The Fauquier National Bank Building is in the Warrenton Historic District in Warrenton, Virginia. The Warrenton Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Fauquier National Bank Building is located at 18 Court Street, adjacent to the historic courthouse. It was built in 1925 as a 2-story Classical Revival style building using tan brick and limestone. It was built for its original occupant - Fauquier National Bank. Beginning in 1973 until 2021 the building served as the Warrenton Town Hall.

The Fauquier National Bank Building was built in 1925 by William F. Hanback and his son William J. Hanback. This duo also built the Fauquier County Administration Building which is located next to the courthouse. The architect was Stuart H. Edmonds.

The 2-story, 9,250 square foot building is constructed with tan brick and limestone with a flat roof. There are stone pilasters and large arched windows with stone dentil cornice. Its architecture is in the early 20th-century Colonial or Classical Revival style. This style was used in the late 1800’s to about 1920, having features from the Victorian era. The elements of this building that draw from that style are the simple symmetry, large pilasters and windows, and the stone and brick materials. In the 1983 nomination form for the Warrenton Historic District to the National Register of Historic Places, the building was described as “one of the most significant Colonial Revival structures in Warrenton” and having “unusual sophistication for a rural Virginia town.” Furthermore, the nomination form stated that “Few Virginia towns can boast of a 20th century building of such outstanding architectural merit.”

The building was built for Fauquier National Bank, at a cost of $69,850. It was opened in September 1925. During the ownership by Fauquier National Bank, the building was also used for a variety of non-banking activities, namely community meetings. These included meetings of the Red Cross, the County Bicentennial Committee (1932), the Warrenton Branch of the Crippled Children’s Hospital, and the Warrenton Horse Show Association, amongst others.

In the early 1970’s, the Fauquier National Bank relocated to a new address. The property was acquired by real estate investor Edward Stevenson. In 1973, the building was donated to the Town of Warrenton at a value of $150,000.

The town of Warrenton continued to use the building as the Warrenton Town Hall for 47 years, from 1973 to 2020. In 2020, the town chose to relocate the Town Hall elsewhere due to the need for larger capacity for public meetings. Also, the building did not have an elevator and was therefore non-ADA compliant. The decision was made that the facility could no longer properly serve the community. The then mayor Carter Nevill stated in a press release that, “The historical bank building has provided Town Hall with a wonderful location and beautiful architecture for over four decades; however, it is not a building that can be expanded to meet the growing needs of the town….”

The building continues to be owned by the town of Warrenton. One of its current uses is for Warrenton Water Billing.

https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/156-0019_Warrenton_HD_1983_Final_Nomination.pdf

https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/VA-01-NP22.6

https://www.fauquiernow.com/news/business/former-fauquier-bank-downtown-property-for-sale/article_6bccab8c-d04b-5898-bd06-52fe03cd1c08.html

https://www.fauquier.com/news/town-of-warrenton-will-negotiate-to-purchase-bb-t-building-to-use-as-future-town/article_62f97c8e-76b4-11e9-bcc3-fb352c5a260d.html

https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/030-0320_The_Oaks_2001_Final_NRHP_Nomination.pdf

https://water-utility-companies.cmac.ws/warrenton-water-billing/11670/

Virginia Chronicle Accessed via https://virginiachronicle.com/:

Chief Justice, Volume 3, Number 42, 21 October 1930.

Chief Justice, Volume 5, Number 24, 14 June 1932

Virginia Star, Volume 7, Number 38, 11 March 1926

Chief Justice, Volume 2, Number 3, 16 January 1929

https://www.fauquiercounty.gov/home/showdocument?id=6958

https://www.fauquiernow.com/news/government_politics/town-hall-water-damage-cleanup-about-15-400/article_4226b265-4655-5ae4-83e2-2150389b5dd8.html