Editing Chatham, Virginia (section)

==History==
[[File:North Main Street Chatham Virginia 1909.jpg|thumb|left|North Main Street, Chatham, ''circa'' 1909]]
It is the home to the oldest continually used building in Pittsylvania County, once an 18th-century tavern, since turned into a house and now occupied by Chatham Hall faculty.
Chatham is the county seat for Pittsylvania County and has held that status since 1777.<ref>{{cite news | first=John | last=Crane | title=Chatham mayor blasts supervisors | date=June 10, 2008 | publisher=Media General | url=http://www.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/chatham_mayor_blasts_supervisors/4271/ | work=Danville Register-Bee | access-date=June 11, 2008 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130124091539/http://www.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/chatham_mayor_blasts_supervisors/4271/ | archive-date=January 24, 2013 }}</ref>  There is a large U.S. Department of Agriculture office to support farmers in the area and a small branch office of the U.S. Forest Service.  Virginia has built a new state prison at the site of an old work-release camp; this led to infrastructure upgrades in fire and water services to support the increased population.

Chatham did not see any battle action during the Civil War although it is between Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, and Danville, which contained Confederate prisons for captured Union soldiers.  On Confederate Memorial Day each year, the local chapter of the [[United Daughters of the Confederacy]] places flowers at the statue of a Confederate soldier which is prominent in the front of the historic Pittsylvania County Court House.  There is a walking tour of this downtown historic district and a brochure for this is available at the Town Hall, or at the Historical Society building next to Town Hall.  There are several bed & breakfast establishments located on Main Street in historic Greek Revival homes.
[[File:Lower Main Street Chatham 1911.jpg|thumb|Lower Main Street, Chatham, February 1911]]