Woodlawn Historic Landscapes

Woodlawn Historic Landscapes. . In prehistory, nomadic groups hunted and forage here. Under English rule, the land was privatized, with ownership rights granted by royal authority. George Washington bought the Chapel Lands after 1760. He bequeathed this tract and his Dogue Run Farm, where he used slave labor to cultivate wheat and other crops, to Lawrence and Eleanor Lewis, who continued farming in this fashion. , , After 1846, timber became Woodlawn’s primary resource. The new owners employed only free labor, and Woodlawn became the core of a thriving integrated community. As timber was cut for shipbuilding, cleared lots were sold to black and white families alike. Woodlawn was transformed from a large plantation owned by one family into a farming community owned by many families tied to the land by shared work and heritage. , , Twentieth Century owners reinterpreted the mansion’s landscape as decorative gardens, a romantic vison of the past. The National Trust for Historic preservation recognizes the contributions of many people who shaped and were shaped by this landscape during the past two centuries, and maintains it as a legacy for the enjoyment of the community and future generations.