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TGS Home, 1884 Court House
The TGS library is
open on
Tuesdays and Thursdays 10am-3pm and Saturdays
10am-4pm (closed on holidays and holiday weekends).
The library is usually
staffed with two trained volunteer genealogists.
Click on a photo for the larger image.
The Hugh S. Watson, Jr.
Genealogical Society of Tidewater Virginia (also known as Tidewater Genealogical
Society) was founded by Mrs. Virginia Rollings and members of her first
genealogy class in December 1969 giving our Society the distinction of being the
second oldest genealogical society in
Virginia.
Through the efforts of several individuals in
the Tidewater Genealogical Society, the
Newport News
- Warwick Historical Preservation Association and State & Local
Governmental Officials, our Society entered its first home in 1999, located in
the historic 1884
Warwick
County
Courthouse
Building
in Denbigh.
The Warwick County Courthouse has changed
significantly since we moved into the building ten years ago. At that time,
members of TGS removed the ballet bars from the rooms once used by a dance
studio. The court room with the help of NNWHPA was given a fresh court of paint
and the building thoroughly cleaned. However, it needed much more. Through the
guiding efforts of John Quarstein and others employed by the City of
Newport News, the exterior and interior have been completely restored to its former glory.
The beautiful double staircases leading to the old courtroom upstairs were
refinished. The entrance foyer now features an exhibit covering
Warwick
County
from its plantation period, through the War Between the States, to the coming
of the railroad to the county.
The Tidewater Genealogical
Society Library is on the first floor as well as the media room which has seven
computers and printers, a microfilm reader and overflow books from the library
across the hall. The Library and Media Room are open to the public three days
each week as well as by appointment.
The 1810 Courthouse, also part of the historic
complex, is situated in close proximity to old Courthouse Way. It is reminiscent of earlier times when the population of the county was very
small and did not require a large courthouse. In fact during the Civil War a
Union soldier camped on the grounds wrote back home “we have a corn crib
larger than the courthouse.”
Recently, the Clerk’s Office was rebuilt on its original site next to the 1810
Courthouse, adding still another link to the past.
The land area on which these
historic buildings stand is not large, but the years have not diminished the
beauty of these architectural treasures of old
Warwick County,
Virginia
.
On the 23rd
of May 2009, Fort Eustis Historical and Archaeological Association, the Bethel
Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Tidewater
Genealogical Society combined efforts to rededicate the Civil War Monument which
was originally dedicated in May 1909.
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