History of Halifax

R-77

The town of Halifax has been the county seat of Halifax County since 1777. It is named for George Montague, the second Earl of Halifax, an English statesman. Previously this community had been called Banister, Houston, and Halifax Court House. Portions of Gen. Nathanael Greene's troops were here in Feb. 1781. George Washington was in the region on 4 June 1791. During the spring of 1827, John Randolph of Roanoke spoke here to a large gathering of people. The present courthouse is a Classical Revival structure built in 1839, constructed by Dabney Cosby, Sr., one of Thomas Jefferson's master builders. Union Gen. George Custer camped in the region in Apr. 1865.

Department of Historic Resources, 2000

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Wirt Johnson Carrington, A History of Halifax County (Virginia) (Baltimore: Regional Printing Company, 1969); William H. Gaines Jr., “Courthouses: Halifax and Pittsylvania Counties,” Virginia Cavalcade 20 (Spring 1971): 5-11; James Hagemann, The Heritage of Virginia: The Story of Place Names in the Old Dominion (Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Va.: The Donning Company, 1986); W. Carroll Headspath and Spugeon Compton, The Retreat to the Dan (South Boston, Va.: South Boston News, Inc., n.d.);Raus McDill Hanson, Virginia Place Names: Derivations, Historical Uses (Verona, Va.: McClure Press, 1969); Calder Loth, ed., The Virginia Landmarks Register, 4th ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1999), 206; Emily J. Salmon and Edward D. C. Campbell, Jr., eds., The Hornbook of Virginia History, 4th ed. (Richmond: Library of Virginia, 1994.