The CCSO has had 60 sheriffs since its formation in 1749. The CCSO saw much action during the Revolutionary War including Patrick Henry reciting his famous speech from St. John’s Church and the area surrounding the Courthouse was a very strategic location. In 1841 the original jail, which was commissioned in 1749, was destroyed in a fire. This resulted in a new jail, which was used until the 1940s when it was converted into an emergency communications (dispatch) office. From the 1940s to 1960 CCSO inmates were housed in other jails until a new, modern facility was built. In the 1970s an addition was built onto the jail.