| Virginia (Prince William County), Occoquan — 1804 Boundary Stone |
| | A prominent stone located near this spot was the beginning point of the 1804 survey of Occoquan’s boundaries. A survey line running from the stone enclosed the 31-acre tract subdivided into streets and lots on the town plat. Today the stone is buried by landfill, but in 1804 it was on the Occoquan River’s Southern Bank. — Map (db m2458) |
| Virginia (Prince William County), Occoquan — 1804 Occoquan Town Plat |
| | In 1804, after Virginia’s General Assembly granted a charter, Occoquan was platted on 31 acres of founder Nathaniel Ellicott’s and others’ land. The Plat laid off streets and lots. Structures shown included the public wharf, Ellicott’s Mill and Bridge, and “Rockledge.” A large part of today’s town plan is identical to the grid shown on the plat. — Map (db m2365) |
| Virginia (Prince William County), Occoquan — Commerce Street |
| | Commerce Street was a residential and commercial area from the early 19th through mid-20th centuries. Houses, many of which survive, faced the street on lots surveyed on the 1804 town plat. Businesses included the Hammill Hotel and a General Store. Public buildings—the town’s school, Odd Fellows Hall, and First Methodist Church—also stood here. — Map (db m2414) |
| Virginia (Prince William County), Occoquan — Ebenezer Baptist Church |
| | Ex-slave Lewis H. Bailey organized Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1883. It is one of the oldest African-American Baptist congregations in Easter Prince William County. The original church, built on this site in 1883–1884, was one of Occoquan’s first churches. Fire destroyed it in 1923. The current cinder block church was built in 1924. — Map (db m2455) |
| Virginia (Prince William County), Occoquan — Ellicott’s Mill |
| | John Ballendine established this gristmill at the Occoquan Falls ca. 1755. By 1800 it was owned by Nathaniel Ellicott and housed machinery to unload grain from wagons or barges, grind it, and return it to its carrier. The building, the region’s first automated gristmill, burned in 1924. Only the Miller’s House, now the Mill House Museum, remains. — Map (db m2385) |
| Virginia (Prince William County), Occoquan — Methodist Church |
| | This brick, lancet-windowed church, built ca. 1925 is Occoquan’s second Methodist church. The first wood-frame church, located on Commerce St. behind the present structure, burned in the 1916 town fire. Besides its original tenants, other church congregations have used the building. It is currently Occoquan’s Town Hall. — Map (db m2383) |
| Virginia (Prince William County), Occoquan — Mill Street |
| | Mill Street has been Occoquan's commercial center since the early 1800s. The Alton Hotel, Taverns, a bank, a pharmacy, grocery and hardware stores, and other businesses served local residents and travelers on the main east coast north south highway. A 1916 fire destroyed many of these buildings. A number of structures in this area postdate the fire. — Map (db m2382) |
| Virginia (Prince William County), Occoquan — Occoquan River Bridges |
| | Occoquan founder Nathaniel Ellicott built the first bridge here c. 1800. The “Great Mail Route” from Washington to the south crossed here. In 1878 an iron Pratt Truss Bridge was erected. This bridge was on the main east coast north-south highway until 1928. Hurricane Agnes destroyed the bridge in 1972. Today’s foot bridge replaced it. — Map (db m2392) |
| Virginia (Prince William County), Occoquan — Occoquan Wharves |
| | Occoquan’s Public Wharf was here. This wharf and others at the Occoquan River’s highest navigable point were key to the 19th- and early 20th-century town’s porsperity. Ships were built, barges carried grain to Ellicott's Mill, and flour, logs, fish and ice were shipped downstream. Boats brought traveling shows and weekend Washington tourists. — Map (db m2367) |
| Virginia (Prince William County), Occoquan — Odd Fellows Hall |
| | Odd Fellows Crescent Lodge No. 3 erected this frame meeting hall in 1889. Volunteer Lodge members and a paid carpenter built it. The first floor was a public meeting room and theater. The Masons, American Legion, church congregations and other groups met there. Traveling actors staying at the Hammill Hotel performed on the stage. — Map (db m2416) |
| Virginia (Prince William County), Occoquan — Ogle Harris’ Store |
| | This c. 1900 house was Ogle Harris’ Store. Harris, son of a slave, first sold homemade ice cream from the house’s since-razed summer kitchen. In c. 1910 he moved his family from the building, which was then his residence, and began selling groceries, meat, and produce. Harris’ sons ran the grocery after he died. The store closed in 1972. — Map (db m5617) |
| Virginia (Prince William County), Occoquan — Old Hammill Hotel |
| | The three-story hotel, named for operator Edward Hammill, may be Occoquan’s first brick building. Tradition says it was built in 1804, but it likely dates from c. 1830. It was the Town’s premier inn. Confederate Col. Wade Hampton made it his headquarters in 1862. The 1916 town fire damaged the hotel. It was converted to apartments in 1942. — Map (db m2421) |
| Virginia (Prince William County), Occoquan — Rockledge |
| | John Ballendine built this finely proportioned Georgian House, “Rockledge,” in c. 1760. William Buckland, a premier colonial Chesapeake architect, reportedly designed it. “Rockledge” is a rare example of a Tidewater Virginia stone dwelling. Several entrepreneurs who sought to maximize Occoquan’s potential as a port and industrial town resided there. — Map (db m2384) |
| Virginia (Prince William County), Occoquan — The Dogue Indians |
| | The Dogues, an Algonquian tribe, occupied the Occoquan River Watershed in the early 1600s. In their dialect, Occoquan means “at the end of the water.” They lived in villages, hunted and fished, and raised corn, beans, squash, and tobacco. They departed as the English settled the area in the 1650s. Occoquan’s Town Seal commemorates the Dogues. — Map (db m2390) |
Subscribe
— Privacy Policy
— Terms of Use
— About Us
— Contact Us
HMdb.org