The Nottoway River is a scenic river located in south central and southeastern Virginia. The river's length is approximately 130 miles. It begins in Prince Edward and Lunenburg counties and flows southeasterly, forming a boundary for Nottoway-Lunenburg, Brunswick-Dinwiddie, and Greensville-Sussex counties, then meanders across Sussex and Southampton counties to its confluence with the Blackwater River at the North Carolina line, forming the Chowan River in North Carolina.
The Southampton County courthouse stands on the northern bank of the Nottoway River near the site of the old Cypress Bridge in Courtland (formerly Jerusalem (before 1888), formerly “TheTown at the Courthouse" (before 1791).