Editing Lawrenceville, Virginia (section)

===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.