Breckinridge Law Office/Former Museum

From Cardinal News

Early 19th-century Museum Building near Fincastle courthouse project faces potential demolition

The plan up until last Tuesday was to move the building during the construction of the new county courthouse. Project managers told the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors that this won’t be feasible due to the condition of the building.

by Samantha Verrelli

June 30, 2025

Fincastle Mayor Mary Bess Smith, among others in town, was taken by surprise last week when the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors was told by project managers that relocating a historic building would no longer be possible, and that the building would be demolished. 

. . . 

Multiple 1800s-era buildings surround the courthouse site, including the Museum Building, which once housed the law office of James Breckenridge, a veteran of the Revolutionary War and War of 1812, a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and a U.S. congressman.

. . .

Botetourt County quickly switched gears from a plan to move the Museum Building, to demolishing it

The county began planning for a new courthouse a few years ago. The most recent courthouse, which was built in the 1970s after a fire destroyed the original structure, was concrete, which former Botetourt County Circuit Judge Malfourd “Bo” Trumbo said doesn’t work well with modern wiring and Wi-Fi systems. A modern courthouse also requires more square feet to house metal detectors and other security measures.

Smith, the mayor, said the sprinkler system in the courthouse, which was installed above the insulation, froze and burst one winter, drenching the inside of the building. Moisture seeped into the concrete walls, creating black mold. The courthouse was also built before the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed and so didn’t comply with all of its requirements.  The county recently demolished the old structure and is preparing to erect a new courthouse on the same site.

The Museum Building, which sits just a couple dozen feet from the courthouse, is in the way of construction.

. . .

The board was told that no action was needed at the time, and that the project team would move forward with demolition, with the intention to preserve as much as it could of the building. 

The news came as a “shock” to the town of Fincastle, Smith said. 

. . .

Fincastle itself, aside from its pre-revolutionary buildings, is a piece of history. Formed in 1772, the town was the municipal hub for a county that once stretched to the Mississippi River. 

The Museum Building housed the Botetourt Historical Society and the Botetourt County Museum up until three years ago. 

At one point early in the building’s history, one room of the brick building housed Breckenridge’s law office.

Breckenridge, who opposed declaring war on Britain in 1812, led Virginia militiamen from Richmond to Washington and Baltimore during the Revolutionary War, according to Encyclopedia Virginia. He owned about 4,000 acres of land by the early 1800s, with multiple properties built by his slaves. He died in 1833. 

The building Breckenridge worked in, once expanded, served as part of the Western Hotel Complex in the 1840s and 1850s, when Fincastle was known as a “stage coach shop,” Trumbo said, and was a “frontier stop-off” for those traveling West. The hotel was complete with a tavern and horse stables, said Lynsey Allie, executive director of the Botetourt County Historical Society. 

In the 1930s, Allie said, the Dodd family converted the building into apartments, which lasted until the 1950s when the county took ownership of the building. The historical society moved out once conversations about replacing the courthouse began.

. . .

1912

"Mr. Hunger G. Breckinridge sold the Grove Hill farm, near Fincastle, yesterday to Mr. D. M. Taylor, of Roanoke."

-- The Roanoke Times, "Looking Back," June 11, 2012

The Botetourt County Museum

The Botetourt County Museum is located in Fincastle in what is called "Courthouse Square," at the rear of the courthouse. The building used to be a law office, and one room is set up to resemble that. The structure also was part of a hotel complex at one point.

Botetourt County was created in 1770 from Augusta County. It was named for Norbourne Berkley, Lord Botetourt, who was a beloved governor of Virginia from 1768 to 1770. As you can see from the photo of the map above, at one time the county went all the way to the Mississippi, taking in Kentucky to the south and going as far north as a little piece of Wisconsin. People who lived far away were excused from jury duty, by the way.

The museum has many period pieces from prominent families. Displays include housewares, toys, clothing, and utensils, among other things.

This is difficult to see because of reflections, but this houses what is believed to be the original bell from the first courthouse. The county has had at least three different courthouses. In 1970, the courthouse burned but the records were saved because they were inside a massive room-sized fireproof vault. The courthouse was rebuilt from plans that are said to have originated with Thomas Jefferson, though no one is 100 percent certain of this.

As a piece of trivia, my husband's father fought the courthouse fire as he was a volunteer fireman at the time.

Speaking of relatives, this coffee grinder belonged to Philip Firebaugh, who is my husband's great, great, great, great grandfather. Philip Firebaugh came to Botetourt in 1818, allegedly with saddlebags full of gold, and purchased property known today as Stonelea (or the old Philip Firebaugh place if you're an old timer). It is no longer in the family.

This is a portrait of James Breckinridge. Breckinridge was a lawyer and statesman, and the museum is located in what used to be his law office. Breckinridge also fought in the American Revolution. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates and in Congress. He assisted Jefferson with the construction of the University of Virginia. He owned a vast amount of property, which was and still is called "Grove Hill."

One of his descendants, Lucy Breckinridge, lived at Grove Hill and kept a diary during the Civil War, which is sort of famous. I've read it and it's quite an interesting look at life during those turbulent times. The book is for sale at the museum.

1909

"The Breckinridge home, one of the most attractive and one of the most costly homes in Botetourt County, was entirely destroyed by fire Sunday morning." - The Roanoke Times, October 26, 2009, "Looking Back"

The Breckinridge family settled in Botetourt County prior to the American Revolution. Members of the family fought in the Revolutionary War and served in the Virginia House of Delegates and in the United States Congress. Their home was called "Grove Hill."

See The Political Graveyard for a synopsis of information.

See Wikipedia for a profile of James Breckinridge.

See Google Books for exerpts of Lucy Breckinridge: Diary of a Young Girl, published by University of South Carolina Press.