Thomas Gunnell (Seal)
N. Fitzhugh (Seal)
T. Ellzey (Seal)
Whether all of the buildings mentioned in this report actually existed at that time may be questioned, since the survey plat shows only the courthouse, clerk's office and jail. As to these three, the plat showed the courthouse situated as at present, with the clerk's office almost directly south a distance of about 300 feet, and the jail about the same distance south, but in back and west of the clerk's office. The plat does not show roads or other features of the platted parcel, but the known position of the courthouse in relation to the turnpike supports the suggestion that the brick tavern referred to was located on the north side of the turnpike, the building later known variously as the Willcoxen Tavern, the Union Tavern and the Fairfax Tavern. The other buildings referred to in the report apparently left no traces, for except through an occasional glimpse of them in old photographs of the courthouse, they are not noted in the records of the court.
These buildings formed a cluster which, if it was not all neatly enclosed within the courthouse fence, at least was immediately adjacent to and integrated with the activities centered in the court. In the first three decades of the nineteenth century, the town of Providence grew up around the courthouse, and by 1835 some 50 dwellings and 200 residents were listed.[129] But the town never eclipsed the courthouse; and, from its commanding position on the gentle hill at the crossroads, the courthouse itself continues to serve as a focal point and symbol of government.
The Clerk's Office. An office for the Clerk of the County Court was mentioned in the survey of the courthouse lot made in March 1800, and was shown on a location south of the courthouse about 200 feet and east of the jail about sixty feet. According to the survey the office was a relatively small building, one or one-and-one-half stories high, with a chimney at the south end and a door opening on the east side. This office was the depository of all important public records in the county, and therefore was a focal point for much of the activity that occurred at the courthouse throughout the year. A news report in the Alexandria Daily Advertiser of February 10, 1806 called for bids for an addition to the clerk's office and repairs on the "public building," all of which should be in accordance with a plan lodged with Col. James Wren, and constructed of brick "covered with slate."[130]
During the next forty years, the functions of the clerk grew in both size and importance as he was called upon to serve both the County court and the circuit court. The need for repairs combined with the need for more space required increasing attention to the old building, until, in 1853, it was determined that a new office building for the clerk must be built. Newman Burke, George W. Hunter, Jr. and Alfred Moss were appointed commissioners to oversee the demolition of the old office building and the construction of a new one.
Fortunately, the commissioners' notice to builders, inviting bids on these jobs, was published in the Alexandria Gazette and Virginia Advertiser of July 15, 1853, and provides a detailed description of the materials and construction to be used. It included the instruction that such of the old materials as could be used in the rebuilding should be so used.
Like the courthouse building, the clerk's office suffered damage and deterioration during the war years of 1861–65. When the courthouse compound became a headquarters for Union army patrols, and civilian government either ceased or moved to a temporary seat elsewhere, care and custody of the clerk's office could not be guaranteed. Many of the record books and files were taken to places of safekeeping in private homes. However, many could not be moved in time to prevent them from being scattered, taken, lost or destroyed as soldiers occupied the office building. When the war ended, the task of re-equipping the office and restoring it to usefulness was a major one.
The clerk's office about 1907.