County Administration: the old Billy Smith mansion

Two-term Virginia Governor William “Extra Billy” Smith (1846-49 and 1864-65) lived in this mansion on North Main Street now occupied by a local government building. At one time the Greek Revival home spanned the entire block, all the way back to West Street. Smith, a major general in the Confederate Army, built the mansion before the Civil War.

Union General Ulysses S. Grant, who went on to become 18th president of the U.S., lived in the house during the Winter Encampment of 1863-1864.
Notice the muddy streets; Main Street wasn’t paved until the 1930s. Wooden planks often were laid across busy intersections of muddy streets for the comfort of pedestrians.

In 1930, the U.S. government razed the Smith mansion to construct a post office, reflecting its current form. Culpeper County converted it to an administration building in the 1990s and it’s still in use as such.