Explore history in your own back yard
How fortunate we are to live in an area so rich in our nation’s history.
There’s Fort Necessity National Battleground, where George Washington led his first major military campaign and saw his only surrender, and Friendship Hill, the restored country estate of statesman Albert Gallatin in Point Marion.
In nearby Washington County, we have the David Bradford House, ground zero for the Whiskey Insurrection and just a stone’s throw from the LeMoyne House – a stop on the Underground Railroad – to name but two.
The list goes on.
Now we can count another, albeit somewhat lesser-known site of historic significance in our vicinity.
Though a historic marker has long marked where the West Augusta District Courthouse stood 250 years ago along Franklin Farms Road in Washington County’s North Franklin Township, we now have a full-scale replica near the spot of the original log structure, recognized as the first dedicated judicial building west of the Alleghenies.
While a replica, the newly constructed building’s relevance to the roots of the country’s judiciary is “a very important piece of our American history,” Clay Kilgore, executive director of the Washington County Historical Society, told the newspaper earlier this month.
“It’s not just a big deal for the historical society or the county, but for the country. It’s showing the settlement of the west,” he said.
North Franklin officials are to be commended for leading the charge to re-create the courthouse, which undoubtedly will serve to enlighten and enrich both children and adults for generations to come.
The township donated use of the land at Waterside Park near the new municipal building, a fitting tribute to this year’s 250th celebration of our country’s founding. The Washington County Tourism Agency awarded a $25,000 American Spirit grant for the project and the township contributed a $25,000 match.
Tim Moore, who serves on the board of the Washington County Historical Society, led the group of builders, who somehow managed to assemble the 80,000-pound building in just four months, including debarking 200 logs.
“It’s the most accurate re-creation of the western frontier courthouse in the country,” Moore said of the project. “It’s more accurate than most (replica) courthouses are.”
The original West Augusta District Courthouse opened for business on Aug. 6, 1776, and was in use for a year or two until Virginia divided the territory into three counties.
If you’re looking to learn more about our country’s history, you don’t have to go any further than your own back yard.
And there’s no better time than during our nation’s semiquincentennial celebration.