Two miles northeast, at Lodge, stood the Chambers Stamp Factory, owned by the same family for four generations. Founded in Washington, D.C., about 1830 by Benjamin Chambers, Sr., an engraver and inventor of a breech-loading cannon, the company . . . — — Map (db m293482) HM
The Rev. Paymus (Pyramus) Nutt, born into slavery, helped organize four African American churches in Northumberland County after the Civil War. In 1866 he co-founded First Baptist. Shiloh Baptist, established in 1867, called him to be its first . . . — — Map (db m99406) HM
The War of 1812. Impressment of Americans into British service and the violation of American ships were among the causes of America’s War of 1812 with the British, which lasted until 1815. Beginning in 1813, Virginians suffered from a British . . . — — Map (db m76405) HM
The Virginia General Assembly incorporated the Northumberland Academy in 1818. The school provided classical education for male students to prepare them for college or positions of leadership in the community. Because universal state funded . . . — — Map (db m22949) HM
Five miles northeast is the site of Northumberland House, built by the third Peter Presley, who was murdered in 1750. He was the last male descendant of the first William Presley, who settled there and who was a Burgess as early as 1647. Mantua, . . . — — Map (db m22715) HM
Richmond County. Area 204 Square Miles. Formed in 1692 from Old Rappahannock County, and named for the town of Richmond, Surrey, England. Sabine Hall and Mount Airy, noted old homes, are in this county.
Northumberland . . . — — Map (db m76410) HM
"Waterman" is a very old Word used to describe men who ferried passengers across English rivers like the Thames in London. We can only guess why it became associated with the Chesapeake Bay area. Perhaps early Northumberland settlers also ferried . . . — — Map (db m299458) HM
First Baptist Church, the earliest African American Baptist congregation in Northumberland County, originated in 1866 when black members of Coan Baptist Church began holding worship services at the home of Alexander Day. They later worshiped at . . . — — Map (db m176493) HM
On 5 Sept. 1791, Robert Carter III (1728-1804), one of the wealthiest men in the United States, filed a deed of manumission at the Northumberland County Courthouse. This document eventually freed more than 500 enslaved African Americans owned by . . . — — Map (db m99410) HM
The Rosenwald Schools
Following the Civil War, Jim Crow laws were passed to establish "separate but equal" schools for Black and White children. The few Black schools that were created proved woefully inadequate.
Julius Rosenwald and . . . — — Map (db m299464) HM
Hooray for Steamboats!
In the late 1800's, Northumberland County had few roads and fewer bridges. Whatever families wanted or needed was delivered by steamboats. Bats and balls for the baseball teams. Books and maps for the schools. . . . — — Map (db m299463) HM
John Heath was born on 8 May 1758 in Northumberland County. He attended William & Mary College and on 5 Dec. 1776, he and four of his classmates founded Phi Beta Kappa, a prestigious undergraduate honors organization. He became its first president. . . . — — Map (db m22550) HM
A tribute to those from Northumberland County who lost their lives in
Korean War
Ellis L. Deihl •
Levin F. Fisher •
Stewart C. Lewis, Jr. •
John M. Wildy •
Thomas B. Wootteon
Vietnam War
Hovey R. Curry •
William L. . . . — — Map (db m176496) WM
During the Civil War, it was too dangerous to travel to Baltimore to shop. If a woman wanted new straw hats for herself and her daughters, she had to get creative. The most practical substitute for straw was the corn-husk. If you have ever . . . — — Map (db m299460) HM
Originally known as Chickacoan, an Indigenous district located in Virginia's Northern Neck, this area was renamed Northumberland in 1648 by the Virginia General Assembly. — — Map (db m299420) HM
In memory of the soldiers of Northumberland who gave their lives for the cause of their native state and the South. This monument is erected by the Ladies Memorial Association of Northumberland County
Capt. R. H. Hall. •
Lieut. T. H. Cox. . . . — — Map (db m76413) WM
A contributing building to the designation of Heathsville as a historic district by the Commonwealth of Virginia and its placement on the National Register of Historic Places 1992 — — Map (db m176497) HM
This site first patented in 1663 was the site of the first courthouse built c.1681. The present courthouse built in 1851 is the third on this site. — — Map (db m76414) HM WM
Originally known as Hughlett’s Tavern, this building, located behind the courthouse, served visitors to court for more than 150 years. John Hughlett erected the original portion of the tavern before 1795. Griffin H. Foushee, who purchased it in . . . — — Map (db m22709) HM
Formed in 1653 as Chickacone Parish and renamed Fairfield in 1664. The upper part was known locally as Bowtracy Parish. When St. Stephen’s Parish was formed in 1698, Fairfield became its lower part and Bowtracy its upper part. — — Map (db m22706) HM
Our library owes its existence to three intrepid members of the Northumberland Junior Women's Club. In 1969, Chris Cogsdale, Kay Shirley and Patsy Basye decided our county needed a library. The trio sought out kindred spirits who donated books, . . . — — Map (db m299456) HM
Reedville was founded in 1874 by a transplant from New England, Elijah W. Reed. Captain Reed brought to local watermen a method of extracting oil from menhaden. Processed by the millions, the oil was used as a lubricant and in lighting—as whale . . . — — Map (db m299471) HM
Hannah got up sleepy-eyed every day at dawn to draw a bucket of water from the well. But as she left the house on the morning of November 13, 1833, she got the shock of her life. Hannah, sixteen-years-old and Black, ran screaming to her mistress: . . . — — Map (db m299461) HM
Benjamin Franklin Lewis designed and patented the crab pot, an invention that revolutionized the harvesting of blue crabs. He first started experimenting on the Yeocomico River, at his home in Harry Hogan in Northumberland County.
Of both . . . — — Map (db m299459) HM
★ ★ ★ We, the people of Northumberland County, as a lasting expression of our gratitude and affection have dedicated this memorial as a testimonial to the young men of this county who in a spirit of unselfish patriotism answered . . . — — Map (db m176498) WM
A tribute to those from Northumberland County who lost their lives in World War II
Hubert Banks •
S. Frederick Biddlecomb •
C. Campbell Brann •
Arthur Bryant •
J. Preston Bryant •
E. Hugh Cockrell •
Albert J. Crabbe •
Cecil . . . — — Map (db m176494) WM
On the hill is Morattico Church, organized in 1778, the mother Baptist church of the Northern Neck. The present building was erected in 1856. Lewis Lunsford, first pastor, is buried here. — — Map (db m24477) HM
Settled by Englishmen about 1640, Cherry Point
was later a childhood home of Mary Ball, the
mother of George Washington. In August 1814
American militia repulsed a British force there.
From the early 1800s to the 1940s, steamboats
plied the . . . — — Map (db m22531) HM
In 1868, Caroline Putnam (1826–1917) established a school for the children of former slaves here. In 1869, her lifelong friend, Sallie Holley (1818–1893) of N.Y., abolitionist and suffragette, purchased this two-acre site. Holley was an . . . — — Map (db m22532) HM
During the War of 1812, on 7 Aug. 1814 ten
British ships and smaller vessels appeared on
the Coan River, which flows into the Potomac.
The invaders sent three barges to capture
three American schooners situated within two
miles of . . . — — Map (db m22536) HM
One mile west stands Coan Baptist Church. The Congregation, first known as Wicomico Baptist Church, was organized on 17 November 1804. The members worshiped in each other’s houses until a frame building, Coan Meeting House, was moved to this site in . . . — — Map (db m22534) HM
In April, 2010, a small group of impassioned community members gathered together to discuss the future of Reedville's historic landmark, the 108 year-old Morris-Fisher Stack, which was rapidly deteriorating and in danger of being lost forever. . . . — — Map (db m176475) HM
The name: The boat's namesake spelled his name Claude. However, it is thought that when the boat was initially registered the "e" was inadvertently dropped and she has been Claud W. Somers ever since.
Speed capability: the fastest we have . . . — — Map (db m176472) HM
This brass propeller was donated by legendary menhaden fish boat captain, John B. Lowry. It was used used on his beloved fish boat, John O, a converted minesweeper. Captain Lowry fished from Long Island, NY to Beaufort, NC from the 1950s to the . . . — — Map (db m176468) HM
This artifact is a remnant of a Chesapeake Bay Log Canoe, so called because it was sharp at both ends, constructed from logs rather than planks, and was unique to the Chesapeake Bay. Such vessels, varying in length from 20 ft. to greater than 60 . . . — — Map (db m176473) HM
The boats in this pavilion and on campus represent one of the important themes of the Museum - life on the water. Each is an example of the small skiffs and larger work boats used in this area by local watermen. The vessels were used for multiple . . . — — Map (db m176485) HM
In 1865 a conservation law in Maryland was passed in an effort to preserve the dwindling oyster supply in the Chesapeake Bay. The law restricted oyster dredging to sailing vessels only, leading to the rise in popularity of the skipjack. In the . . . — — Map (db m299424) HM
The drive or striker boat was essential to the menhaden fishery before spotter planes came into use after World War II. The captain, mate and drive boatsman would spend the fishing day in the crows nest of the fishing vessel. When a school of . . . — — Map (db m176470) HM
The Elva C is a "deck boat," a design that contrasts with boats commonly seen now with larger open cockpits. While deckboats were primarily built for fishing pound and seine nets, they were often used in the off season as freight boats or to buy . . . — — Map (db m176471) HM
The Elva C was built in 1922 by Gilbert S. White in Westland, VA. near Windmill Point for Capt. Lee Abbot of Foxwells. NAmed after his daughter, Capt. Abbot used the Elva C for pound net fishing and freight until his retirement in the 1950's. She . . . — — Map (db m299423) HM
The Fannie is a 100-year-old traditional Chesapeake deadrise draketail built as a workboat by Charles Spencer in 1924 in Saint Michael's, Maryland and named for his daughter. She features a dolphin nose stern, often referred to as a Hooper's . . . — — Map (db m299425) HM
The Foggy River was built in 1961 at the Reedville Marine Railway for Charles Bowels by George P. Butler, the second of three generations to own and operate the railway. As is the custom at the shop, there were no plans on paper - just . . . — — Map (db m299422) HM
George M. Butler built this skiff in 1994 for a local customer. The similarities in design and construction between this skiff and the one built thirty-five years earlier by his father are obvious. With the exception of modern stainless fasteners . . . — — Map (db m176487) HM
George Pope Butler built this rowing skiff at the Reedville Railway about 1960 for a resident of Reedville. It was donated to the Museum by the original owner in 2016. A hallmark of Butler skiffs is the joinery, with tolerances so close that it . . . — — Map (db m176491) HM
Following paramount chief Opechancanough’s 1644 organized attacks against the English colonists for encroaching on Indian lands, Governor William Berkeley led further military strikes against the Virginia Indians in July 1645, taking many prisoners. . . . — — Map (db m46718) HM
Originally known as Northumberland County Training School, this institution opened in 1917, under principal John M. Ellison. Local African Americans raised more than $7,000 to build the school and received additional funding from the Rosenwald Fund. . . . — — Map (db m22954) HM
This stack was constructed around 1902 by the Morris-Fisher Co. At the time it was the largest commercial fish processing plant in the United States. In 2011, after years of weather and extensive lightning damage, the stack was restored under the . . . — — Map (db m97781) HM
This stack was constructed around 1902 by the Morris-Fisher Co. At the time it was the largest commercial fish processing plant in the United States. In 2011, after years of weather and extensive lightning damage, the stack was restored under the . . . — — Map (db m299426) HM
Elijah W. Reed, a New England ship captain, established the town in 1874 after building a factory here to process menhaden, a small bony fish rich in oil. Reedville soon became the center of the industry and home port to the Atlantic menhaden . . . — — Map (db m22959) HM
Until just after the middle of the twentieth century virtually every family living on or near the water had a boat of this type, often home built. They used it for transportation on the creeks, for hook and line fishing and for crabbing around the . . . — — Map (db m176490) HM
This skiff was the tender skiff for the Elva C which is the deck/pound net boat tied at the museum's dock.
She was built in 1972 by George Pope Butler at the Reedville Marine Railway, located on Main Street.
With the Elva C she was a . . . — — Map (db m176486) HM
The Lillian-B was designed and built by the volunteers of the Boat Shop at the Reedville Fisherman's Museum under the leadership of Jay Rohmann. This boat is a classic example of a traditional Chesapeake deadrise hull. This distinct type of . . . — — Map (db m176492) HM
The boat yard on Main Street in Reedville began operation in the late 1800s. In 1906, Samuel Obediah Butler, grandfather of the present owner, George M. Butler, bought the property with a partner. He became sole owner in 1920. There he and his son, . . . — — Map (db m176484) HM
The War of 1812. Impressment of Americans into British service and the violation of American ships were among the causes of America’s War of 1812 with the British, which lasted until 1815. Beginning in 1813, Virginians suffered from a British . . . — — Map (db m76404) HM
Boats of this type are used in the pound net industry. It is towed to the trap and one or several men use it to go inside the net that forms the pocket of the trap. Standing in this boat they pull the net up so that the fish are tightly contained. A . . . — — Map (db m176469) HM
