Norfolk County Court House, 1845-1962

Begun 1845, occupied 20 July 1846. The architect, William R. Singleton, a Portsmouth native, also designed the old Norfolk City Court House. This building stands on one of the four corners dedicated for public use in 1752 by Lt. Col. William Crawford, founder of Portsmouth. The site was formerly occupied by the clerk's office when an earlier court house, occupied in 1803, stood on the northeast corner, opposite.