Mount Vineyard

Mount Vineyard. . , On this site in 1798 Richard and Locian Bolling Ratcliffe began construction of the family mansion, probably a typical southern mansion for the time. To the east of the mansion they established a two acre family burial plot., Between 1798 and 1801, while the boundaries of the new nation's capital were sorted out, Fairfax officials scouted locations for a new county seat. In 1799, Richard Ratcliffe offered to convey four acres one half mile east of the new mansion to the county for $1. The county accepted and the new courthouse was completed in 1800., Richard with his son Robert, then county surveyor, platted a new town on the edge of the courthouse lot with seven 50-foot wide streets and 19 lots. He returned Lot 1, where he built a brick tavern. Ricahrd continued to promote the region. In 1805, Richard Ratcliffe petitioned the Virginia General Assembly to establish the Town of Providence at Fairfax Court House. In 1819 Richard's youngest son Charles moved to Mount Vineyard South, probably in the former Ratcliffe home at what is now Kamp Washington., In 1825, Richard died at Mount Vineyard and was likely buried in the family burial plot. Richard's 1815 Will devised the 600 acre Mount Vineyard estate to Charles and town lots to his daughters. In 1829, Charles sold Mount Vineyard with the exception of the family burial ground which is still owned by his descendants. The original Mount Vineyard Mansion was destroyed by fire in 1872 and replaced with a smaller house. The original town became part of the City of Fairfax in 1961.