Top of page

Photo, Print, Drawing Courthouse Group Area Survey, U.S. Route 13, Eastville, Northampton County, VA

[ Photos from Survey HABS VA-594  ]

More Resources

[ Data Pages from Survey HABS VA-594  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS VA-594  ]

About this Item

Title

  • Courthouse Group Area Survey, U.S. Route 13, Eastville, Northampton County, VA

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Satchell, William
  • Price, Virginia Barrett, transmitter
  • Boucher, Jack E., photographer
  • Rosenthal, James W., photographer
  • Bailey, Worth, historian

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  courthouses
  • -  jails
  • -  stores & shops
  • -  taverns (inns)
  • -  historic buildings
  • -  law & legal affairs
  • -  county government
  • -  Colonial architectural elements
  • -  brick buildings
  • -  Virginia--Northampton County--Eastville

Notes

  • -  Significance: Local government began on the Eastern Shore late in 1632 with the commissioners (or justices, as they later came to be known) meeting as a court. They gathered in homes of individual members or in other privately-owned buildings such as taverns and ordinaries, migrating from one meeting place to another. The early court records kept by the clerks in their homes miraculously have survived to the present day and are the oldest continuous county court records in the United States, dating from 1632. In 1663, following the division of the peninsula into the two counties of Northampton and Accomack, the first courthouse was built at the "Towne," a small settlement on the Bayside between Cherrystone Inlet and Kings Creek. With the increase in population and its shift northward, and the resulting dissatisfaction of county residents with the long distances involved in traveling to court, this first courthouse at the Towne was abandoned and in 1677 a new site selected at "the Hornes," so named because of its location between the curving, prong-like branches of another Bayside creek. "The Hornes" later became Peachburg Town and finally Eastville. It has been the county seat of Northampton County for over three hundred years. The decision to locate at "the Hornes" was made not only because of its central location and easy access by water, but also because there was a tavern there and a cooperative tavern owner named Matthews who offered to provide a meeting place for the justices free of charge, well aware of the trade that would accrue on busy court days. Ten years later, after marriage to Sarah Matthews, widow, William Kendall offered 50 acres of land at the Hornes for the erection of "a Courthouse of Twenty-Five foot long, with an outside Chimney, a convenient prison, and all other things necessary for a Court." However, before this was accomplished another tavern keeper made an offer of 40 acres of land with the construction costs of the court buildings to be borne by him rather than at taxpayers' expense. Needless to say, the latter offer was accepted and the building, probably built to the preceding specifications, was in use by 1690. This building served as a meeting place for the court for about twenty-five years and in 1715 was replaced by another frame structure, this one two stories tall, with a floor of hard packed earth and a raised platform for the justices "layed with Planed Old pine Plank." In less than 15 years, this second courthouse was "much out of repairs and not in condition for the Justices to do the County business in" and so in 1731 the court awarded the contract for a new courthouse to John Marshall, to be built of brick laid up in Flemish bond at the cost of 50,000 pounds of tobacco. This is the present Old Courthouse, though altered somewhat from its original size (it formerly measured approximately 35 by 23 feet) and from its original site, which was in the area of the Confederate monument on the Court Green The Clerk's Office nearby, also of brick, dates after 1750, probably some time in the third quarter of the 18th century. Its diagonally-battened door fastens with an old wood and iron lock, tall cabinets for storage of records extend from floor to vaulted ceiling, and the floor is paved with large, odd-sized flagstones. (Excerpted from Frances Latimer, Northampton County Courts, 1993).
  • -  Survey number: HABS VA-594
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1730 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1913
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1814 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 18q1 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1724 Subsequent Work

Medium

  • Photo(s): 11
  • Data Page(s): 8
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 1

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS VA,66-EAST,1-

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • va0792

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HABS VA,66-EAST,1-
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

You can download online images yourself. Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types through Library of Congress Duplication Services.

HABS/HAER/HALS materials have generally been scanned at high resolution that is suitable for most publication purposes (see Digitizing the Collection for further details about the digital images).

  • Photographs--All photographs are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
    • If possible, include a printout of the photograph.
  • Drawings--All drawings are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
    • If possible, include a printout of the drawing.
  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

If Digital Images Are Not Displaying

In the rare case that a digital image for HABS/HAER/HALS documentation is not displaying online, select images for reproduction through one of these methods:

  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
  • Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
  • You can purchase copies of various types, including quick copies, through Library of Congress Duplication Services (price lists, contact information, and order forms for Library of Congress Duplication Services are available on the Duplication Services Web site):
    • Make note of the Call Number listed above.
    • Look at the Medium field above. If it lists more than one item:
      • The entire group can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.
      • All the items in a particular medium (e.g., all drawings, all photographs) can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.

Access to Originals

Please use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm.

  1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

    • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.
      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.
  2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

    • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.
    • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.
  3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

To contact Reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, please use our Ask A Librarian service or call the reading room between 8:30 and 5:00 at 202-707-6394, and Press 3.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, William Satchell, and Worth Bailey, Boucher, Jack E, and James W Rosenthal, photographer. Courthouse Group Area Survey, U.S. Route 13, Eastville, Northampton County, VA. Virginia Northampton County Eastville, 1933. translateds by Price, Virginia Barrettmitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/va0792/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Satchell, W. & Bailey, W., Boucher, J. E. & Rosenthal, J. W., photographer. (1933) Courthouse Group Area Survey, U.S. Route 13, Eastville, Northampton County, VA. Virginia Northampton County Eastville, 1933. Price, V. B., trans Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/va0792/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, William Satchell, and Worth Bailey, photographers by Boucher, Jack E, and James W Rosenthal. Courthouse Group Area Survey, U.S. Route 13, Eastville, Northampton County, VA. trans by Price, Virginia Barrettmitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/va0792/>.