Historical Markers and War Memorials in Hanover, Virginia
Bowling Green is the county seat for Caroline County
Hanover is in Caroline County
Caroline County(64) ► ADJACENT TO CAROLINE COUNTY Essex County(42) ► Hanover County(282) ► King and Queen County(28) ► King George County(22) ► King William County(45) ► Spotsylvania County(407) ► Stafford County(213) ►
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Caroline County. Area 529 Square Miles. Formed in 1727 from Essex, King and Queen, and King William. Named for Queen Caroline, wife of King George II. George Rogers Clark, conqueror of the Northwest, passed his youth in this . . . — — Map (db m22269) HM
On 24 Aug. 1800, slave Ben Woolfolk met with other slaves at nearby Littlepage’s Bridge to recruit individuals for an insurrection planned for 30 Aug. The insurgents led by Gabriel, a slave owned by Thomas Henry Prosser of Henrico County, intended . . . — — Map (db m5611) HM
Three miles northwest is Clay Spring, where Henry Clay was born, April 12, 1777. He passed most of his early life in Richmond, removing to Kentucky in 1797. His career as a public man and as a peacemaker between North and South is an important part . . . — — Map (db m92712) HM
Lord Cornwallis, marching northward in pursuit of Lafayette’s American force, camped near here, May 30, 1781. He entered this road from the east on his way from Hanover Town to the North Anna at Chesterfield Ford (Telegraph Bridge). — — Map (db m1918) HM
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Near here lived in 1610 Machumps, brother-in-law to King Powhatan.
Near here were born Patrick Henry and Henry Clay.
In this building on 1st December 1763 Patrick Henry lighted the torch of liberty in the Parson’s . . . — — Map (db m226209) 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
This community’s first real taste of war came in May 1862, when Gen. George B. McC1e11an’s Union army moved from the east to threaten Richmond. On May 25, McClellan ordered troops to reconnoiter the Hanover Courthouse area and push back any enemy . . . — — Map (db m15818) HM
During the Civil War, Cleavers and Amanda Chisholm's Hanover Tavern "hosted" both armies and refugees who fled the depredations of war. Hard fighting just outside of town on May 27, 1862 resulted in several hundred casualties. Two weeks later, . . . — — Map (db m170041) 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
John Shelton opened the first tavern at the permanent site of Hanover Courthouse about the 1750s. The current tavern’s earliest segment dates from about 1791. The tavern prospered with the establishment of the stage coach line until the railroad . . . — — Map (db m62525) HM
We honor all who served
World War I
Buchanan, Levy A. • Collins, Robert F. • Duke, William L. • Fleet, William A. • Gallamore, H. • Harper, George T. • Haynes, James A. • Jenkins, Edwin T. •
Melton, Lawrence J. • Mills, Guss W. • . . . — — Map (db m53811) WM
Janie Porter Barrett was born in Athens, Ga. She graduated from Hampton Institute and soon began teaching home-management techniques to other young African American women and girls. In 1915, Barrett founded the Industrial School for Wayward Colored . . . — — Map (db m22272) HM
Born in Richmond, Va., to a free black mother and enslaved father, John Henry Smyth graduated from Howard University Law School in Washington, D.C., in 1872 and worked variously as a teacher, bank cashier, lawyer, and newspaper editor. He served as . . . — — Map (db m1917) HM
Newmarket stood on the Little River near Verdon in northern Hanover County until 1987, when to preserve it Robert W. Cabaniss moved it to this site. The seat of the Doswell family for whom the town of Doswell was named, the house is the sole . . . — — Map (db m15852) HM
Born at Studley Plantation six miles east of here was licensed to practice law on April 15, 1760. His awe-inspiring power as an orator was first recognized here at Hanover County Courthouse in his charge to the petit jury on December 1, 1766, in the . . . — — Map (db m32682) HM
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The Colonial River Road
After centuries of use by native people and the colonists of New Kent County, the road along the Pamunkey River was extended past the tobacco ports of Newcastle and Page’s Warehouse (later . . . — — Map (db m53801) HM
Martha Ann Fields and most of her 11 children were enslaved laborers on the Nutshell plantation, just northeast of here. In 1863, she led her family across the Pamunkey River to Union lines and freedom. The family settled in Hampton, pursued . . . — — Map (db m152223) HM
General Washington and General Rochambeau passed here on Sept. 13, 1781 on their way to victory at Yorktown. One mile south, they turned east on state route 605.
The marking of this route is a gift from the French Government. Committee of the . . . — — Map (db m226210) HM
Federal infantry left the camps around Mangohick Church on the morning of May 28, 1864, and pressed southward toward the Pamunkey River. In order to speed up the pace of the march, the army followed parallel routes. The Second and Sixth Corps moved . . . — — Map (db m120819) HM
