Located at the corner of Main Street and High Street in downtown Farmville, the Watkins M. Abbitt Federal Building was originally
constructed as the Farmville Post Office in 1917. While efforts had been made as early as 1898 to secure a public building
in Farmville, it was not until 1913, when a citizen's committee pressed the matter to Senators John W. Daniel and Thomas S.
Martin and Congressman Robert G. Southall; that the necessary appropriations were made to finance the construction. The town
of Farmville ceded two parcels of land for the project and construction finally began on November 26, 1917. In 1962, operations
at the Farmville Post Office had outgrown the facilities on Main Street and a new post office was constructed on the corner
of Third Street and Virginia Street. At that point, a plan was drafted to consolidate all of the Federal Government offices
in Farmville into a single facility. The former post office was remodeled to suit that purpose and reopened as the Federal
Building in March 1963. In 1972, the building was named after U.S. Representative Watkins M. Abbitt, who had represented Virginia's
4th Congressional District for nearly 25 years.
This collection, which dates from 1915-1918, 1940, 1945, 1948, and 1962, consists of building plans for the Farmville Post
Office, subsequent renovations, and plans for the building remodel for the conversion into the Federal Building.
This collection is part of the Farmville-Prince Edward Historical Society Archives which are housed at the Greenwood Library
Archives and Special Collections
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