Explorer is a full scale replica of the boat Captain John Smith used to explore and map Chesapeake Bay 1607-1608. The boat was built by the Deltaville Maritime Museum as a community project to help Jamestown celebrate her 400th birthday in . . . — — Map (db m97222) HM
Early Compass Rose
The compass rose originated around 1200 AD. It evolved from the wind rose, a device that used a wind vane and card with a rose-like design to indicated wind direction. The compass was born when first a lodestone, then a . . . — — Map (db m97219) HM
The vessel and wagon you see before you are a representation of an idea by one of the most illustrious military men to fight in Middlesex County during the Civil War, John Taylor Wood. The grandson of Zachery Taylor and the nephew of Jefferson . . . — — Map (db m97218) HM
Built in 1924 in Seaford, VA by Alex Gaines and John Smith
This historic vessel is the last largest log boat built for power.
The Deltaville Maritime Museum, with John England as project manager, is restoring the “Crockett” for the . . . — — Map (db m59626) HM
(panel 1)
Fish Story
Nearby Stingray Point was named for a fish that almost killed John Smith in July 1608. After running aground in the sandy flats near the point, the explorers speared fish with their swords as they waited for . . . — — Map (db m97223) HM
A gaff-rigged flagpole
The flagpole you see before you is a gaff-rigged with a yardarm or crosstree. The pole is 40 feet tall and 8 inches in diameter at its base. It sits in a 12 inch by 48 inch steel flagpole ground sleeve buried . . . — — Map (db m97217) HM
Oysters were originally harvested by the Powhatan or colonist by wading into the water and picking them up off the oyster bar, but as the number of people eating the oysters increased, boats were needed to collect them from bars farther out into the . . . — — Map (db m97220) HM
Capt. John Smith led two exploratory voyages in Chesapeake Bay during the summer of 1608. His boat ran aground at the mouth of the Rappahannock River three miles east, on 17 July. While awaiting high tide to float the vessel, he and his men impaled . . . — — Map (db m26571) HM
Built 1717, this was the second lower chapel of Christ Church Parish, Middlesex County. It occupies the site of the first lower chapel of this parish, built before 1661 as the church of Piankatank Parish. Bartholomew Yates was the first minister of . . . — — Map (db m14109) HM
In Aug. 1863, Confederate Navy Lt. John Taylor Wood, moving overland with boarding cutters carried on modified wagons and a contingent of 82 men, embarked on an expedition to attack Union ships. At Wilton Creek, Wood and his men repulsed forces from . . . — — Map (db m74703) HM
Eight miles east, where the Rappahannock River joins Chesapeake Bay. Near there, in June, 1608, Captain John Smith, the explorer, was hurt by a stingray while fishing in the river. The point took its name from this incident. — — Map (db m26572) HM
This church was constituted in 1772 by the noted baptist preacher, John Waller. The first building stood on the old Glebe overlooking the Rappahannock river; hence the name Glebe Landing. The present building was erected in 1839. — — Map (db m2976) HM
Middlesex County Area 146 square miles Formed in 1673 from Lancaster, and named for an English County. Rosegill frequented by Colonial Governors, is here.
Essex County Area 258 square milesFormed in 1691 . . . — — Map (db m7494) HM
Walking straight into the mouth of early death facing superior enemy fire power and while greatly outnumbered, this soldier displayed courage and valor, above and beyond the call of duty. His act of conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity occurred May . . . — — Map (db m14112) HM
Half a mile east is Christ Church, Middlesex. The first building was erected about 1666; the present one in 1712. About 1840 the church was restored. The colonial governor, Sir Henry Chicheley, is buried there. — — Map (db m27001) HM
To commemorate the valor and patriotism of the men, and the devotion and sacrifice of the women of Middlesex in defense of their liberties and their homes. — — Map (db m14111) HM
In 1849, the county seat of Middlesex was moved from Urbanna to Saluda. Engineer John P. Hill completed the present courthouse in 1852. During the Civil War, Federal cavalrymen stationed in Yorktown made several excursions through the county. Court . . . — — Map (db m14110) HM
The resistance of Irene Morgan (1917-2007) to segregation led to an important court case. On 16 July 1944, Morgan refused to give up her seat on a Greyhound bus to a white passenger. After a struggle with Middlesex County sheriffs she was arrested. . . . — — Map (db m74700) HM
Two miles to the north, in the colonial port of entry of Urbanna, is a restored eighteenth century storehouse. Scottish merchants became active commercial factors in the colony subsequent to the Act of Union of England and Scotland. Urbanna was . . . — — Map (db m26861) HM
In Christ Churchyard immediately to the north lies buried Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell Puller, USMC. He led Marines in 19 campaigns from Haiti and Nicaragua through the Korean War, receiving 53 decorations and the admiration and affection of . . . — — Map (db m26976) HM
Every week for more than thirty years Dr. David Buell Nichols made the voyage from Hummel Field in Middlesex County to Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay to administer health care to those in need. For an island with no resident doctor, the sound . . . — — Map (db m99413) HM
(panel 1)
Smith's Snapshot
The semi-permanent nature of their towns reflected the highly sustainable lifestyle of Virginia’s Indians. They located towns next to waterways, in places with the best soils. As farming depleted . . . — — Map (db m97249) HM
As you look toward the water, you are viewing a historical landscape. The houses in front of you weren't here 250 years ago, but the Customs House - the building across the street to your left - would have been. Imagine what this place was like back . . . — — Map (db m26632) HM
Here in the garden of Lansdowne was buried Arthur Lee, 1740-1792. The youngest son of Thomas Lee of Stratford. He was graduated in medicine at Edinburgh in 1764 and practiced briefly at Williamsburg, but his zeal for the cause of the American . . . — — Map (db m33887) HM
in 1678, Christopher Robinson purchased 300 acres here that became Hewick, the Virginia seat of the Robinson family. Robinson’s distinguished service to Virginia began as the clerk of Middlesex County Court from 1677 to 1688. He was elected to the . . . — — Map (db m27178) HM
Born in Lancaster County on 13 Apr. 1711, John Mitchell studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and in 1734 opened a practice of medicine here in Urbanna. In 1746, he moved to London, where he published his Map of the British and French . . . — — Map (db m26575) HM
In 1763 Ralph Wormeley III of Rosegill sold this house to James Mills, a Scottish merchant. In 1791 Arthur Lee bought it and 1,000 adjacent acres to be his home in retirement. Lee named this estate Landsdowne in honor of his friend, William . . . — — Map (db m27015) HM
This building served as the Middlesex County courthouse from 1748 to 1852. Although much altered from its original appearance, it is one of Virginia’s rare colonial courthouse buildings. During the American Revolution, the local Committee of Safety . . . — — Map (db m27011) HM
Traditionally known as the Old Tobacco Warehouse. Built 1766 by James Mills, Scottish merchant. First used as a store and/or warehouse.Owned and authentically restored by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. — — Map (db m26605) HM
In 1608, Capt. John Smith mapped Opiscopank near here as an Indian town where a chief lived. Oddly, his narratives did not mention visiting the town or how he learned about it. In 1649, Ralph Wormeley patented 3,200 acres here that included . . . — — Map (db m74697) HM
This historical landscape hasn't really changed in the past 250 years. The Factor Store has gone through many transitions from a tobacco inspection facility and general store, to private homes, to the Urbanna Library and, finally, to the museum you . . . — — Map (db m26631) HM
A short distance east is Rosegill. The house was built about 1650 by the first Ralph Wormeley; it became the summer home of the colonial governors, Sir Henry Chicheley and Lord Howard of Effingham. In 1776, the owner, the fifth Ralph Wormeley, was . . . — — Map (db m27005) HM
Sandwich, circa 1754, is registered as a Virginia Historic Landmark and placed on the National Register of Historic Places. 2008. — — Map (db m26858) HM
The quiet landscape you see today was once teeming with activity.
There was a garden behind the store that provided vegetables for home use and possibly for sale or trade. There was a larger garden area as well, which was probably tended by . . . — — Map (db m26606) HM
Nearby, in the garden of Lansdowne, was buried Arthur Lee, 1740-1792, the youngest son of Thomas Lee of Stratford. Early in 1776 he secretly obtained the original grant of French military supplies for the Continental Army, which made possible the . . . — — Map (db m33886) HM
In Colonial Virginia, tobacco was money - a product in high demand in England. Acts were passed providing for the inspection of tobacco to ensure quality and to make sure that correct payments were made for its sale and purchase.
All tobacco . . . — — Map (db m26630) HM
First known as Nimcock Creek, this creek was mentioned in a legislative act of 1680 as “Wormley’s Creek.” After the town of Urbanna was named in 1705 for Queen Anne, the stream was given the same name. British privateersmen entered the . . . — — Map (db m27009) HM
Three miles east is Hewick, built about 1678 by Christopher Robinson, Clerk of Middlesex County. It was the birthplace of John Robinson, Speaker of the House of Burgesses and Treasurer of Virginia, 1738-1766, the leading man of the colony. — — Map (db m7514) HM
RSS Feed