Editing Lawrenceville, Virginia (section)

==History==
The first recorded foray by Anglo colonists into what is now Brunswick County took place in 1650.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the county was developed for labor-intensive tobacco production. Later many planters converted to mixed farming, still relying mostly on  enslaved Black workers. By the early 19th century, most enslaved African Americans had been born in the United States.

===1700s===

Explorers left Fort Henry (Petersburg) to follow the Occoneechee trail on an expedition for trading with the Indians to the south. By 1714 the area was known well enough that it was selected by Governor Alexander Spotswood as the site of Fort Christanna, which was largely a trading depot. Officials also ran a school for Indian children.

In 1720 the General Assembly passed an act for “erecting the Counties of Spotsylvania and Brunswick”, which directed “That five hundred pounds…be paid by the Treasurer to Nathaniel Harrison, esq., Jonathan Allen, Henry Harrison, and William Edwards, gentlemen… for a church, courthouse, prison, pillory and stocks, where they shall think fit.”

The first courthouse was constructed ''circa'' 1732 on a site near Cochran. Moved to the east in 1746, the county seat was moved again in 1783 to be established at the present site. A wood-frame courthouse, described by a visitor in 1835 as “a very handsome building”, was built in 1784. It has been replaced on this site by  the Brunswick County Museum.

===1800s===

The Town was created officially by an act of the General Assembly on January 22, 1814. The act directed that twenty acres of land belonging to Peggy Williams be laid off into lots and be known as Lawrenceville. Legend has it that the name was inspired by a famous racehorse, Lawrence, owned by a prosperous landowner who had built a nearby racetrack at the end of the eighteenth century.

By 1836 the town was served by at least two stage routes, as noted on the ''Tourist's Pocket Map of the State of Virginia'' published that year. One ran north and south between [[Petersburg, Virginia|Petersburg]] and [[Warrenton, North Carolina]], daily. The other ran east and west between Lawrenceville and Halifax Courthouse three times a week.

After the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], southern businessmen invested in construction of railroads and factories. The coming of the railroad in 1890 gave an impetus for growth. The establishment of the Atlantic and Danville Railway shops in Lawrenceville provided the town with a significant industrial base.

With the resulting good economic times over the next four decades, mercantile buildings along Main and Hicks streets were transformed from one- and two-story wood-frame buildings into two- and three-story brick masonry buildings. Residential areas quickly developed to satisfy the demand for housing. In 1907 the population was described as about 2,000 “law-abiding and God-fearing people."{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

In 1846 the town was described thus: “It is a neat village, pleasantly situated on a branch of the Meherrin River, and contains 2 churches and about 25 dwellings.” {{citation needed|date=July 2024}} St. Andrew's Episcopal, constructed in 1829, continues to serve its parishioners as the oldest public building extant in Lawrenceville.

Richard H. Sharp gave land on Church Street in 1847 for the construction of the Lawrenceville Methodist Church. The original building was replaced by the present sanctuary in 1906.

The Greek Revival courthouse, which remains on Courthouse Square, was constructed in 1854 to succeed the late 18th-century structure. County court records were maintained on the first floor there until the completion of the adjacent Clerk's Building in 1893. These two buildings are included in the Brunswick County Courthouse Square Historic District listed in 1974 on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].

The Town of Lawrenceville was incorporated in 1874. Charles E. May later recalled the town of that era as “a very small village consisting of a courthouse, a few small stores, two blacksmith shops, a shoe maker’s shop and several dwellings.”

In 1888 [[James Solomon Russell]], an Episcopal priest born into slavery in 1857, established a parish school for black children. By 1893 the school was incorporated and developed as Saint Paul's Normal and Industrial School, a private school for Black students. Dr. Russell's efforts had continued success.

The school was accredited as Saint Paul's College in 1957; it has attracted students from around the globe. Three of the early buildings remaining on campus have been listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

===20th century to present===

A bond issue was passed in 1912 to fund the construction of a water filtration plant and distribution system, a gravity sewage system, and an electric generating plant. The newly organized volunteer fire department constructed a firehouse on Sharp Street adjacent to the then new 100,000-gallon elevated water tank.

The original fire alarm bell was moved to the grounds of the Municipal Building on Main Street in 1980. It rests next to an old road marker of 1819 inscribed “45 miles from the Brunswick Courthouse to Petersburg.”

Lawrenceville continued as the major market center for the rich agricultural areas of Brunswick County. The town had tobacco warehouses, cotton gins, creameries, and other facilities to process the important commodity crops of the area.

In 1924 the streets were paved with concrete. The sale of the electric generating plant in 1925 provided money to replace the wood plank sidewalks with concrete. During the [[Great Depression in the United States|depression]] years of the thirties, federal funds were used to build a baseball field and a swimming pool for the use of city youth.

In the late 20th century, the town began a Main Street beautification project which involved replacing downtown sidewalks with brick and installing new streetlights. The new Albertis S. Harrison, Jr. Courthouse, housing Brunswick's Circuit, General District, and Juvenile and Domestic Relations courts was dedicated on April 18, 1999. Documentation and field work has been completed for the Lawrenceville Historic District and the nomination was submitted in the fall of 1999 to the State Historic Preservation Office.

Downtown Lawrenceville is now listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref> The historic district connects with the developing Tobacco Heritage Trail. This is part of the national [[rails to trails movement]], in which public and private interests have redeveloped abandoned rail lines for trails. These amenities attracts horseback riders, bikers, joggers, wildlife enthusiasts, and hikers.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lawrenceville |first1=Town of |title=Town of Lawrenceville Virginia |url=https://lawrencevilleweb.us/history-1 |website=Town of Lawrenceville |access-date=February 4, 2021}}</ref>