Danville (Va.) City Administrative Records, 1833-1978

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888

Summary

Extent:
140 v.; 50 microfilm reels
Creator:
Danville (Va.) City Council; Danville (Va.) School Board
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

Danville (Va.) City Administration Records, 1833-1978, consists of records including minutes, journals, ordinances, records books, accounts, etc. created by various administrative offices and officials for the city of Danville. These include:

Danville City Council Records, 1833-1978, which consist of records of the historic Common Hall comprised of the Common Council and Board of Alderman and modern City Council; records solely created by the Board of Alderman, and records solely created by the Common Council.

City Council Records,1833-1978, consists of records created by the bicameral Danville Common Hall which included the Board of Alderman and Common Council as well as other administrative officers, as well as records created by the modern system of the eight-person city council. The majority of these records consist of ordinances enacted by the city council, but also includes some general records, accounts, budgets, committee records, and miscellaneous records. Also included are council minute books for Neopolis, also known as North Danville, a formerly distinct town across the Dan River from Danville. The town was annexed by Danville in 1896. The Neopolis records include meeting minutes and financial transactions of the town council of Neapolis, adoption of ordinances and resolutions, petitions to town council, and funds collected and disbursed. The records also include a copy of charter creating North Danville; reports related to name change from North Danville to Neapolis; change of street names; work done on bridges; census taken of town's white and African-American population; and reports and charter related to annexation to Danville.

Board of Alderman Records,1904-1919, consists of various volumes of the Board of Alderman journals.

Common Council Records, 1904-1920, includes various volumes of the Common Council journals.

Council Financial Records, 1883-1957, consists of specifically identified cash books and journals, general ledgers, and statements of accounts. Additional financial records may also be found in the City Council, Board of Aldermen, and Common Council volumes.

School Board Records, 1900-1975, consist of minutes of school board meetings beginning in June 1900 and ending in December 1975. A handwritten note on the inside of the first volume of minutes indicates that earlier minute books were destroyed in a fire. The surviving minutes include actions taken by the board and its various committees such as the hiring or removal of staff, purchase of property, school building construction, contractual agreements, and revenue expenditures.

Biographical / historical:

Context for Record Type:

Danville City Council

The General Assembly passed legislation incorporating Danville as a town in February 1830. The act of assembly prescribed the election of twelve men to serve as aldermen, common council members, recorder, and mayor. The town's charter was updated in March 1854 to establish the Council of the Town of Danville composed of twelve members known as councilmen. The mayor and five aldermen were also to be elected, along with a town sergeant, commissioner of the revenue, and treasurer. This charter update also established a hustings court for the town of Danville. As a result, the town's voters would also be required to elect a clerk of the hustings court and an attorney for the commonwealth. The town charter was again updated in December 1865. The update reestablished a hustings court for Danville presided over by the elected mayor and aldermen. A circuit court for the town of Danville was instituted, and the town was no longer under the jurisdiction of the circuit court of Pittsylvania County. The town council was to be made up of eight elected council members. Other elected positions noted in the updated charter included a mayor, nine aldermen, a sergeant, treasurer, commissioner of the revenue, clerk of the hustings court, clerk of the circuit court, and an attorney for the commonwealth.

In February 1890, Danville was incorporated as a city by act of assembly. As before, the aldermen and council members were elected by ward, while the mayor and other officers, such as the commonwealth's attorney, city sergeant, and clerk were elected at large. The city designation also prompted the establishment of a corporation court and a circuit court for the City of Danville. A charter update in April 1952 changed the city's government to the Council-Manager model. In this scheme nine council members would be elected at large and serve 4-year terms. The Council would then appoint a City Manager to serve as the chief executive officer of the city. The City Manager's appointment was indefinite.

Danville School Board

The public schools in Danville were administered by the school board of Pittsylvania County through the 1870s. In Augusts 1879, Reverend George Washington Dame was appointed as the first superintendent of Danville's public schools. A board of school trustees was established as a committee of the Town Council, and later, after independent city status in 1890, as a committee of the City Council.

Locality History:

Danville, in Pittsylvania County, was named for the Dan River on which the city is located. Danville was established in 1793, was incorporated as a town in 1830, and became a city in 1890. The town of North Danville, incorporated in 1877 and renamed Neopolis in 1894, was added in 1896.

Acquisition information:

Danville City Common Council, Alderman, and Ordinance volumes came to the Library of Virginia in an undated transfer of records from the city of Danville.

School Board records came to Library of Virginia in a transfer from the city of Danville School Board in April 2026 under accession 54784.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged into the following series:

  • Series I: City Council Records, 1833-1978,
  • Subseries A: Board of Alderman Records,1904-1919
  • Subseries B: Common Council Records,11904-1920
  • Subseries C: Council Financial Records,1883-1957
  • Series II: School Board Records, 1900-1975.
Physical location:
Library of Virginia