Warrenton Town Hall is located at 18 Court Street, Warrenton, VA 20186.
Phone: 540‑347‑1102.
Neighborhoods
Beginnings [1]
Long before the Revolution, Warrenton existed as a crossroads settlement at the intersection of the main road from Winchester to Fredericksburg, and the principal roads from Culpeper to Alexandria. Since it was a two-day drive by horse or coach to cross the length of these highways, the crossroads became an overnight stopping place and a distributing point for goods bought by homeward-bound travelers.
Originally called Fauquier Court House, the town had its origin in the selection of a courthouse site at the crossroads soon after the organization of Fauquier County in 1759. After first holding court at two private homes, the county made provisions for the erection of the necessary public buildings, ordering that a courthouse be built of wood and that a prison be built of the "same dimensions as the prison of Stafford county. At the next court, July 26, 1759, the presiding justice, Lord Fairfax, directed that two acres of land belonging to Richard Henry Lee be laid off for a courthouse and prison, both of which were soon erected below the Rappahannock road, between the present Culpeper Street and the cemetery.
Eventually a more permanent courthouse was planned to replace the frame structure. On August 29, 1760, John Bell undertook to construct a brick building "to be finished in a complete and workmanlike manner, after the manner of the courthouse of Lancaster County; all for the consideration of three hundred and thirty-nine pounds, and to be finished by November 20, 1962. The second courthouse was situated east of Culpeper Street and about a quarter mile below the Dumfries-Rappahannock road.