Why did some court houses in the old days spell their name "COVRT HOVSE" with a letter V instead of a U?

Question

On TV, I see some old court houses spelled COVRT HOVSE. Why?

Answer 1

Just a guess, it was easier to chisel out a v rather than a u.

Answer 2

Our alphabet is a direct descendant of the Roman alphabet. When Rome was in power all the typeface was on one case. What we call upper case today.
The language at that time had no "U" in the alphabet so they used the "V" instead. It worked out well enough particularly for the guy who had to cut the letter out of stone for the public buildings. Carving a "V" was a lot more easier than a "U".
The "V" you see in the modern architecture is simply a classical throwback to the origins of todays known alphabet.

Answer 3

In early printing it was difficult to make a 'u' so it was replaced by the 'v', also 's' was difficult to make so they were replaced by 'f'. That is why a 'double u' looks like 'w' or two v's together.
Now all this pertains to the blocks used in printing on paper, but the stone carver's tools were similar to the carver who was making the blocks for the printing press. Chisel, iron hammer and wooden mallet were the tools of choice.

The basic concepts of carved stone work haven't changed much in thousands of years, even as the tools have slowly evolved.. Not until the between 1885 - 1890 did any significant change happen to the stone carver's tool. This was when the pneumatic hammer (powered by huge steam driven air compressors), pretty much replaced the wooden mallet and iron hammer.

Answer 4

Because Latin was the preferred script to demonstrate that you were an educated man. The latin alphabet did not include a U.

The letters in the latin alphabet are, A B C D E F Z
H I K L M N O
P Q R S T V X

Answer 5

The Roman language from whence our modern English language is derived, did not have the letter "U" in it's alphabet. The letter "V" was used interchangeably.

Answer 6

they used the V's for U's b/c they didn't have U's in some old language- Greek, i think- and they thought they were being cool by spelling stuff like the Greeks (or whoever did it)

Answer 7

I am not sure but perhaps it is some Roman throw back.

Answer 8

It was easier to make a "V" for an "U" if engraved in stone.

Answer 9

it mite be the way they did it a long time ago, or the V is supposed to be a U....

Answer 10

they probaly wrote there u's like that bac then