The Town of Chatham has served as the county seat for Pittsylvania County since 1777 and as the commercial center for the surrounding rural region of tobacco-rich Southside Virginia. The linear Chatham Historic District includes the county’s buildings of governance, commercial buildings dating from the late-19th to mid-20th century, and residential neighborhoods constructed between 1807 and 1950. Included in the district are the 1853 National Historic Landmark Pittsylvania County courthouse, more than 60 commercial buildings, and a number of high-style residences. The number and quality of these buildings reflect the prosperity of Chatham as the seat of the largest county in Virginia. Chatham has remained relatively unchanged since the end of World War II. The town boundaries follow basically the same lines determined by the General Assembly late in the 19th century and the population has not changed significantly since that time.