| | One hundred-thirty-four years ago this month, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted to purchase the Leesburg Academy building next to the old courthouse, to house the Clerk’s offices.
The Academy building, which is now part of the courts complex, went on to serve for many years as the Loudoun County government's only office building. |
The Academy building is the westernmost of the two matching buildings on Market Street in Leesburg, just east of the old courthouse.
It was built in 1848 to house the Leesburg Academy for Boys, which had been founded before 1797.
According to former Leesburg Mayor and County Supervisor Frank Raflo, the building has a Temple form of Roman Ionic portico, unlike most porticoes in Virginia, which are Greek Revival.
On July 15, 1873, the Board of Supervisors received a proposal from a committee of the Academy's Board of Trustees – H. T. Harrison, Charles B. Ball and Matthew Harrison. The trustees offered to sell the Academy building to the county for $7,500, with possession to take place immediately.
The trustees requested that $2,000 be paid in cash, with $2,000 from that year's tax collection, and the remaining $3,500 (plus interest) from the following year’s tax revenue.
The Board, which had been considering building a new Clerk' office, accepted the offer at that meeting. Supervisors B. P. Noland, Josephus Carr and James M. Kilgour were appointed to serve as a committee to do what was necessary "to perfect the purchase."
The county contracted with Norris and Sons to repair the building and outfit it for the Clerk's offices.
In September, the Board ordered the Sheriff to demolish the old Clerk's office building and have the new offices for the judges, Sheriff and Clerk suitably furnished.
The Academy building housed the offices of the Clerk and other county agencies for over a century. The matching building to the east was constructed in 1959. Both buildings were part of two court expansion projects, first in the late 1970s, and again in 2000-2001.
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This is one of a series of weekly releases from the Loudoun County Office of Public Information highlighting landmark events in the Loudoun County government during its 250-year history.
Sources:
"The Courthouse in Virginia Counties," by Evelyn Taylor Adams
"A Walk Around Leesburg," by Frank Raflo
Board of Supervisors Meeting Minutes
Image: The former Leesburg Academy Building (at left) in 2007; photo by Jim Barnes
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Edited by bmason
