Cabellsville

Just west of here near the old Stage Road stood Amherst County’s first purpose-built courthouse, constructed on privately owned land shortly after the county’s creation in 1761. An unincorporated village developed around it and served as the county’s center of government for nearly 50 years. Samuel Jordan Cabell, later a U.S. Congressman, acquired the courthouse tract from his parents in 1784. In 1803, the Virginia General Assembly established the town of Cabellsville on 25 acres of Cabell’s land. This area became part of Nelson County in 1807, when Nelson was formed from Amherst. Nelson’s justices continued to meet in Cabellsville until a new courthouse opened in Lovingston in 1810.

Department of Historic Resources, 2022