A Brief History of the
The
All
public business such as deeds, marriage licenses, or any business with the law
or court has to be taken to the county seat.
Before 1958, people in this area had to travel to the county seats at
An
act to form a new county out of parts of the counties of Tazewell and Russell
passed
Soon
after
The
first courthouse was a wooden structure and seven years after construction, in
1865, the building and all records were destroyed by fire.
The
next courthouse, also constructed of wood, stood for thirty years until it was
destroyed by fire in 1885. These fires
caused many problems and law-suits for the people of the county because of the
loss of deeds, land titles, and marriage records.
After
the fire of 1885, another wooden structure was built, but this one had a stone
vault to protect the county records. A committee was appointed to draft plans
for a new courthouse. In 1905, work began on a large gray sandstone building.
On
Reconstruction
was completed on the courthouse in 1917.
The courthouse needed a clock and on
The
last construction to the courthouse was in 1980 when the building was enlarged
to its present size.
The
Buchanan County Courthouse was named to the Virginia Landmarks Register in
1983. The Virginia Landmarks Register is
the State’s official list of placed worthy of preservation as part of our
heritage. Historical structures, such as
the Buchanan County Courthouse, are an important part of the history of
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