The Board of Supervisors cut the ribbon on the Martha Ann Fields Building at Hanover Courthouse on October 14 and were joined by descendants of Mrs. Fields.

Martha Ann Fields was an enslaved laborer on the Nutshell property, which encompassed the land the county government complex now occupies. She escaped with her 11 children following a Union Army raid during the Civil War. 

Canova Peterson, Mechanicsville District’s representative on the Board, praised Mrs. Field for her impact on Hanover County and her bravery. Ajena Rogers, a descendant, was the guest speaker at the ceremony, concluding, “six and seven generations from now, they’ll remember this day and they’ll remember us and they’ll remember those we may thought were the least among us embody an indomitable spirit.”

The building was formerly the Hanover General District Court and has been renovated to become the future home of the Assessor’s Office and the departments of Human Services, General Services and Parks & Recreation, with some additional staff from the Building Assessor’s Office and Public Works. Many Fields family descendants attended the ceremony.