Road to Revolution Heritage Trail Historical Markers
Administered by Civil War Trails, Inc., in collaboration with the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission, the Road to Revolution (R2R) trail expands on what was originally a series of markers specifically charting Patrick Henry's life in Virginia. Using a combination of text and imagery with a newly standardized format, these markers present the Virginia landscape's oft-overlooked Revolutionary roots to the explorer.
Resolved that the most important and
valuable Part of the British Constitution,
upon which it's very Existence depends, is the fundamental Principle of the
People's being governed by no Laws, to
which they have not given their Consent,
by . . . — — Map (db m267751) HM
Long Island Plantation
A 600-acre island and 1,906-acre adjoining estate on the Staunton River. Purchased by Patrick Henry from Richard Henry Lee in 1792 and worked by 31 enslaved persons.
Green Hill Ferry
Samuel Pannell, a neighbor . . . — — Map (db m306913) HM
You are now standing in the heart of what was once a 3,000 acre plantation known as Red Hill. After three decades of public service, Patrick Henry, the “Voice of the Revolution”, retired here, which he regarded as “one of the garden spots of the . . . — — Map (db m306916) HM
At Historic Shirley, Charles Carter - one of the wealthiest men in colonial America - chose to stand with the Americans. His grand estate, positioned strategically between Richmond and Malvern Hill on the James River, transformed into a crucial . . . — — Map (db m312205) HM
In 1777 William Byrd III died, leaving Mary Willing Byrd, his second wife, a widow in the middle of the Revolutionary War. Now the difficult task of setting her husband's estate and insuring her children's inheritance fell to her. Managing an estate . . . — — Map (db m312139) HM
After three decades of public service, Patrick Henry retired in 1794 to Red Hill plantation in Charlotte County, which he regarded as "one of the garden spots of the world." He purchased the 700-acre estate and simple story-and-half house in 1794 . . . — — Map (db m128698) HM
One mile to the south is Red Hill, Patrick Henry’s last home and burial place. The marble stone covering his grave carries the simple inscription, “His fame his best epitaph.”
Henry came here in 1794 and died at his beloved Red Hill . . . — — Map (db m65398) HM
... Thence to Raccoon Ford on the Rapidan where we joined General Wayne's Forces.
Darius O'Neil was born in 1764, and was a resident of Culpeper, Virginia.
On June 10, 1781, 800 Pennsylvania Continental soldiers, led by "Mad" Anthony . . . — — Map (db m303346) HM
It is January 18, 1773. Peering out of the window in front of you, Patrick Henry sits at his desk and tends to correspondence, contradictions swirling in his mind. He is writing to Robert Pleasants, a Quaker and abolitionist, lamenting about the . . . — — Map (db m281423) HM
Scotchtown, March 1775. Patrick Henry paces the grounds of his estate in the cool morning air, seeking peace and answers. He has reached an emotional climax of anguish, anger, and unyielding frustration. Sarah Henry, his wife, is dead after a long . . . — — Map (db m281426) HM
Hanover County was organized in 1720 and named for George I, King of England and former elector of Hanover in Germany. Seventeen years later (between 1737 and 1738), construction of the courthouse structure began and was completed in 1743. The . . . — — Map (db m32691) HM
In December 1763, the Historic Hanover Courthouse was the site of the famous Parsons’ Cause, an opening salvo of the American Revolution. During the Parsons’ Cause trial, Patrick Henry voiced one of the first American objections to denial of the . . . — — Map (db m32692) HM
Hanover Tavern was an essential part of the county courthouse complex during the 18th and 19th centuries, serving as the center of social life. For people living on large farms and plantations, whose closest neighbors could live miles away, taverns . . . — — Map (db m32693) HM
Upon Patrick Henry’s marriage to Sarah Shelton in 1754, he received for her dowry a 300-acre tract of land and six slaves. Like many Virginians with small farms, Henry labored in the fields with his slaves. Much of the soil at Pine Slash had been . . . — — Map (db m46754) HM
From Virginia’s founding until the American Revolution 170 years later, the Anglican Church was the only state recognized religion. The government built the churches and the parsonages and paid the clergy with tax money. All other religious groups . . . — — Map (db m32679) HM
Rural Plains, home of the Shelton family for nearly three centuries, stands on the northern bank of Totopotomoy Creek. Eighteen-year-old Patrick Henry married Sarah Shelton in 1754. Family tradition places the wedding ceremony in the first floor . . . — — Map (db m35014) HM
Only archaeological remnants of Studley survive today, but in the 18th century this was the site of an impressive two-story brick house. Studley was built by John Syme in the 1720s for his wife Sarah Winston. After his death, she married John Henry. . . . — — Map (db m46775) HM
This ground was trod upon by some of the most compelling figures of the American Revolution, including presidents George Washington and James Madison. But ordinary heroes made their contributions to independence here too, including Madison's mother, . . . — — Map (db m315749) HM
Early on the morning of June 4, 1781, John "Jack" Jouett Jr. galloped up the road behind you, veering left on West Green Springs Rd. Just four hours after leaving the tavern in Cuckoo on the eastern side of Louisa County, he passed by this point . . . — — Map (db m293326) HM
Late on the night of June 3, 1781, John "Jack" Jouett Jr. emerged from the tavern that once stood behind you, jumped on his horse Sally, and began his midnight ride to save Thomas Jefferson and Virginia's legislature from British capture. . . . — — Map (db m298075) HM
You are standing in the lower artillery battery where 6- & 9-pound cannon fired on Lord Dunmore, the last Royal Governor of Virginia, on July 9, 1776, driving him from Virginia soil for good.
Dunmore, along with British marines, Loyalists, and . . . — — Map (db m309535) HM
You are facing what is believed to be the original courthouse of Pittsylvania County. Here, on January 26, 1775, county residents gathered to elect a Committee of Inspection (later redesignated Committee of Safety)— a momentous step toward . . . — — Map (db m299876) HM
When Samuel Stanhope Smith, our first president, named the College after English anti-Royalists, he clearly agreed with Patrick Henry’s revolutionary vision. Thus it was logical that Henry should be elected a Founding Trustee in November 1775, . . . — — Map (db m54480) HM
One of the first resolves in Virginia was passed here in Dumfries, the Prince William County seat, on June 6, 1774. Six months earlier, the events of the Boston Tea Party took place, and the British Parliament closed the port of Boston. Angry . . . — — Map (db m248317) HM
In 1781 the Prince William County militia was called out again—but this time to take picks and shovels instead of muskets.
Unlike earlier call-ups when they marched to join the Continental army in Pennsylvania or North Carolina, this time . . . — — Map (db m305542) HM
The John Marshall House
The John Marshall House was the Richmond home of “the Great Chief Justice” from 1790 to 1835. The longest serving Chief Justice to date, Marshall was known as the “definer of the Constitution" and a shaper of the . . . — — Map (db m114376) HM
St. John’s Church symbolizes the foundations of our republic and the founding ideal of liberty. Here, Patrick Henry’s masterful argument summoned Americans toward independence with the immortal words, “Give me liberty or give me death” . . . — — Map (db m32695) HM
Wilton, an impressive example of Colonial American architecture and celebrated for its fully paneled interiors, was built c. 1753 for William Randolph Ill and his wife Anne Carter Harrison Randolph, both members of politically active families. This . . . — — Map (db m86726) HM
