The Jefferson County Courthouse in Charles Town, West Virginia was the second courthouse constructed in Charles Town, replacing a more modest structure that dated back to 1803. Built in 1836 on land donated by George Washington’s brother, Charles Washington, the courthouse is still in use today. Charles Town was the site of a trial that altered the course of our nation’s history. In …
Spring may be the best time of year to take a break and visit Virginia’s historic triangle and Williamsburg, Virginia, especially the Virginia House of Burgesses. Spring is the anniversary time of so many historic revolutionary moments in Virginia. The House of Burgesses is the oldest English-speaking representative assembly in the New World, dating back …
Thomas Jefferson is featured in this third blog post about the Virginia Dynasty, following posts on two other renowned Virginians–James Madison and George Washington. Thomas Jefferson was born at Shadwell,Virginia in 1743 to Peter Jefferson and Jane Randolph. From his successful and wealthy parents, Thomas inherited considerable property and began building Monticello when he was 26 years …
In Stafford County, about 45 miles southwest of Capitol Hill is a 17-acre park that is also on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the site from which the stone was quarried to construct part of the Capitol and White House, as well as many other Virginian buildings in the early 1800s. …
In late October and early November, people of Hispanic heritage remember their lost loved ones with ofrendas, colorful memorials to the dead that are decorated with sugar skulls, marigolds, papel picado, candles, favorite foods of the lost ones, and more. This time tends to be a celebration more than a mourning; when building an ofrenda …
Did you know that while Costa Rica is only 0.03% of the land mass on earth, it contains nearly 6% of the world’s biodiversity? For a country that is slightly smaller than West Virginia, that is pretty impressive. As part of our ongoing celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, I want to look at some …
The following is a guest post by Louis Myers, a legal reference librarian at the Law Library of Congress. Louis has authored several blog posts for In Custodia Legis, including New Acquisition: The Trial of Governor Picton, A Case of Torture in Trinidad, Indigenous Law Research Strategies: Settlement Acts and Looking into the Past: Space Telescopes and the Law of Outer …