National Register of Historic Places

Needham

Farmville, Cumberland County, Virginia
Listed
November 10, 1988
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
88002059

About this property

Needham is a historic home located near Farmville, in Cumberland County, Virginia. It was constructed in 1802, and is a two-story, three-bay, single-pile, central hall plan frame dwelling. It has a two-story rear ell, with one-story addition built in 1929, although most of the former outbuildings have now disappeared. It was the home of educator, jurist, and politician Creed Taylor (1766–1836) as well as his son Creed Taylor Jr. (1791–1873). The elder Taylor established a proprietary law school in Richmond and moved it in the 1820s to this estate (it was Virginia's second law school and the nation's fourth), where it trained about 300 lawyers including U.S. President John Tyler's son, Ohio Supreme Court justice William Y. Gholson and future U.S. Congressmen John Minor Botts, Joseph William Chinn and John Hall Fulton as well as future Missouri governor and Confederate general Sterling Price. Although the law school had closed by 1840 (and perhaps a decade earlier, following the establishment of the University of Virginia Law School in 1829). In 1831 Anne Jane Gholson, the mother of novelist Ellen Glasgow was born at Needham. Needham has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1988. Virginia erected a historic marker concerning the proprietary law school in 2000.

Location

Farmville, Cumberland County, Virginia
37.32245, -78.38487

Categories

EDUCATIONPOLITICS/GOVERNMENTARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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The Civil War
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The Soldiers
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Native Heritage
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Settlement
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The Community
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Nearby Historic Sites

First Baptist Church
Early Republic
1.4 mi
Farmville Historic District
Listed
1.5 mi
Longwood House
Industrial
2.1 mi
Moton, Robert Russa, High School
Industrial
2.3 mi
High Bridge
Early Republic
3.6 mi

Nearby Battles

Battle of Farmville and Cumberland Church
1865Civil War
0.9 mi
Battle of Sayler's Creek
1865Civil War
0.9 mi
Cumberland Church — Lee's Last Victory (Apr 7)
1865Civil War
1.5 mi
Battle of Cumberland Church / Farmville (Apr 7)
1865Civil War
1.5 mi

Questions about this property

When was Needham listed on the National Register?

Needham was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 10, 1988.

What type of historic resource is Needham?

Needham is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Needham?

The period of significance for Needham is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Needham?

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