Union army patrols, and civilian government either ceased or moved to a temporary seat elsewhere, care and custody of the clerk's office could not be guaranteed. Many of the record books and files were taken to places of safekeeping in private homes. However, many could not be moved in time to prevent them from being scattered, taken, lost or destroyed as soldiers occupied the office building. When the war ended, the task of re-equipping the office and restoring it to usefulness was a major one.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The clerk's office about 1907.]

In 1875, the clerk's office burned and subsequently, a new office building was added to the courthouse complex. It was a two-story brick building, larger than the old clerk's office and located beyond it to the south of the courthouse. It was probably completed by 1881, at which time the board of supervisors was appropriating funds for new furnis.h.i.+ngs. The architecture of this newest office presented a mixture of three styles. In overall appearance, its square shape, hipped roof and functional design were reminiscent of the eighteenth century buildings of James Wren. The late nineteenth century's preference for exterior decoration was ill.u.s.trated by a dentiled cornice, a belt of corbelling three courses wide in the brickwork below the cornice, and brick pilasters on each side of the main doorway, topped by scrolls and brackets supporting the pediment. In the center of the building on the second floor, a Palladian-style window was installed, providing a contrast to the design of the other windows. Two courses of corbelling also appeared on the two chimneys located at the back and in the center section of the building.

Notwithstanding these exterior decorations, the general design of the office represented a recognition of the needs of office workers and the response of late nineteenth century architects to provide light, air, and functional efficiency in the arrangement of s.p.a.ce for offices. Telephone service and electric lights were installed in the clerk's office in 1902.[131]

After 1932, the old clerk's office was demolished. A new office building was erected south of the courthouse in 1934, with labor and materials provided by Federal and Virginia relief funds. This building was demolished when the extensive addition was made to the courthouse, 1951-1954. A new wing was put on the back of the courthouse in 1956 to accommodate the rapidly increasing quant.i.ties of archives generated by the business of courts and the clerk's office in a county whose population was growing at an unprecedented rate.[132]

_The Jail._ As shown in the survey of the courthouse tract, made in March 1800 by the County Surveyor, William Payne, the jail was located on the southwestern corner of the original four-acre tract. No contemporary descriptions or records of the jail have survived, but the survey sketch shows a two-story building with chimneys at each end. Presumably the construction material for the jail was brick, since the other princ.i.p.al buildings in the Fairfax courthouse compound were made of this material.

With regard to the interior arrangement and description of major features, conjecture is also necessary. But, again presumptions may be made that its facilities were the same as others of the time--for example, that the bars used on doors and windows were the flat type (rather than round or other shapes), which were laid across each other to form a lattice and riveted together where they overlapped. Also, in accordance with contemporary custom, it may be presumed that the jailor and his family made their home in the same building with the prisoners, and so attended to their meals and other needs.

Exactly when and how the first jail was constructed at the courthouse site is not entirely clear. Payne's survey in 1800 showed a jail building on the site. Yet only nine years later the _Alexandria Daily Advertiser_, April 8, 1809, carried an invitation for bids to build a jail at Fairfax Court House. Moreover, although the records of the county court for the next fifty years contain references to repairs and construction work for the jail, they customarily fail to include descriptions of work to be done. Accordingly, little can be gleaned from these sources to aid the architectural history of the courthouse complex.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The jail, built about 1886. Photo taken in 1972.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Police Department, about 1947. Photo courtesy the Fairfax County Historical Society.]

Along with the other public buildings at the courthouse compound, the jail suffered during the years of war from 1861 to 1865. When civil government ceased to function at the courthouse, competing groups that claimed civil authority in Fairfax County used jail facilities in neighboring Alexandria and Leesburg when the need arose. During the latter years of the war, when Union troops occupied the courthouse, the jail offered its facilities as a storehouse as well as a place of detention for military prisoners. But the Army of the Potomac had little time or incentive to keep the jail in good repair, and so, like the courthouse, it suffered extensively from the war.

During the 1870's, repairs and construction of additions to the original building restored the jail to service. The 1879 G. M. Hopkins _Atlas_ showing the courthouse complex depicts the jail as being larger than the courthouse in size. In 1884, fire destroyed this building, and arrangements had to be made to use the Alexandria city jail until a proper new jail could be constructed for the county.[133]

The new jail was located directly behind (west of) the courthouse, facing onto the Little River Turnpike. Its materials and construction indicate that the original portion was added to on two later occasions. When finally completed, the jail was a two-story T-shaped brick building, with a one-story wooden porch across the full length of the front. In the original section (facing onto the turnpike) the windows have plain wooden pediments. The cornice and chimney tops are corbelled, and there are iron cresting and finials on the ridge of the hipped roof. In the second section, which forms part of the stem of the "T," there are segmental arches over the windows and an ornamental cornice consisting of a course of bricks laid vertically. In the third section, which completes the stem of the "T," the brickwork is laid in Flemish bond (matching the courthouse brickwork in contrast to the common bond of the rest of the jail), and the windows are topped with flat arches. The second and third parts of the building are covered with a gable roof.[134]

In this new jail building, the jailor had living quarters in the front portion, and until 1948 these were used as his residence. The building itself ceased to be used for detention of prisoners shortly after that time, for when the addition to the courthouse was completed in 1956, jail facilities were incorporated into this addition. Since 1956, the old jail building has been used for offices of various county agencies, including the juvenile court and probation office, civil defense office, fire board, police dispatcher, and recreation department.[135]