Fredericksburg has experienced floods since its earliest settlement. The Rappahannock River originates 77 miles to the west, in a mountain spring, and the upriver watershed drains a very large expanse. By the time is passes Fredericksburg, the . . . — — Map (db m90971) HM
On this site, the Fredericksburg Area Veteran's Council honors the local men and women who gave their lives in wars and military actions during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
The extension of George Street to a new high school cut . . . — — Map (db m64223) HM
Historic preservation does not freeze time, but makes visible the ongoing changes within a community. While many architectural details remain intact, most of the street-level storefronts are different today than they were in the 1920s, and . . . — — Map (db m148078) HM
Beginning in 1829, the Rappahannock Company constructed a series of dams and canals along the river, to transport bulk cargo. Gold had been found in Spotsylvania County in 1806 and a canal could bring heavy equipment and other materials to the . . . — — Map (db m95304) HM
"We marched past the court-house, —past churches, schools, bank-buildings, private houses, —all lighted for hospital purposes, and all in use, though a part of the wounded had been transferred across the river. Even the door-yards had . . . — — Map (db m148064) HM
During the December 13, 1862 battle, thousands of wounded Union soldiers were crowded into Fredericksburg's houses and churches, including the Presbyterian Church across the street from you. During that period, Clara Barton, the future founder of . . . — — Map (db m148062) HM
In the aftermath of the Civil War, many formerly enslaved persons came to Fredericksburg where there was an established free black community. Many of them took work as laborers and servants. Others brought artisan skills to their new community. . . . — — Map (db m149228) 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
In the 1850s, work gangs leveled this railway bed by cutting through hills and filling in valleys. They established culverts where the mounded earth would have otherwise blocked streams. To construct such facilities, they first laid . . . — — Map (db m95323) HM
Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly... [that] fifty acres...shall be surveyed and laid out... in lots and streets, not exceeding half an acre of ground in each lot; and also to . . . — — Map (db m148548) HM
"Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable.... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals."
—Dr. Martin Luther . . . — — Map (db m148077) HM
Heavy fighting erupted in this area on May 3rd and 4th, during the Chancellorsville campaign. On May 3rd, Brigadier General Cadmus M. Wilcox moved several Alabama regiments into the area (1) and confronted Federal forces at this canal (2). When the . . . — — Map (db m95307) HM
In December 1862, General Robert E. Lee deployed his Confederate army along a series of hills around the town of Fredericksburg. In front of you is Fall Hill, which anchored the Confederate line at the Rappahannock River. Brigadier General Cadmus M. . . . — — Map (db m95306) HM
"Its language is 'we the people.' If Negroes are people, they are included in the benefits for which the Constitution of America was ordained and established."
—Frederick Douglass
(March 26, 1860)
In 1788, pragmatic men . . . — — Map (db m148072) HM
“They use also long arrows tyed in a line wherewith they shoot at fish in the rivers.” —Captain John Smith
In 1608, shortly after Jamestown had been established, Captain John Smith and a small crew worked a vessel up . . . — — Map (db m95619) HM
Four roads radiated from the river town of Fredericksburg. To the south, the Richmond Stage Road coursed across the gentle terrain of the Tidewater region. Two roads reached west, one to Spotsylvania Court House and the other toward Orange Court . . . — — Map (db m112045) HM
A tremendous and deadly fire swept down from the front and left. The Rebels occupied the houses and were behind fences, and could not be seen except for the flash of the guns. It staggered the column, but in a moment we pressed on.... . . . — — Map (db m140679) HM
The prominent sanctuary in front of you is the Fredericksburg Baptist Church, constructed in 1854-55. When it was built, Princess Anne Street was developing as the town’s religious and government corridor. Other churches included St. George’s . . . — — Map (db m140682) HM
The park around you was once known as the Corporation Burying Ground. Burials occurred here from 1787 through 1853 and included Dr. Charles Mortimer, who had been Mary Washington's personal physician. He also served as Fredericksburg's first . . . — — Map (db m140677) HM
Fredericksburg is situated on the geologic boundary between the Piedmont region and the Coastal Plain. Here there are huge deposits of granite, attractive to both builders and architects. In the 1840s, canal builders used this metamorphic material . . . — — Map (db m148051) HM
You are standing where the first railroad tracks were built through Fredericksburg, in 1837. By 1842, they extended from Richmond to Potomac Creek, where steamboat service allowed travelers to complete their journey to Washington D.C., hence the . . . — — Map (db m149219) HM
“On motion made and seconded, resolved unanimously that the new burying ground be enclosed with brick.”
—Council minutes of July 6th, 1824 Robert Lewis, Mayor (buried in the Masonic Lodge Cemetery)
In 1774, St. George’s Parish . . . — — Map (db m140676) HM
In front of you stood the Germania Mill, built in 1866 by Myer and Frederick Brulle. Both men were immigrant German confectioners who teamed up after the Civil War to became millers.
Fredericksburg’s upper canal powered this enterprise and . . . — — Map (db m218257) HM
Native Americans came to the falls of the Rappahannock River because seasonal runs of spawning fish provided food. Europeans settled near the falls to take advantage of the river’s powerful flow. This area reflects more than a . . . — — Map (db m95620) HM
Abraham Lincoln walked these steps. The wartime president travelled to Fredericksburg on May 23, 1862. After a visit to Union camps on Marye's Heights, he stopped at the Farmer's Bank, then serving as headquarters for the occupying Federal . . . — — Map (db m148053) HM
John G. Hurkamp and Andrew B. Adams… are hereby authorized to proceed to any front in the line of the road between here and Richmond… to inform the authorities of the Confederate Government of the evacuation of Fred'burg by the United States . . . — — Map (db m140680) HM
Desperate for economic growth, following the Civil War, Fredericksburg embraced the technological innovation of hydroelectricity. In 1887, a local firm converted an old grist mill near the Falmouth Bridge to an electric generating plant. In . . . — — Map (db m217985) HM
"After passing through a small town called Falmouth at the Falls of the Rappahannock, we crossed in a Ferry boat and arrived at Fredericksburg, putting up at an In[n] or Public House kept by one Weedon, who is now a General Officer in . . . — — Map (db m148073) HM
The Rappahannock River has been the life blood of Fredericksburg, its velocity feeding five industrial raceways and its flow providing drinking water to three jurisdictions. From around 1770 through 2004, various types of dams diverted part of the . . . — — Map (db m217993) HM
Seth Barton, 1755-1813, fought in the American Revolution, grew wealthy as a shipping merchant, and speculated in real estate. He laid out the subdivision that came to be called Liberty Town in 1812. He is buried at St. George’s . . . — — Map (db m33107) HM
This public space has been leveled for modern activities, but the original market square sloped toward the building in front of you, where the market was at ground level. Activity in this central outdoor market was eventually supplanted by indoor . . . — — Map (db m148056) HM
In May 1864, a photographer exposed this image of the Marye's Heights battleground. He set up his camera in front of "Federal Hill," the large white house approximately 300 yards to your left rear. On December 13, 1862, thousands of Union . . . — — Map (db m148044) HM
The Masons of Fredericksburg Lodge #4, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, organized as a lodge in 1752. They established this cemetery in 1784 and there are now approximately 270 graves within these grounds. Most are members and family members of . . . — — Map (db m34823) HM
The Masons of Fredericksburg Lodge #4, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, organized as a lodge in 1752. They established this cemetery in 1784 and there are now approximately 270 graves within these grounds. Most are members and family members of . . . — — Map (db m216700) HM
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Toward the end of the nineteenth century, Virginia . . . — — Map (db m149229) HM
The once beautiful city of Fredericksburg is almost in ruins. There [is] hardly a house that is not torn to pieces by shell & shot from cannon & a great many burnt to ashes."
—William R. Montgomery, Phillips' Legion Infantry. . . . — — Map (db m148035) HM
The many culverts along this railway were established during its construction, before the Civil War. Where the land is little altered, these drainage features remain intact and functional. Stormwater flowing off of new roads, rooftops, and . . . — — Map (db m95329) HM
In Fredericksburg's earliest days, river crossings were limited to the ford at Falmouth (two miles upstream) and a few ferries. In this area, at what would become the town wharves, a ferry carried travelers and wagons to and from a landing near . . . — — Map (db m148511) HM
On June 8, 1890, masons laid a stone from the old pro-slavery Methodist Church as the cornerstone for a new church. It would be called Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site) to distinguish it from the original church that remained on Sophia Street and . . . — — Map (db m149227) HM
Former slaves as well as free blacks knew that education was critical to African American aspirations. Immediately after the Civil War, the Shiloh Baptist Church organized a school for black students. The U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and . . . — — Map (db m148553) HM
This rising ground, called Fall Hill, anchored an extensive line of Confederate earthworks. In addition to this trench, there were supporting artillery lunettes on tip of the hill and similar pits to the left and right. These various fortified . . . — — Map (db m112050) HM
Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site) sits on the site once occupied by the African Baptist Church, which was initially the Fredericksburg Baptist Church. In 1857, after the white congregation had built a larger church on Princess Anne Street, it sold . . . — — Map (db m148555) HM
"Everyone has the power for greatness, not for fame but greatness, because greatness is determined by service."
–Frederick Douglass
In the 1980s, the City of Fredericksburg converted this former bowling alley to . . . — — Map (db m148446) HM
The millrace through this part of Fredericksburg was known locally as Marye's Race. Pragmatic military men called it a canal ditch.
(Photo courtesy of National Park Service).
The post-Civil War street in front of you, Kenmore . . . — — Map (db m148045) HM
Architect James Renwick, who designed the Smithsonian Castle, also designed the Fredericksburg Court House, which was built in 1852. It is the only Gothic Revival court house in Virginia. Within the cupola is a bell from the Revere Foundry in . . . — — Map (db m148061) HM
If the Atlantic were to dry up, it would reveal a scattered pathway of human bones, African bones marking the various routes of the Middle Passage.
-Dr. John Henrik Clarke (1915-1998)
From 1502 to 1860, the trans-Atlantic slave trade . . . — — Map (db m97364) HM
In 1877, the Fredericksburg and Gordonsville Rail Road began operations, with narrow gauge tracks connecting to established railways running through Fredericksburg and Orange. A series of companies tried to make this railroad profitable, . . . — — Map (db m95326) HM
Virginia Fredericksburg
Augt 25th 1773
Messrs. Samuel &William Vernon
Gentlemen
You will by this opportunity be advised by Capt. Jno. Duncan of his Arrival here, & valuing himself on Col. John Thornton for his Services in disposal . . . — — Map (db m97371) HM
On May 4, 1863, Colonel Lewis A. Grant's brigade of Vermont regiments held the ridge to your right front. Late in the day, Brigadier Generals Harry T. Hays and Robert Hoke launched their Louisiana and North Carolina brigades against a Union line . . . — — Map (db m82932) HM
This embankment, to your left and right, was once a railway, built to link Fredericksburg and Orange, Virginia. Work began in 1853, but was interrupted by the Civil War. When the Union and Confederate armies confronted one another in and around . . . — — Map (db m242242) HM
To your left front is a ravine that leads up from Hazel Run to what was once the 230-acre farmstead of Walker Landram. In 1854, he had sold 6.5 acres on the southern edge of his farm to the railway company, where you are now standing. When the . . . — — Map (db m95324) HM
"Abraham Lincoln was in town on Friday. Our Mayor did not call on him, and I did not hear a cheer as he passed along the streets."
—Betty Herndon Maury
(diary entry for May 25, 1862
War first came to Fredericksburg in the . . . — — Map (db m166481) HM
A young George Washington grew to manhood at his home on the broad upland terrace directly across the river. He moved there with his family in 1738, at the age of six. Augustine Washington, his father, owned several plantations and part of an . . . — — Map (db m148513) HM
In 1855, the Fredericksburg Water Power Company adapted the Rappahannock Company’s navigation canal to be an industrial power canal. The canal turning basin became a mill pond and several raceways soon branched off to power the Germania Flour . . . — — Map (db m95317) HM
