King George County was formed in 1720, and this building is at least its third county courthouse. Designed by a Fredericksburg architect, the courthouse, with its pedimented portico and Roman Doric columns, follows the familiar

Virginia temple-form pattern, which looks back to Jefferson. The large arched windows on either side of the entrance are the clues that it is a twentieth-century building. The surrounding town retains a nineteenth-century ambience as it spreads out along Virginia 3. Worthy of inspection are the small brick lawyer's office opposite the courthouse and the several churches, including St. John's Episcopal Church (c. 1843; c. 1880, additions).