Founded in 1958, our nonprofit, volunteer-based historical organization was originally named Mary Ball Washington Museum & Library, Inc. in honor of George Washington’s mother who was born in Lancaster County. We now operate as the Lancaster Virginia Historical Society. Our museum complex has changing exhibits on local topics and includes the 1797 Clerk of Court Office, 1820s Old Jail, and c. 1830 Lancaster House, surrounding the original courthouse green from when the county seat was established here in 1742. (Note: Mary Ball did not live at this site.) The modern research library contains about 10,000 books, periodicals, and files with information on county court records, birth/death/marriage records, family genealogies, regional history subjects, and more. Our card catalog can be searched online at www.lancastervahistory.org