In 1992, the Borough of Stafford, England and Stafford, Virginia, Friendship Association was established in recognition of the close cultural and historical ties between the two communities. In 1994, this English Knot Garden was planted to celebrate . . . — — Map (db m76268) HM
Site Selection
In 1791, President George Washington (who was raised in Stafford County 10 miles south of this site at Ferry Farm) appointed three Commissioners to oversee construction of the new federal capital city (later named Washington, . . . — — Map (db m39788) HM
Utilized by Native Americans for millennia, and purchased by the federal government in 1791, Government Island's unique stone was used in the original construction of both the U.S. Capital and the White House. Aquia sandstone from this quarry was . . . — — Map (db m101338) HM
Named after the black schooner called The Crow that harbored off the peninsula in the mid-1800s, Crow's Nest Peninsula is one of the last great, undisturbed places in the mid-Atlantic area. With both a rich history and remarkable . . . — — Map (db m82309) HM
Approximately one mile east at the junction of U.S. Route 17 and U.S. Route 1 is the town of Falmouth, which was established at the falls of the Rappahannock River and incorporated in 1727. Although a small town, Falmouth was one of the most . . . — — Map (db m48761) HM
This modern road follows the route over which a mule-drawn wagon delivered the body of John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln's assassin, from Caroline County to Belle Plains for transport to the Navy Yard for an autopsy.
Below this location, . . . — — Map (db m171423) HM
Born in Maryland, Bryan and his family settled in the Stafford Courthouse area around 1869. He served as Deputy Clerk of Court from 1869-1871 and from 1877-1885. In 1887 he became Clerk of Court and served in that position until 1911. During his . . . — — Map (db m99449) HM
"For a few moments, silence prevailed. My master [Ellen] looked at me, and I at him, but neither of us dared to speak a word, for fear of making some blunder that would tend to our detection. we knew that the officers had the power to throw us in . . . — — Map (db m40130) HM
"I bounded across the Gang plank and concealed Myself for a while until the Steamer got off from the Wharf. I then came out and arrived Safe at 6th Street Wharf in Washington D.C. on the Night of September 1st, 1862 in a hard . . . — — Map (db m40131) HM
In 1647, Giles Brent established the first English settlement in this area along Aquia Creek. Nearly 50 years later, George Brent, Giles Brent’s nephew, became the island’s first documented owner. George purchased “…a small tongue or neck or . . . — — Map (db m39759) HM
Native American artifacts were recovered in various locations on Government Island. The largest concentration of artifacts was found overlooking Aquia Creek. a rare Clovis projectile point was found, indicating the Paleoindians were present in this . . . — — Map (db m39946) HM
Quarrying stone during the late 18th and early 19th centuries was very labor intensive. Stone quarried here was cut and shipped with the use of simple machines and animal power. Various workers were needed to extract the stone. A . . . — — Map (db m39751) HM
"In the forenoon the steamer reached Aquia Creek. There the passengers took stages — Burch and his five slaves occupying one exclusively. ...He told me to hold up my head and look smart. That I might, perhaps, get a good master if I behaved . . . — — Map (db m40129) HM
Crow's Nest Natural Area Preserve
Situated on a peninsula located between Accokeek and Potomac creeks in Stafford County, Crow’s Nest Natural Area Preserve contains extensive mature coastal plain hardwood forests and wetland communities. . . . — — Map (db m75975) HM
The crucifix by sculptor Georg J. Lober, erected in 1930, commemorates the first English Roman Catholic settlement in Virginia. Fleeing political and religious turmoil in Maryland, Giles Brent and his sisters Margaret and Mary established two . . . — — Map (db m2156) HM
The Green family was established in Virginia when Duff McFuff Green's great-great grandfather, Robert Green, settled in Orange County in 1710. Duff McDuff Green was born in Stafford county on 2 August 1832 to Capt. Duff Green and Elizabeth Ann Payne . . . — — Map (db m76690) HM
The waters of Neabsco Creek and Potomac Rivers have been home to people for over a thousand years. Some of the first to settle here were the Doeg tribe of the Algonquian Indians. The Doegs inhabited the area across the river and the modern counties . . . — — Map (db m308152) HM
Joseph Farmer Sanford was born in 1819, the son of Lawrence Sanford and Apphia Farmer in Stafford County, Virginia. In 1835, he married Agnes I. M. Crawford of Orange, Virginia. His early career was that of the keeper of the U.S. Hotel in . . . — — Map (db m293962) HM
The following three patriots are interred in Section OP. Lots 26. 106, and 214.
ELIJAH SMITH
Born on August 12, 1755, near Trenton, Hunterdon County. New Jersey. Died March 11, 1836 at age 80 in Illinois. Enlisted the first time in 1776 . . . — — Map (db m287414) HM WM
This land was the eastern most boundary of a 3,111 acre grant, known as Salisbury Plain, acquired by Henry Lee from Thomas 6th Lord Fairfax in 1725 when it was part of the Stafford County frontier. This area became Prince William County in 1730, . . . — — Map (db m4533) HM
Samuel Washington was the brother of George Washington, first President of the United States. Born in 1734, Samuel Washington served as Justice of the Peace, County Magistrate, County Sheriff, and parish vestryman in Stafford County, Virginia. . . . — — Map (db m132449) HM
[Side A:] Moncure Daniel Conway
Moncure Daniel Conway was born on March 17, 1832 in Stafford County, Virginia, the son of Walker Peyton and Margaret Daniel Conway. His father was a wealthy slaveholder and prominent state legislator and . . . — — Map (db m13651) HM
Army of Northern Virginia
General Robert E. Lee, Commander
Brigadier General W. N. Pendleton
Chief of Artillery
304 guns on the battlefield
Army of the Potomac
Major General A. E. Burnside, Commander
Brigadier General H. J. . . . — — Map (db m4135) HM
Four miles north is Eagle’s Nest, the seat of the Fitzhugh and Grymes families, and the core of a 17th-century plantation. Lawyer and planter William Fitzhugh I (165–1701), born in Bedford, England, immigrated to Virginia by 1674 and acquired . . . — — Map (db m2919) HM
Owner of the famed Hunter Iron Works in Stafford County, which manufactured most of the camp utensils and weapons for the Virginia forces during the Revolutionary War.
A true patriot, he received little, if any, compensation. — — Map (db m32392) HM
Strategically situated at the tip of a peninsula jutting into the Potomac River at Potomac Creek, Marlborough was established under the Town Act of 1691 as a river port town. It served as the county seat of Stafford County from 1691 until about . . . — — Map (db m2219) HM
John Peyton, son of Henry and Anne Peyton, was born in 1691 in Stafford County, Virginia.
During his lifetime, he was a magistrate for his county beginning in 1745 and served as representative in the House of Burgesses 1736-40 and 1757-58. His . . . — — Map (db m285953) HM
Twelfth Corps / Army of the Potomac, USA
Stafford County, Virginia
Circa 1863
National Historic Registry
February 2006
Virginia Historic Registry
DHR # 089-5057/44ST0082 — — Map (db m55988) HM
This pavilion honors Colonel Glenn Trimmer and Mr. D.P. Newton, two men who desired a park to honor the thousands of Union soldiers that encamped throughout Stafford County during the winter of 1863; a period many called their "Valley Forge." The . . . — — Map (db m286590) HM WM
1260-1300 A.D.
Per testimony of the Piscataway Tribe in 1660, they were allied with the Patawomeck and Susquehannock Tribes under the leader, Uttapoingassinem, who had come from Eastern Shore. The Patawomecks were later part of the Powhatan . . . — — Map (db m193702) HM
On the trail to the right of the picnic area beyond this sign are the remains of a late 18th and early 19th century sandstone quarry. Archaeological reports on this site noted that stone quarried here was loaded onto scows or shallow boats and taken . . . — — Map (db m65228) HM
Bailey Anderson was born in Stafford County, VA about 1760. He moved with his parents John and Sarah (Carney) Anderson to the Newberry district of South Carolina, at 21. He was in the Revolutionary Army, and during the next 11 years saw service in . . . — — Map (db m223879) HM
Moving an army in 1781 wasn't easy. It took hundreds of wagons and ships to move the French and American armies from New York to Virginia in an attempt to trap the British under General Cornwallis at Yorktown. Crossing Prince William County, the . . . — — Map (db m285397) HM
Stafford Deputy Jason Edward Mooney served his community and his country during his short life. He was a 2002 graduate of Colonial Forge High School where he was a member of the school band and played football and baseball. He worked as a deputy . . . — — Map (db m216705) HM
You are now standing inside the perimeter of what was once a Union 11th Corps winter camp. Soldiers not only camped and drilled here, but also built roads and fortifications in and around this park. Since the Civil War, the majority of Stafford’s . . . — — Map (db m70397) HM
Northumberland County. Area 205 square miles. Originally an Indian district called Chicacoan. In 1648 it became Northumberland County, named for an English county. The mouth of the Potomac River is here.
Westmoreland . . . — — Map (db m22471) HM
Following its defeat at Fredericksburg in December 1862, the Union Army of the Potomac spent the winter in Stafford County. Across the Rappahannock River, Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia kept a defensive position that covered a 25-mile . . . — — Map (db m295201) HM
Across the road stands White Oak Church, an important Civil War landmark during the winter of 1862-1863. Stafford County Baptist constructed the simple weatherboard structure sometime after 1789, later adding an attached shed with a separate . . . — — Map (db m4254) HM
The Principio Company constructed the Accokeek Iron Furnace nearby about 1726 on land leased from Augustine Washington (father of George Washington), who became a partner. After Washington’s death in 1743, his son Lawrence inherited his interest in . . . — — Map (db m2261) HM
“Fredericksburg is a captured town, the enemy took possession of the Stafford Hills … and their guns have frowned down upon us ever since… The Federal army has abolished slavery wherever it has gone.”
— Jane Beale,
a . . . — — Map (db m32388) HM
Beloved artist, teacher, husband, father, community leader, and friend.
Known for his stunning abstracts, landscapes, and sensitively rendered figural paintings, Johnson was a respected member of Fredericksburg's arts community and won . . . — — Map (db m242245) HM
The sandstone blocks used to make these benches were excavated during archaeological investigations in the park in 2019—one of a series of studies that have helped to clarify the history and use of Fredericksburg's historic riverfront. During the . . . — — Map (db m217527) HM
Conway House was the home of Moncure Conway who freed himself from the dogmas of his culture and became an abolitionist. He is the only descendent of one of our nation’s Founding Fathers to actively lead escaping slaves to freedom, thereby . . . — — Map (db m23147) HM
Organized in June 1825 by the Winchester Presbytery as Yellow Chapel Church, the brick church was constructed between 1857 and 1859. It became Hartwood Presbyterian Church in 1868. During the Civil War an engagement took place here on 25 Feb. 1863. . . . — — Map (db m122067) HM
Stafford Training School, later known as H. H. Poole School, was constructed in 1939 by
the Public Works Administration after African American parents raised money to buy the
land. During the segregation era, this was the only school in Stafford . . . — — Map (db m78074) HM
Here is Aquia Church, the church of Overwharton Parish, formed before 1680 by the division of Potomac Parish. It was built in 1757, on the site of an earlier church, in the rectorship of Reverend John Moncure, who was the parish minister from 1738 . . . — — Map (db m225813) HM
Thin black lines indicate changes in relevance. Between each pair of lines entries are ordered geographically but all have the same relevance.
* Inflectional forms of words are their plurals, singulars, and possessives as well as gramatical tenses and similar variations.
