Colchester Marker

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Lorton in Fairfax County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Colchester

By J. J. Prats, March 26, 2006

1. Colchester Marker

Inscription. Colchester, founded in 1753 at the location of a ferry crossing, was the second town established in Fairfax County. Located on the main post road from Boston to Charleston, and at the end of the Ox Road leading west to the Blue Ridge, the town prospered as a trading center and tobacco port. In 1781, Gen. Washington and Comte de Rochambeau passed through Colchester en route to Yorktown. The creation of an alternate postal route over a new bridge upstream in 1805; the diversion of grain shipping from the Shenandoah Valley to Georgetown, Alexandria, and Baltimore; and, according to tradition, a great fire in 1815 contributed to the town's decline.

Erected 1999 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number E 107.)

Marker series. This marker is included in the The Washington-Rochambeau Route marker series.

Location. 38° 40.203′ N, 77° 14.258′ W. Marker is in Lorton, Virginia, in Fairfax County. Marker is at the intersection of Richmond Highway (U.S. 1) and Furnace Road (County Route 611), on the right when traveling north on Richmond Highway. Click for map. Marker is in this post office area: Lorton VA 22079, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker

By J. J. Prats, March 26, 2006

2. Colchester Marker

, as the crow flies. Fairfax County / Prince William County (approx. 0.5 miles away); Early Land Patents (approx. 0.5 miles away); Occoquan (approx. 0.5 miles away); Jefferson Davis Highway - Virginia (approx. 0.5 miles away); The First Courthouse of Prince William County (approx. 0.5 miles away); Belmont Bay ~ End of the Water (approx. 0.9 miles away); The Beehive Brick Kiln (approx. 1.2 miles away); Women Suffrage Prisoners at Occoquan Workhouse (approx. 1.2 miles away).

Regarding Colchester. There is not much of Colchester left. There’s just Fairfax Arms, now a private residence on the narrow lane (Old Colchester Road) leading down to the Occoquan river where the ferry used to cross.

Also see . . . A Brief History of Mason Neck. Excerpt from link concerning Colchester: “Colchester was the first town established within the borders of present-day Fairfax County. Chartered in 1753, the site was chosen by virtue of the topography of the land as the most accessible spot for a ferry crossing of the Occoquan River. The road north of Colchester was part of the great path linking Boston and Charleston, S.C. It was over this part of the road that troops under the command of Generals Washington and Rochambeau marched southward from Pennsylvania ... to Yorktown for the climactic battle ending the American Revolutionary War. However, siltation of the Occoquan River, along with the construction of a bridge up river effectively put an end to Colchester’s function as a port town. Today the old ordinary known as the Fairfax Arms, now a private home, is the only above ground reminder of a town that once rivaled Alexandria in importance.” (Submitted on August 31, 2007, by Kevin W. of Stafford, Virginia.)

By J. J. Prats, March 26, 2006

3. Fairfax Arms

Located at 10712 Old Colchester Road, it is on the right just south of the intersection with Furnace Road.

Fairfax Arms Markers Photo, Click for full size

By J. J. Prats, March 26, 2006

4. Fairfax Arms Markers

The first reads Fairfax Arms. Built 1750, Colchester, VA. Marked by the "Bill of Rights" Chapter, NSDAR. May 1966. The second Fairfax Arms has been registered as a Virginia Historic Landmark pursuant to the authority vested in the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission, Act of 1966.