Near Arrington in Nelson County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Oak Ridge Estate
Photographed By Laura Troy, July 24, 2008
1. Oak Ridge Estate Marker
Inscription.
Oak Ridge Estate. . About two miles east is Oak Ridge, a 4,800-acre estate first patented in the 1730s. Robert Rives (1764-1845), a tobacco planter and international trader, built his house there in 1802. In 1867, William Porcher Miles (1822-1899), a former Confederate congressman, acquired the plantation. Nelson County native and Wall Street financier Thomas Fortune Ryan (1851-1928) purchased Oak Ridge in 1901 and transformed it into a country estate. He remodeled Rives's Federal farmhouse into a Colonial Revival mansion and built some 80 structures, including schools, a telephone company building, a movie theater, and stables for Ryan's 200 Thoroughbreds. A Crystal Palace-style greenhouse, a racetrack, and a private railroad station are among 50 surviving structures.
About two miles east is Oak Ridge, a 4,800-acre estate first patented in the 1730s. Robert Rives (1764-1845), a tobacco planter and international trader, built his house there in 1802. In 1867, William Porcher Miles (1822-1899), a former Confederate congressman, acquired the plantation. Nelson County native and Wall Street financier Thomas Fortune Ryan (1851-1928) purchased Oak Ridge in 1901 and transformed it into a country estate. He remodeled Rives's Federal farmhouse into a Colonial Revival mansion and built some 80 structures, including schools, a telephone company building, a movie theater, and stables for Ryan's 200 Thoroughbreds. A Crystal Palace-style greenhouse, a racetrack, and a private railroad station are among 50 surviving structures.
Erected 1996 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number R-57.)
Location. 37° 42.964′ N, 78° 54.549′ W. Marker is near Arrington, Virginia, in Nelson County. Marker
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is on Thomas Nelson Highway (U.S. 29) south of Oak Ridge Road (County Route 653), on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Arrington VA 22922, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Marker is next to the Birthplace of Rives marker and the Oak Ridge Road is on the right in the photo.
Credits. This page was last revised on September 19, 2023. It was originally submitted on August 14, 2008, by Laura Troy of Burke, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,931 times since then and 125 times this year. Photos:1. submitted on August 14, 2008, by Laura Troy of Burke, Virginia. 2. submitted on August 6, 2016, by Forest McDermott of Masontown, Pennsylvania. • Craig Swain was the editor who published this page.