Ordered that the Com'r of Public Buildings have the sawdust removed from the floor of the Courtroom, and have said floor covered with a substantial cocoa matting at the expense of the Court.[155]
December Court, 1882.
... Some person or persons have entered the Court House Building in the night, without authority and have damaged Said building and have greatly annoyed the citizens living nearby by violently ringing the bell. It is therefore ordered by the Court, that such trespass ... will be punished to the full extent of the law.[156]
The bell referred to by the Court was a standard feature of many Virginia courthouses, and was rung to announce the convening of court sessions. In the Fairfax County Courthouse, the bell was hung in a cupola on the roof, and rung with a bell-pull passing through the building's attic to the balcony level of the courtroom.[157]
A major change in the appearance of the courtroom occurred with the installation of wooden benches in the public section of the chamber. Tradition holds that the benches had been pews at one time in Jerusalem Baptist Church located on the Ox Road between Fairfax and Fairfax Station. This church had been built on the site of the old colonial "Payne's Church."
Illustrating the period when gaslights replaced candles, an elaborate brass chandelier fitted for gas illumination has been found in the courthouse attic. It is possibly the fixture which the sheriff was directed at the February 1890 court to purchase, for a price not to exceed $25.00. In about 1902, electric lights were installed.[158]
During the restoration of the courthouse following the Civil War one major alteration of the exterior appearance of the courthouse occurred when the brickwork between the windows on the first and second floors was removed to change the windows into single two-story-long vertical openings. The courthouse windows remained this way until 1968 when renovation of the original section of the courthouse was carried out, and double rows were reestablished as they appeared in photographs taken during the Civil War.
