This is the Jefferson County Court House, site of the famous John Brown trial of 1859. Found guilty of inciting slaves to rebel and treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia, he was hanged a short distance from this site. His body was given to his wife where he was taken to New York for burial.
The Civil War damaged the building badly and pretty much all that remained after the fighting were four walls.
Court records were moved down to Lexington, Virginia and they survived the war intact.
They restored the building in 1872.