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.
Near North Fairfax Street south of Cameron Street, on the right when traveling north.
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
Near Red Hill Road (County Route 677) 1.2 miles south of Patrick Henry Road, on the right when traveling south.
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
Near Red Hill Road (County Route 677) 1.2 miles south of Patrick Henry Road, on the right when traveling south.
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
On Westbury Farm Road 0.2 miles north of Shirley Plantation Road, on the right when traveling south.
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
On Westover Road (Virginia Route 633) 1.9 miles east of Harrison Landing Road, on the left when traveling south.
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
Near Red Hill Road (County Route 677) 1 mile Staunton Hill Road (County Route 619).
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
On Red Hill Road at Staunton Hill Road (County Route 619) on Red Hill Road.
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
On Raccoon Ford Road (Virginia Route 617) 0.5 miles south of Algonquin Trail ( Route 647), on the left when traveling south.
... 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
Near Chiswell Lane 0.2 miles north of Scotchtown Road, on the right when traveling north.
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
Near Chiswell Lane 0.2 miles north of Scotchtown Road, on the right when traveling north.
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
Near Hanover Courthouse Road (U.S. 301) at County Complex Road.
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
Near Hanover Courthouse Road (U.S. 301) at County Complex Road.
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
Near Hanover Courthouse Road (U.S. 301) at Library Drive.
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
On Rural Point Road (Virginia Route 643) at Pine Slash Road, on the right when traveling north on Rural Point Road.
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
Near Rural Point Road (County Route 643) at Heatherwood Drive ( Route 1750).
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
Near Studley Road (Virginia Route 606) 0.1 miles west of Shelton Pointe Drive, on the left when traveling west.
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
On Studley Farms Drive (Virginia Route 700) 0.4 miles south of Studley Road ( Route 606), on the left when traveling south.
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
On Belle Grove Drive 0.2 miles west of James Madison Parkway (U.S. 301), on the right when traveling west.
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
On James Madison Highway (U.S. 15) 0.2 miles north of West Green Sprongs Road, on the right when traveling north.
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
On Jefferson Highway (U.S. 33) 0.1 miles west of Cross County Road (U.S. 522), on the right when traveling west.
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
Near Mill Point Road (Virginia Route 669) 0.2 miles north of Cricket Hill Road ( Route 223), on the left when traveling east.
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
On Sago Road 0.5 miles north of Callands Road ( Route 57), on the right when traveling north.
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
On College Road (County Route 692) 0.3 miles south of Five Forks Road (County Route 658), on the right when traveling south.
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
On Cameron Street west of Duke Street, on the right when traveling west.
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
On Mill Street west of Ellicott Street, on the right when traveling west.
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
On North 9th Street at East Marshall Street, on the left when traveling north on North 9th Street.
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
On South Wilton Road 0.1 miles south of Kenmore Road, on the left when traveling south.
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
