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

Sully Historic Site

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), January 26, 2019

1. Sully Historic Site Marker

Inscription.
The history of the house built at Sully by Richard Bland Lee in 1794 intertwines closely with that of northern Virginia. Surrounded today by acres of grassy fields, the house and its various owners witnessed many changes during the centuries.

Sully was a well-established farm when the American Civil War brought social and economic upheaval to the region in 1861. By the mid-1900s, Sully had evolved from a working farm to a country retreat.

Locating Dulles International Airport just across Route 28 threatened to destroy the house and its outbuildings. Local citizens, led by Eddie Wagstaff, partnered with the Fairfax County Park Authority to save the historic property in 1959.

Nowadays, visitors to Sully Historic Site are able to step back in time to a slower way of life, and enjoy tours showcasing Sully's architecture, historic furnishings, and garden of heirloom plants.

Sully's Federal-style house was built in 1794. Many of its building materials were shipped in from Philadelphia. The distinctive red fieldstone used in the construction of several of its outbuildings was quarried nearby.

Richard Bland Lee, the builder of Sully, was Virginia's first representative to the newly formed U.S. Congress. In the late 1790s, he supported moving the federal government from Philadelphia

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to a site alongside the Potomac River. Lee and his wife, Elizabeth Collins Lee, left Sully in 1811. They spent their later years in the nation's new capital—Washington City, District of Columbia—just 30 miles east of Sully.

Erected by Fairfax County Park Authority.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Air & Space • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1794.

Location. 38° 54.881′ N, 77° 25.5′ W. Marker is near Chantilly, Virginia, in Fairfax County. It is at the intersection of Historic Sully Way and Air and Space Museum Parkway, on the right when traveling south on Historic Sully Way. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 3450 Historic Sully Way, Herndon VA 20171, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Washington Metropolitan Area

and in Northern Virginia.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

and in the Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Richard Bland Lee: Gentleman Farmer (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Clover Hill (approx. 0.3 miles away); "Loudoun Branch" of the Historic Manassas Gap Railroad (approx. 0.4 miles away); a different marker also named An 18th Century Enslaved Community at Sully (approx. half a mile away); Richard Bland Lee Served His Country (approx. half a mile away); The Sully Farms (approx.

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), January 26, 2019

2. Sully Historic Site Marker

half a mile away); Excavating a 19th century Tenant Structure (approx. 0.6 miles away); Old Barn and Other Farm Buildings (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Chantilly.

Another marker is no longer nearby. An 18th Century Enslaved Community at Sully (was approx. half a mile away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).