A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government , or capital city of a county or civil parish . The term is in use in five countries: Canada , China , Hungary , Romania , and the United States . An equivalent term, shire town , is used in the U.S. state of Vermont and in several other English-speaking jurisdictions, such as Venezuela .
33-572: Appomattox Court House may refer to: The village of Appomattox Court House, now the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park , in central Virginia (U.S.), where Confederate army commander Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union commander Ulysses S. Grant in the American Civil War. The Battle of Appomattox Court House , fought on the morning of April 9, 1865, one of
66-526: A Superior Court and Sheriff (as an officer of the court ), both located in a designated "shire town". Bennington County, Vermont has two shire towns; the court for "North Shire" is in the shire town Manchester , and the Sheriff for the county and court for "South Shire" are in the shire town Bennington. In 2024, Connecticut , which had not defined their counties for anything but statistical, historical and weather warning purposes since 1960, along with ending
99-410: A county seat may be an independent city surrounded by, but not part of, the county of which it is the administrative center; for example, Fairfax City is both the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia and completely surrounded by Fairfax County, but the city is politically independent of the county. When the county seat is in the independent city, government offices such as the courthouse may be in
132-646: A county was the magistrate , who oversaw both the day-to-day operations of the county as well as civil and criminal cases. The current number of counties mostly resembled that of the later years of the Qing dynasty . Changes of location and names of counties in Chinese history have been a major field of research in Chinese historical geography, especially from the 1960s to the 1980s. There are 1,355 counties in Mainland China out of
165-566: A location for county government buildings. The courthouse was to be built across the Stage Road from the Clover Hill Tavern 's stable, with the jail behind the courthouse. In late 1845, Hugh Raine and another of his brothers sold the Clover Hill area to Samuel D. McDearmon . McDearmon attempted to sell the lots in Clover Hill, but with little success. While the village did grow, in 1854,
198-605: A plan to rebuild both the courthouse and the McLean House was formalized. World War II delayed reconstruction at the site, but in 1949, the restored McLean House was opened to the public. On October 15, 1966, the park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The village itself has since been restored by the National Park Service, with a number of original 19th-century structures remaining, including
231-568: A total of 2,851 county-level divisions. In Taiwan , the first counties were first established in 1661 by the Kingdom of Tungning . The later ruler Qing empire inherited this type of administrative divisions. With the increase of Han Chinese population in Taiwan, the number of counties also grew by time. By the end of Qing era, there were 11 counties in Taiwan. Protestant missionaries in China first romanized
264-593: Is a section of Middle Township , an incorporated municipality. In some states, often those that were among the original Thirteen Colonies , county seats include or formerly included "Court House" as part of their name, such as Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia . Most counties have only one county seat. However, some counties in Alabama , Arkansas , Georgia , Iowa , Kentucky , Massachusetts , Mississippi , Missouri , New Hampshire , New York , and Vermont have two or more county seats, usually located on opposite sides of
297-440: Is located in the rebuilt courthouse. County seat In Canada , the provinces of Ontario , Quebec , New Brunswick , Prince Edward Island , and Nova Scotia have counties as an administrative division of government below the provincial level, and thus county seats. In the provinces of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia the term "shire town" is used in place of county seat. County seats in China are
330-758: Is the preserved 19th-century village named Appomattox Court House in Appomattox County, Virginia . The village was named for the presence nearby of what is now preserved as the Old Appomattox Court House . The village is the site of the Battle of Appomattox Court House , and contains the McLean House , where the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee to Union commander Ulysses S. Grant took place on April 9, 1865, an event widely symbolic of
363-567: The Appomattox River ; the name Appomattox was believed to originate with the Apumetec tribe of Native Americans. From about 1842, Hugh Raine owned most of the Clover Hill area. He obtained it from his brother John Raine who defaulted on his loans. Following the establishment of Appomattox County, it became the county seat and 30 acres (12 ha) of the hamlet were divided into town lots. The state designated 2 acres (0.81 ha) to be taken as
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#1732851940321396-485: The Battle of Appomattox Court House , but were unsuccessful. That day, Lee met with Grant to discuss terms of surrender at the McLean House . After discussion, Lee signed surrender terms that day, and on April 12, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia laid down its arms and marched away. While the war continued after the surrender of Lee's army, the surrender at Appomattox Court House has become widely symbolic of
429-492: The National Park Service . The site's name was changed from the "Appomattox Battlefield Site" to "Appomattox Court House National Historical Monument" in 1935 as part of legislation that authorized the park to be increased in size and for the McLean House to be reconstructed; the name change to "Appomattox Court House National Historical Park" occurred in 1954. In 1940, the park was increased to 970 acres (390 ha), and
462-539: The Sui dynasty abolished the commandery level (郡 jùn), which was the level just above counties, and demoted some commanderies to counties. In Imperial China, the county was a significant administrative unit because it marked the lowest level of the imperial bureaucratic structure; in other words, it was the lowest level that the government reached. Government below the county level was often undertaken through informal non-bureaucratic means, varying between dynasties. The head of
495-515: The United States , a county is an administrative or political subdivision of a state that consists of a geographic area with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The city, town, or populated place that houses county government is known as the seat of its county. Generally, the county legislature, county courthouse, sheriff's department headquarters, hall of records, jail and correctional facility are located in
528-490: The Clover Hill Tavern. Besides the surviving original structures, the roughly 1,700-acre (690 ha) park contains reconstructed historic buildings as well, including the McLean House. Both a driving tour path and hiking trails are present in the park. Points of interest along the trails include interpretive signage, the location of Lee's headquarters, and an artillery park including cannons. The park's visitor center
561-769: The administrative centers of the counties in the People's Republic of China . Xian have existed since the Warring States period and were set up nationwide by the Qin dynasty . The number of counties in China proper gradually increased from dynasty to dynasty. As Qin Shi Huang reorganized the counties after his unification, there were about 1,000. Under the Eastern Han dynasty , the number of counties increased to above 1,000. About 1400 existed when
594-488: The county seat is the entire county. Ellicott City , the county seat of Howard County, Maryland , is the largest unincorporated county seat in the United States, followed by Towson , the county seat of Baltimore County, Maryland . Likewise, some county seats may not be incorporated in their own right, but are located within incorporated municipalities. For example, Cape May Court House, New Jersey , though unincorporated,
627-491: The county seat, though some functions (such as highway maintenance, which usually requires a large garage for vehicles, along with asphalt and salt storage facilities) may also be located or conducted in other parts of the county, especially if it is geographically large. A county seat is usually an incorporated municipality . The exceptions include the county seats of counties that have no incorporated municipalities within their borders, such as Arlington County, Virginia , where
660-420: The county. Examples include Harrison County, Mississippi , which has both Biloxi and Gulfport as county seats, and Hinds County, Mississippi , which has both Raymond and the state capital of Jackson . The practice of multiple county seat towns dates from the days when travel was difficult. There have been few efforts to eliminate the two-seat arrangement, since a county seat is a source of civic pride for
693-694: The decision to route a railroad through nearby Appomattox Depot led to many business leaving Appomattox Court House for the Appomattox Depot area. Around the same time, the stage route into Appomattox Court House was discontinued, and the village entered a decline. In early April 1865, during the end of the American Civil War , Confederate States Army forces commanded by General Robert E. Lee were being pursued by Union Army troops commanded by Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant . Trapped at Appomattox Court House, Lee's troops attacked on April 9 in
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#1732851940321726-478: The defeat of the Confederacy. The war's end did not stop the decline of the village, and when the county's records were destroyed in an 1892 courthouse fire, it was decided to move the county seat to the railroad community at Appomattox Depot, which became the town of Appomattox. In 1892, after the courthouse had burned and the McLean House had been dismantled, George B. Davis learned of the deteriorating state of
759-537: The end of the American Civil War . The village itself began as the community of Clover Hill, which was made the county seat of Appomattox County in the 1840s. The village of Appomattox Court House entered a stage of decline after it was bypassed by a railroad in 1854. In 1930, the United States War Department was authorized to erect a monument at the site, and in 1933 the War Department's holdings there
792-611: The independent city under an agreement, such as in Albemarle , or may in be enclaves of the county surrounded by the independent city, such as in Fairfax . Others, such as Prince William , have the courthouse in an enclave surrounded by the independent city and have the county government, the Board of Supervisors, in a different part of the county, far from the county seat. The following counties have their county seat in an independent city: Bedford
825-696: The last battles of the American Civil War. The New Appomattox Court House , where locals file lawsuits and do legal business in Appomattox County, Virginia. The Old Appomattox Court House , a structure within the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park in Virginia. Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Appomattox Court House . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
858-464: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Appomattox_Court_House&oldid=1194649667 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Appomattox Court House National Historical Park The Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
891-764: The state's area, has no borough government or borough seat. One borough, the Lake and Peninsula Borough , has its borough seat located in another borough, namely King Salmon in Bristol Bay Borough . In Louisiana , which is divided into parishes rather than counties, county seats are referred to as "parish seats". In New England , counties have served mainly as dividing lines for the states' judicial systems. Rhode Island has no county level of government and thus no county seats, and Massachusetts has dissolved many but not all of its county governments. In Vermont , Massachusetts , and Maine county government consists only of
924-570: The term as hien . When Taiwan became a Japanese colony in 1895, the hierarchy of divisions also incorporated into the Japanese system in the period when Taiwan was under Japanese rule. By September 1945, Taiwan was divided into 8 prefectures ( 州 and 廳 ), which remained after the Republic of China took over. There are 13 county seats in Taiwan, which function as county-administered cities , urban townships , or rural townships . In most of
957-416: The towns involved, along with providing employment opportunities. There are 33 counties with multiple county seats in 11 states: Alaska is divided into boroughs rather than counties; the county seat in these case is referred to as the "borough seat"; this includes six consolidated city-borough governments (one of which is styled as a "municipality"). The Unorganized Borough, Alaska , which covers 49% of
990-607: The use of county seats in particular, will fully transition with the permission of the United States Census Bureau to a system of councils of government for the purposes of boundary definition and as county equivalents. Two counties in South Dakota , Oglala Lakota and Todd , have their county seat and government services centered in a neighboring county. Their county-level services are provided by Fall River County and Tripp County , respectively. In Virginia ,
1023-465: The village and received permission to have metal tablets placed at the locations of important historic sites at the village. In 1930, the United States Congress passed legislation to have the United States War Department acquire a site at the village for a monument relating to the 1865 surrender, and three years later, the War Department's holdings at Appomattox Court House were transferred to
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1056-471: Was a stop along the Richmond–Lynchburg stagecoach road. It was also the site of organizational meetings, so when Appomattox County was established by an Act on February 8, 1845, Clover Hill village became the county seat . Appomattox County was formed from parts of Buckingham , Prince Edward , Charlotte , and Campbell counties. The jurisdiction took its name from the headwaters that emanate there,
1089-464: Was transferred to the National Park Service . The site was greatly enlarged in 1935, and a restoration of the McLean House was planned but was delayed by World War II . In 1949, the restored McLean House was reopened to the public. Several restored buildings (including the McLean House and the courthouse ), as well as a number of original 19th-century structures are situated at the site. The antebellum village started out as "Clover Hill". The village
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