1. The Mall. In 1762, the town was laid out in a grid of 56 one-acre lots on either side of Three-Notched Road (Main St.). In 1976, the downtown portion of the historic road became the Downtown Mall.
2. Albemarle County Courthouse. The original frame courthouse, built in 1762, was replaced by the present structure: the north wing (1803), south wing (1859), and portico (1867). In May 1781, during the darkest days of the Revolution, Jefferson was Virginia's Governor. With the British threatening Richmond, he moved the General Assembly to Charlottesville where legislators met in the courthouse. In those early days, the courthouse also served as a meeting place for all religious denominations, public assemblies and county elections. Jefferson called it the "Common Temple".
3. Levy Opera House. Originally built as a "Town Hall" in 1852 to accommodate traveling plays and musical events, the building was later remodeled into a "modern" opera house in 1888 by Jefferson Monroe Levy, the owner of Monticello at the time. During the Civil War, wounded soldiers were housed here and Confederate uniforms were made here by local citizens.
4. The Redland Club, site of the Old Swan Tavern. In 1779 Charlottesville is described as having a "courthouse, one tavern, and about a dozen houses." The tavern was the Swan Tavern owned by John Jouett. His son, Jack Jouett, gained fame in 1781 by riding over 40 miles through the night from the Cuckoo Tavern in Luisa to warn Virginia legislators meeting in Charlottesville of approaching British cavalry. Among those who escaped were Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Benjamin Harrison, John Tyler and Richard Henry Lee. The young Daniel Boone was one of seven captured and briefly detained.
5. Number 0 Court Square. This brick merchantile duplex was the first building on this lot when it was built ca. 1828. With surrounding buildings already numbered, and no sequence possible, the building was given the unusual address of "0" Court Square. Its fine proportions and temple-form pediment rreflect Jefferson's influence on local building.
6. Leitch Storehouse, site of Library and Jeweler (230-218 Court Square). The first building (1820, extensive remodeling 1961) was the storehouse of James Leitch, a local merchant from whom Jefferson bought clothing. Next to it were 3 frame buildings. The first housed a village library, organized in 1823, for which Jefferson provided some of the books. The second was the shop of Swiss watchmaker Lewis Leschot, one of the several European artisans encouraged by Jefferson to settle here. The third was the home of Johnny Yergain, a colorful character who engaged in the purhcase and sale of liquors. The present brick buildings date from the 1830s to the 1860s.
7. Farish House Hotel, site of Old Eagle Tavern (100 Court Square). Lodging was essential near a courthouse in the late 18th & 19th centuries as rural folk came to town to do business on Court Days. The Eagle Tavern, ca. 1791, was a frame building with a long porch across the front where peddlers sold their wares. The present brick structure, built in 1854, continued as a hotel into the 1960s.
8. Butler-Norris House (410 E. Jefferson). The only 18th century building remaining downtown is this townhouse built by the Butler family in 1785. It is typical of the houses on the Court Square in Jefferson's day. The adjoining buildings were erected in the 19th century.
9. 211-215 4th St., NE. Originally residences.
10. Jackson Park. By the early 1800s, a row of buildings stretched along the west end of Court Square. Among the businesses were merchants selling dry goods and groceries, a hatter, tailor, and a hotel. In a building at the northern end of the row, the town's first newspaper, the Central Gazette began publication in 1820. The block was torn down to become Jackson Park in 1918. The statue of "Stonewall" Jackson by Charles Keck was erected in 1921.
11. Temple Beth Israel. Built in 1883 on the corner of 3rd and Market Sts., the Temple was moved brick by brick to this site in 1904 (addition 1995) to make way for a post office. In 1980, the post office building was renovated to house the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library.
12. Social Hall. Built in 184 by wealthy merchant John R. Jones, this house is one of the finer ones existing at the time of Jefferson.
13. Christ Episcopal Church. In 1826 the first Church building in Charlottesville was erected. Jefferson served on the building committeee. In 1895 the church was torn down and replaced with the present Gothic Revival structure. The church has several stained glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany.
14. Magruder Sanitarium (100 W. Jefferson). Built in 1899 by Dr. Edward M. Magruder to serve his own patients, this is the first building in Charlottesville designed specifically as a hospital. When the University of Virginia Hospital opened in 1901, and Martha Jefferson Hospital in 1904, Dr. Magruder converted this to his family's residence and his office.
15. Lee Park. The statue of Robert E. Lee was designed by Henry Schrady, and completed after his death by Leo Lentelli in 1924.
16. The Young Men's Shop (1935). Earl Hamner, creator of "The Waltons," fondly remembers his visits to the shop in the TV series. [In 1998, the shop moved and was replaced by the current pair of shops.]
17. Paramount Theater (1931). This ornate "movie palace" boasted an organ, satin and velvet furnishings, and had a seating capacity of 1,300. The theater closed in 1974.
18. Hardware Store (1909). The Victorian Hardware Store building was built in 1909, replacing an earlier Hardware Store destroyed by fire in 1908.
Courtesy of the Albemarle Historical Society.