2. THE COURTHOUSE

Naval cannon in front of the courthouse.Naval cannon in front of the courthouse.

The Marr Monument commemorating the first Confederate officer killed in the Civil War, June 1861. Photo from the National Archives.The Marr Monument commemorating the first Confederate officer killed in the Civil War, June 1861. Photo from the National Archives.VIEW LARGER IMAGE

Two naval cannons stand on either side of the Marr monument, pointed toward the National Bank of Fairfax, formerly the site of the brick tavern. Facing the bank, the cannon on the left is inscribed with an anchor and the following lettering: 12 PDR Boat Howitzer 1856 J.A.D. U.S.N.Y. Washington 757 LBS. 58 PRE No. 45. The cannon on the right has inscriptions which are very worn and indistinct. There is an engraved anchor, but except for a letter here-and-there, the inscription is unreadable.

World War I Memorial Plaque.World War I Memorial Plaque.VIEW LARGER IMAGE

World War II and Korean Conflict Memorial Plaque.World War II and Korean Conflict Memorial Plaque.VIEW LARGER IMAGE

Plaques and Portraits.Mounted in the inside north entrance hall beside the oldest portion of the courthouse are three plaques. One is a tablet with 160 names of Civil War veterans of Marr Camp, Confederate States of America. The second is a memorial to George Auld (1832–1919), born in Scotland, who "was for many years Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County, Virginia...." The third is a plaque commemorating the building of the first addition to the courthouse, A.D. 1929, W. I. Deming, Architect, and C. H. Brooks, Builder. In the central entrance hall, there is a bronze plaque commemorating the large addition to the courthouse completed in 1954, Robert A. Willgoos and Dwight G. Chase, Architects, and Eugene Simpson and Bro., Contractor. A large mural, painted by Esther L. Stewart in 1954, is hung above the landing of the grand central staircase. It depicts Fairfax County scenes, buildings, and portraits of Lord Fairfax, George Washington, and George Mason.

Mural at the Central Staircase, Fairfax County Courthouse. Painted in 1954 by Esther L. Stewart.Mural at the Central Staircase, Fairfax County Courthouse. Painted in 1954 by Esther L. Stewart.VIEW LARGER IMAGE

On the brick floor of the arcaded porch of the first (1800) section of the courthouse, is a National Register plaque (1974 listing) placed by the Fairfax County History Commission in 1976. In the hall inside hangs a plaque from the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission commemorating the building's placement on the State Register in 1973.

Hanging on the walls of this oldest court chamber are oil portraits of county notables. (SeeAppendixfor biographical listing.)

On the courthouse lawn, a dogwood tree was planted in 1954 dedicated to the firemen of Fairfax County. A small bronze plaque with a poem and the dedication was set in a cement post under the tree, by the Firemen's Auxiliary.

In the wake of its many unresolved historical mysteries, the restored courthouse remains a functional courtroom, as required by the terms authorizing the work. Yet it cannot claim to represent any particular period of Fairfax County's history with full historical or architectural integrity. As now redesigned and rebuilt, the courthouse presents an outward appearance presumably similar to its original form. The interior achieves the pleasant appearance and atmosphere of a working courtroom of the past.

[125]Catherine Fennelly,The New England Village Scene: 1800, (Sturbridge: Old Sturbridge Village, 1955), p. 9.

[126]Sidney Hyman, "Empire of Liberty" inWith Heritage So Rich, (New York: Random House, 1966), pp. 5–6.

[127]Fairfax County Deed Book, B-2, pp. 373–377; 503–504.

[128]Fairfax County, Record of Surveys, 1742–1856, p. 93.

[129]Joseph Martin,Gazetteer of Virginia and the District of Columbia, (Charlottesville: Martin, 1835), p. 168.

[130]Fairfax County, Record of Surveys, Section II, p. 93, March 13, 1800.

[131]Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Minute Book, #1, pp. 89, 91, 196, 206 (1871–1881).

[132]Interview with Thomas Chapman, Jr., former Clerk of the Circuit Court; Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Minute Book #6, pp. 580–582, August 20, 1934; architectural drawings, 1951–1956, Facilities Management Office.

[133]Fairfax County Court Minute Book, 1882–1885, April Court, 1884, "The County Jail having been destroyed by fire ...," the county court ordered that Alexandria city jail be used until a proper jail could be erected in the county.

[134]Fairfax County Court Minute Book, June Court, 1891.

[135]Interview with Thomas P. Chapman, Jr.

[136]Hening,Statutes, October 1792, XIII, 453–455.

[137]Fairfax Herald, May 13, 1887, notes that Mr. T. R. Sangster has removed his law office to the Fairfax Hotel; The Union Hotel and Fairfax Hotel sometimes have been assumed to be separate buildings. However, identical advertisements of this hotel appeared in theFairfax Heraldon April 8, 1887 and May 6, 1887, the former calling it the Union Hotel, and the latter calling it the Fairfax Hotel. The April 29, 1887Fairfax Heraldreports the rental of the Union Hotel by Burke. By tradition, the hotel building across from the courthouse has been known as the Willcoxen Tavern or just simply "The Tavern."

[138]Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Minute Book, #6 p. 139, October 2, 1931.

The Courthouse Plan and Its Architect.The design of the Fairfax County Courthouse followed the Virginia tradition that the seats of civil government should be designed with dignity as well as adequacy for their function.[139]Consequently, the courthouse building, which in other respects was a plain rectangular two-story brick structure, departed from strict utilitarian design with its open arcade on the ground floor front, and its cupola in the center of the roof, serving as a base for the flag pole and housing the bell which was used to announce the convening of court.

The advantages of the two-story building for innovations in design and decoration were even more evident with respect to the interior. Entered through the front door which opened into the arcade, the courtroom gave the same impression of vaulted space that is associated with the nave of a church.[140]The space over the arcade on the second floor was enclosed, and presumably used as the jury room. This room was entered from a balcony located across the front of the building (the back of the court chamber) and along each side of the building. At the front of the chamber (as it appeared in the late nineteenth century) was a raised bench, and directly to the left of the judge's seat was a doorway leading into a pair of rooms used by the Court.

No descriptions of the interior of the courtroom as it appeared in the early part of the nineteenth century have been found; but it is probably that the business of the court was transacted, as it had been since early colonial times, at a large table, centered in the main chamber of the courthouse and spacious enough to seat the justices of the County Court and the sheriff, if the business of the day concerned him. One or more separate tables customarily were provided for the clerk of the court and those of his staff who attended the court session. It was also customary to separate the portion of the courtroom occupied by the Court from that occupied by the public, and this was accomplished by installation of a wooden railing or partition. Fireplaces heated the courtroom chamber and a second-floor fireplace heated the jury room above the open arcade. Details of the plastering and woodwork, the lighting fixtures and other hardware are not known, yet it seems certain they must have been of good taste and design, for their selection was in accordance with a plan prepared by James Wren, the designer of The Falls Church, Christ Church in Alexandria, and probably Pohick Church.

Although James Wren's name appears frequently in the public records of Fairfax County during the eighteenth century, his principal legacy was the architecture he designed and helped to build. In the 1760's references to him are found throughout the Vestry Books of Truro Parish and Fairfax Parish.[141]In 1763 he prepared the plans for construction of The Falls Church, which formed the nucleus of the village which grew up around it. In 1767 he designed the plans for Christ Church in Alexandria. Wren and William Weit were each paid forty shillings in 1769 for plans furnished to the vestry, for Pohick Church.[142]He had, through design of these and other structures, earned a reputation as the foremost builder and designer of buildings in his locality[143]—a reputation attested to by numerous contracts, recorded in the Fairfax County Court Order Books, under which young men were apprenticed to him to learn the "trade sciences or occupation of a Carpenter and Joiner."

According to Melvin Lee Steadman's genealogy of the Wren family,[144]James Wren was born in King George County about 1728, the son of John Wren and Ann Turner Wren. He learned his trade of carpentry and joining there, and about 1755 he moved to Truro Parish, Fairfax County. The first reference to James Wren in the land records of Fairfax County is found in a deed dated June 15, 1756 in which one James Scott conveyed to Wren a tract of 200 acres on which Wren was then living. Ultimately, Wren built a home, now called "Long View," adjacent to the present city of Falls Church, and assembled a substantial plantation, known as "Winter Hill," now within Falls Church City. He also operated, at Winter Hill, "Colo. Wren's Tavern."

James Wren served as a justice of the County Court. He was a trustee of the Town of Turberville which in 1798 was laid off on land near the Little Falls of the Potomac but never fulfilled the hopes of its promoters. Following his military service in the Revolutionary War he held various offices in the County government, including that of sheriff and commissioner of the tax. He acquired extensive landholdings in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties. James Wren was married three times; first, in 1753, to Catherine Brent of Overwharton Parish (Aquia Church); next, about 1771–74 to Valinda Wade, and last, to Sarah Jones of Alexandria in 1804. He died in 1815 and was buried at Long View.[145]

The architecture which James Wren created for the courthouse—as well as his churches and the numerous private buildings he designed and built under contract or for his friends—reflect the general level to which that art had advanced incolonial Virginia. The styles were adapted from prototypes in England.[146]Innovations which were made in adapting these styles to American use were, in most instances, attributable to the differences in building materials and the types of skilled labor which were available to the American builder.

The Origin of the Courthouse Design.The architectural design which James Wren selected for the Fairfax County Courthouse utilized several features which already were familiar hallmarks of public buildings in colonial Virginia, and in particular the colonial capitol at Williamsburg—probably the most impressive public building in Virginia at that time. The use of brick as building material, the use of two stories, topped by a cupola, and, most strikingly, the use of arches, all combined to suggest the influence of this capitol building on the courthouse design.[147]The courthouse was far from being a copy of the capitol and Wren added to these familiar features several new ones that made the courthouse an architectural innovation in its own right. When it was completed in 1800, the Fairfax County Courthouse was the first example of a new design which architectural historians have called "the town hall style,"[148]and have traced to English town halls of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Like the Fairfax County Courthouse, these town halls were two-story brick or stone buildings which presented to their front a gable-end, ground-floor arcade (or piazza) covering the main opening onto the street, an entrance set into the end wall, and, frequently, a cupola. The town halls of Blandford in Dorset (1734), and Amersham in Buckinghamshire (1682) illustrate these features with variations of details.

No documentary evidence has been found to show how James Wren evolved his design for the Fairfax County Courthouse; but it seems probable that he knew of this style that was enjoying current popularity in England, and that John Bogue, the "undertaker" who built the courthouse, was familiar with the methods of constructing such buildings, for Bogue had just come to America from England in 1795.

While the similarity of geometric and structural exterior design strongly suggests that the Fairfax County Courthouse had its architectural ancestry in the English town halls of that period, the analogy is weaker when functions are compared. The courthouse for Fairfax County was designed and used entirely as the seat of local government. The commercial activity that was attracted to the courthouse site on "court days" enjoyed no special privileges or facilities in the building. In contrast, town halls in eighteenth century England oftenserved the dual purpose of providing a facility for transaction of public business and carrying on the commerce of the community. The style of the English town halls provided space in the open arcade of the ground floor to house a farmers' and tradesmen's market, and space in the second floor chamber for the town council to meet and do its work.[149]

The origin of this type of building is not entirely clear. It is difficult to imagine it growing naturally in the political and social climate of the villages which grew up clustered around England's medieval castles and monasteries. At the time when town-and-market halls were common in the central squares of free towns in Italy, Germany and the Low Countries, they were absent in England. Their appearance in England dates from the seventeenth century when town government developed its own identity, and when British political and cultural alliances with the Dutch were established.[150]

Imported to Virginia as a form of courthouse building, this town hall style became a popular prototype for buildings erected in several counties during the first three decades of the nineteenth century. After being introduced in Fairfax County in 1800, this style appears in the Nelson County Courthouse built in 1807, the Caroline County Courthouse built in 1808, the Sussex County Courthouse built 1825–28, and the Madison County Courthouse built 1829–30. Variations in the layout of the interior appeared in the use of the space over the arcade; sometimes it was used for the jury room, and at other times it was used to accommodate a balcony for spectators.[151]After 1824, however, a new style of courthouse building may be seen in the public buildings of Virginia counties. Based on the neo-classical lines of the State Capitol, designed by Thomas Jefferson, there came into being a series of courthouses which were suggestive, if not actual, representations of the seat of state government.[152]

The Courthouse.In its exterior appearance the Fairfax County Courthouse underwent little change during the first century of its service. Indeed, looking at the courthouse square in 1900, it might have seemed that the courthouse was the only building that had not been rebuilt, relocated or significantly expanded. The effects of passing time were more evident in the evolution of the layout and furnishings of the court.

Throughout the first half of the nineteenth century the interior of the courthouse probably remained similar to thelayout described in colonial times. Generally the focal point of the court chamber was a long table at which the County Court was seated, flanked by smaller tables where the court's clerks did their work. Customarily, also, a railing across the room separated this space from visitors whose business or curiosity led them to crowd in upon the court and its staff. As long as the gentlemen justices of the court were in reality, as well as name, the governing authority of the County, this arrangement of the courthouse chamber was the most sensible that could be suggested.

As the purely judicial duties were isolated and assigned to the professional judges of the District Court it became customary to renovate the court rooms to install the features which have become associated with litigation—the raised bench of the judge, the jury box, the witness stand, and counsels' tables.

These changing ideas of what a court chamber should look like became established during the first half of the nineteenth century, and were reflected in the courthouses built in Virginia during that period. Therefore, when the Fairfax County Courthouse was restored to service after the Civil War, its interior design resembled that which was customary for judicial chambers.[153]

That the task of renovation and restoration was extensive is indicated by a report in theAlexandria Gazetteof October 17, 1862 stating that "The interior of the courthouse of Fairfax County has been entirely destroyed. Nothing remains of the building but the walls and the roof." Moreover, the work of renovation had to be carried out under the double difficulty of shortages of funds and labor that was skilled in cabinetmaking and metalworking. In the end, the restoration of the courthouse was a gradual process in which first one and then another improvement was added. No grand design seems to have been followed or a complete record of accomplishments maintained. Hence, evidence of the courthouse furnishings is seen in such separate notations in the Court Minute Books as follow:

October Court, 1866.Ordered that the Com. of Public Buildings be instructed to purchase enough green-baise to cover the table in the bar And have it covered before the Circuit Court commenses.[154]

October Court, 1866.

Ordered that the Com. of Public Buildings be instructed to purchase enough green-baise to cover the table in the bar And have it covered before the Circuit Court commenses.[154]

December 11, 1876.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 11, 1876.

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]

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.

The old courthouse, 1800, prior to restoration in 1967.The old courthouse, 1800, prior to restoration in 1967.

The old courthouse after restoration in 1967.The old courthouse after restoration in 1967.

Reportedly, another major refurbishment of the courtroom occurred about 1920. In keeping with the style of that time, the emphasis was on panelling with dark, polished woods, and moderately ornamental carving which achieved an appearance of massiveness and dignity. The judge's bench was located at the west end of the courtroom on a raised platform and behind a heavy wooden balustrade. Against the west wall of the room and behind the judge's bench, wooden panelling covered the space from the southwest corner of the room to a doorway beside the bench which led into smaller chambers in the rear. This panelling was topped with a swan's neck pediment behind the judge's chair. At floor level, beside the judge's bench and behind the balustrade, were the witness stand and clerk's desk.

The jury box was located along the south wall of the room and faced an enclosure where tables for counsel and reporters were placed. These, in turn, were separated from the public seats by a carved wooden balustrade. Seating for the public on the ground floor was provided in two sections of wooden benches—the former church pews referred to earlier—separated by a center aisle. At the rear of this section was another balustrade setting it apart from the open space inside the door to the entrance arcade. The two fireplaces in the corners of the east end of the room were bricked-in and covered with plaster.

On the south wall, a stairway provided access to the balcony over the open portion of the room adjacent to the outer entrance. From the rear of the balcony were doorways into a jury room and small office which occupied the second-floor space over the entrance arcade. Three rows of benches, each raised one step above the one in front, provided additional seating space for visitors in the balcony. The ceiling of the courtroom was sheet metal (tin) with a pattern of ridges arranged in rectangular shapes. Central heating was provided by hot water radiators.

In 1929, an addition was constructed on the south side at the rear of the original courthouse, making an L-shaped building. In this process the clerk's office which was built in 1876 was torn down. Harmony of scale, materials and style were maintained between the old and new sections.[159]

The old court room prior to restoration. Photo by Lee Hubbard, 1966.The old court room prior to restoration. Photo by Lee Hubbard, 1966.

Twenty years later, in 1951–56, the courthouse again was expanded by addition of a center block, and another wing identical with the original and first addition segments. At the rear (west side) of these new portions, two wings were added to house, respectively, the records of the clerk's office anda new, larger jail. With the completion of this construction, the old courtroom in the original wing of the building ceased to be used regularly for judicial business. Two large courtrooms and several smaller chambers in the center block of the building provided facilities for hearing cases. The new and larger building also provided space for the offices of the County's elected officials and most of the major boards, commissions and administrative departments which comprised the county's government in the 1950's.[160]

In both exterior and interior appearance, the courthouse additions of 1931 and 1954 were designed to harmonize with the original style James Wren established in 1800. The use of brick, gable-end roof lines, proportioning of the scale of various segments of the building, compatible fenestration and colonial period styles in hardware and painting all contributed to this result. Most influential of all in maintaining this architectural integrity, perhaps, was the use of archways and open arcades at the entrances to the center block and two wings. These open arcades, with their simple, undecorated keystone arches are the distinguishing features of the Fairfax County Courthouse in the 1970's as they were in 1800.

The central entrance to the 1954 addition to the courthouse.The central entrance to the 1954 addition to the courthouse.

[139]William O'Neal,Architecture in Virginia, (New York: Walker, 1968), p. 17, remarks that "Traditionally, in Virginia buildings housing civil government have been developed beyond the utilitarian. This tradition, of course, has given us not only a remarkable group of eighteenth and nineteenth century courthouses, but, just yesterday, the very beautiful City Hall complex of Norfolk by Vincent King."

[140]University of Virginia Newsletter, (Charlottesville: Institute of Government, University of Virginia), XLIII, No. 11, (July 15, 1967).

[141]A summary of these references is contained in Melvin Steadman,Falls Church by Fence and Fireside, (Falls Church, Va.: Falls Church Public Library, 1964), pp. 463–520.

[142]O'Neal,Virginia Architecture, pp. 127, 133, 143,Minutes of the Vestry, Truro Parish, Virginia, 1732–1785, (Lorton, Va.: Pohick Church, 1974), p. 114.

[143]Steadman,Falls Church, p. 471.

[144]The genealogy and a summary history of the Wren family, both in England and America, is in Steadman,Falls Church, pp. 463–520.

[145]Janice Artemel, "James Wren, Gentleman Joiner," (unpublished manuscript, Falls Church, Va., 1976).

[146]According to Sir Banister Fletcher,A History of Architecture, Rev. ed., (New York: Scribners, 1963), p. 1126, "In general, the architecture of a particular area mirrored that of the homeland of the colonizers or settlers of that area, with modifications occasioned by climate, the types of building material obtainable, and the quality of labour available. Thus, in seventeenth century New England building followed the pattern of English weather-boarded heavy timber-frame prototypes, while in eighteenth century Virginia we find a 'Georgian' architecture often almost indistinguishable from that of eighteenth century England."

[147]Carl Feiss, "Court Houses of Virginia," lecture delivered at the meeting of the Latrobe (Washington) Chapter, Society of Architectural Historians, held at the Arts Club of Washington, November 8, 1968.

[148]Marcus Whiffen, "The Early Courthouses of Virginia,"Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, XVIII, No. 1 (March 1959), pp. 2, 5–6.

[149]Thus the term "market hall" is sometimes also used to designate these buildings. At times, the market activities may even overshadow the building's associations with government, as in the case of Blandford, Dorset, where a sign on the building identifies it as the Corn Exchange, without mention of the Council's chamber.

[150]Sir Kenneth Clark, in his book,Civilisation. (New York: Harper & Row, 1969), pp. 194–220, describes the impact of Dutch accomplishments in the arts, and the impact of their influence on such Englishmen as Christopher Wren.The adoption of the Dutch style of market hall in England may well have been a gradual one, utilizing the already familiar design of the house of a typical town tradesman, which presented to the street a series of arched openings where work was done and wares were displayed during the day. At night these arches were shuttered, and the tradesman had his living quarters on the second floor over his shop. Sir Banister Fletcher,A History of Architecture, (New York: Scribners, 1961), p. 463.

The adoption of the Dutch style of market hall in England may well have been a gradual one, utilizing the already familiar design of the house of a typical town tradesman, which presented to the street a series of arched openings where work was done and wares were displayed during the day. At night these arches were shuttered, and the tradesman had his living quarters on the second floor over his shop. Sir Banister Fletcher,A History of Architecture, (New York: Scribners, 1961), p. 463.

[151]Whiffen, "Early Courthouses," p. 6.

[152]William O'Neal,Architecture in Virginia, (New York: Walker, 1968), pp. 22–25.

[153]Whiffen, "Early Courthouses," p. 3.

[154]Fairfax County Court Minute Book, 1863–1867, p. 484.

[155]Fairfax County Court Minute Book, 1875–1879, p. 162.

[156]Fairfax County Court Minute Book, 1882–1885, p. 34.

[157]Examination of the courthouse attic in July 1967 revealed a bell, complete with mounting and wheel, with the following inscription: "TW & RC SMITH ALEXANDRIA 1844." It has not been determined when this bell was installed in or removed from the cupola. It was rehung in the cupola and rung again in 1976.

[158]Examination of the courthouse attic in July 1967 revealed a brass chandelier with six arms, approximately 24 inches long, fixed to a central hub. Burners at the end of each arm were fitted to hold glass globes or lamp chimneys. Fairfax County Court Minute Book, 1888–1892, p. 216. The end of the gaslight era occurred shortly after 1900, when, according to Thomas Chapman, former Clerk of Circuit Court, electric lights were installed in the clerk's office in 1902 and shortly thereafter in the courtroom.

[159]Interview with Thomas Chapman, former Clerk of Circuit Court.

[160]Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Minute Books, No. 17, p. 4, November 21, 1949; No. 18, pp. 2–9, November 15, 1950, pp. 296–298, May 22, 1951.

Origin of the Restoration Project.After the second addition to the courthouse was completed in 1954, the old courtroom in the original wing of the building ceased to be the focal point of the court's activity. Similarly, it ceased to receive the attention needed to deal with the natural deterioration produced by use and the passage of time. By the early 1960's these effects were evidenced by leaking roofs, unreliable plumbing in the heating system, cracked and crumbling plaster, loosened floors and hardware, and the like. In order to retain its usefulness, the original wing of the courthouse needed substantial renovation.

At this time, an interest in the old courtroom was expressed by the Fairfax County Bar Association and the county's newly formed Historical Landmarks Preservation Commission which together proposed that the work of renovation be done in such a way as to restore the original appearance of the courtroom. The Bar Association formed a Special Committee for Restoration of the Old Court Room under the chairmanship of C. Douglas Adams, Jr., and the assistance of the Board of Supervisors was sought.[161]

In December 1964, the Board appropriated funds for developing a restoration plan. Walter Macomber, a local restoration architect who had done similar work on a number of early Virginia landmarks, was retained to prepare the necessary plans. In March 1966, the Bar Association's Committee reported the completion of this preliminary work to the Board, and successfully secured the latter's approval together with an appropriation of $90,000 for actual construction work. This work was commenced without further delay and was completed in the spring of 1967.[162]

Problems of the Restoration.While the work undertaken in 1965 and 1966 was at the time referred to as a restoration, it was in fact impossible under the circumstances to reproduce with complete accuracy the appearance of the courthouse in 1800. No descriptions of the courtroom or other records of building specifications had been found; nor was any special research in eighteenth century sources undertaken for this purpose. As a result, the work produced a courtroom with idealized colonial-period interior design and furnishings in a building shell with reconstructed floor plan and structural design of the early Federal-period (during which it had initially been built). Numerous difficult problems were faced in this reconstruction,and, for the most part, they were resolved in ways that served primarily to create a room with the atmosphere of Virginia's colonial period, and secondarily to build an authentic replica of the Fairfax courthouse as of any particular historical date.

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