About

Like several Piedmont county seats, the village of Goochland Court House is graced by a dignified Roman Revival courthouse designed and built by a master builder who worked under Thomas Jefferson during the construction of the University of Virginia. The Tuscan order, temple-form building, completed in 1826, is the work of Dabney Cosby, Sr., who is credited with courthouses, churches, houses, and educational buildings throughout central Virginia, all displaying fine brickwork. Cosby was assisted here by Valentine Parrish, who also worked on many Piedmont structures. The courthouse is one of the few to retain its apsidal end, and the interior preserves its original gallery supported on Tuscan columns. Other early structures on the grassy Goochland County Court Square are the stone jail, a brick clerk's office, and a brick wall, erected to keep out wandering cattle.