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Public Buildings (2.3.1.3)

County (2.3.1.3.2)

County government is represented by two brick structures, the Pasquotank County Courthouse (206 East Main Street, 1882) and the former Pasquotank County Asylum (1321 Southern Avenue, early 20th c.). The central portion of the courthouse, designed by Richmond, Virginia architect A. L. West and constructed by local builder and lumberman D. S. Kramer, is a handsome two-story brick edifice with a Corinthian second-story portico supported by rusticated stone piers on the lower level/the Victorian Romanesque design is crowned by a two-stage clock tower and cupola. (In 1979-1980 the building was flanked by large brick wings, which, while leaving tile original façade unimpaired, overwhelm the original structure; the interior was completely remodeled.) The County Asylum is a small one-story, hip-roofed structure containing two rooms separated by a center hail. It has decoratively scrolled rafter ends, heavy wire screens, and metal shutters. Ir was associated with the former County home, or poor house, which occupied an adjacent site from before 1847 until its demolition in the 1960s.