Near Stafford in Stafford County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Aquia Landing
Photographed By Shane Oliver, March 5, 2022
1. Aquia Landing Marker
Marker text was slightly changed in 2016.
Inscription.
Aquia Landing. . The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad was extended to its terminus here at Aquia Landing in 1846. By steamboat and railroad, travelers from Washington, D.C., to Richmond could complete in 9 hours a journey that took 38 hours by stagecoach. In May-June 1861, Confederate batteries at Aquia Landing exchanged fire with Union gunboats. The first use of nautical mines ("torpedoes") in the Civil War occurred here on 7 July 1861 against the U.S.S. Pawnee. After the Confederates abandoned the site in 1862, the Union army built new wharves and storage buildings. The army burned them in 1863, when it pursued the Confederates into Pennsylvania. The railroad was extended across Aquia Creek in 1872.
The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad was extended to its terminus here at Aquia Landing in 1846. By steamboat and railroad, travelers from Washington, D.C., to Richmond could complete in 9 hours a journey that took 38 hours by stagecoach. In May-June 1861, Confederate batteries at Aquia Landing exchanged fire with Union gunboats. The first use of nautical mines ("torpedoes") in the Civil War occurred here on 7 July 1861 against the U.S.S. Pawnee. After the Confederates abandoned the site in 1862, the Union army built new wharves and storage buildings. The army burned them in 1863, when it pursued the Confederates into Pennsylvania. The railroad was extended across Aquia Creek in 1872.
Erected 1994 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number J-92.)
Location. 38° 23.001′ N, 77° 19.205′ W. Marker is near Stafford, Virginia, in Stafford County. Marker is on Brooke Road
Click or scan to see this page online
(County Route 608), on the right. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2846 Brooke Rd, Brooke VA 22430, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Since this picture was taken in February 2007, the marker disappeared and has since been replaced.
Photographed By Kevin White, August 29, 2007
3. Aquia Landing
Aquia Landing is now a county park. Note that between February and August 2007, the marker disappeared. Directly across the street from the Aquia Landing sign, near the tree, you can see its telltale post in this August 2007 photo.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 22, 2022. It was originally submitted on November 19, 2007, by Kevin W. of Stafford, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,751 times since then and 25 times this year. Photos:1. submitted on May 23, 2022, by Shane Oliver of Richmond, Virginia. 2. submitted on January 14, 2008. 3. submitted on August 29, 2007, by Kevin W. of Stafford, Virginia.