About

Mountain Road, in the county seat town of Halifax, has been noted for its handsome houses, churches, and lush landscaping since the 19th century. Named for White Oak Mountain, the tree-shaded road stretches west from the courthouse square into the countryside. The road was built up slowly so that it now presents a range of buildings from the early 19th century to the present. The principal churches are St. Mark's Episcopal Church (1831), now Halifax Methodist Church, and St. John's Episcopal Church (1846). Architectural styles seen in the residences include late Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, and Colonial Revival, all in a generally restrained idiom. Several of the earlier houses in the Mountain Road Historic District were designed by Dabney Cosby, Jr., son of the Jeffersonian workman Dabney Cosby, Sr. Cosby worked with his father on the courthouse, and he also built St. John's Church.