Folly Castle Historic District

The Folly Castle Historic District is centered around the 18th century residence, Folly Castle. The main thoroughfares of this neighborhood are West Washington Street and Hinton Street with portions of Lafayette, Guarantee, Hazel, Davis and Perry Streets. Folly Castle was built in 1763 by Peter Jones, a wealthy resident. Because of the large size of the house for a childless couple, this structure was known as a "folly", thus Folly Castle from which the neighborhood takes its name. The neighborhood developed during the 19th century, and features a variety of residential styles including Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate and Queen Anne. The district is primarily residential. Formerly, it included numerous tobacco related structures. Tobacco factories were built within walking distance of the owner's prominent high-style homes creating a residential enclave surrounded by handsome brick factories. This neighborhood is the focus of a major community-backed revival. The old Petersburg High School is under renovation to serve as a regional Governor's School for the Sciences and Performing Arts, due to open in September 1999. The neighborhood to the east of the High School has already seen substantial revitalization. The community is sparing no effort to make certain that the entire High School neighborhood shares in its revival.