The weatherboarded country Georgian structure of Oakridge is a typical and well-preserved example of a residence of a prosperous planter of Virginia’s southern Piedmont. It was built in Nottoway County ca. 1800 for Burwell Smith, a Southside landowner who, in contrast to his substantial and well-finished house, was described by one writer as “a particularly parsimonious and illiterate man.” Although the generously proportioned house appears to have been built in two sections, the one-story wing is part of the original construction. The main rooms are ornamented with paneled wainscoting and paneled chimneypieces framed by fluted pilasters. A special interior feature of Oakridge is the Chinese lattice stair railing, a stylish device sometimes found in finer Federal-style houses in southern Virginia.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Nomination Form
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia