Spotsylvania County is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 140,032. Its county seat is Spotsylvania Courthouse.
Fredericksburg is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,982. The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department of Commerce combines the city of Fredericksburg with neighboring Spotsylvania County for statistical purposes.
Ferry Farm is the name of the farm and home at which George Washington spent much of his childhood. The site is located in Stafford County, Virginia, along the northern bank of the Rappahannock River, across from the city of Fredericksburg. In July 2008, archaeologists announced that they had found remains of the boyhood home, which had suffered a fire during 1740, including artifacts such as pieces of a cream-colored tea set probably belonging to George's mother, Mary Ball Washington. In 2015, the George Washington Foundation began constructing a replica of Washington's boyhood home on the site of the original building. The replica house was completed in 2018 and is open to the public.
Fielding Lewis was an American merchant, member of the House of Burgesses and a Colonel during the American Revolutionary War. He lived in Fredericksburg, Virginia and also owned a plantation in Spotsylvania County, which later became known as Kenmore. His brother-in-law was George Washington.
The Mary Washington House, at 1200 Charles Street in Fredericksburg, Virginia, is the house in which George Washington's mother, Mary Ball Washington, resided towards the end of her life. It is now operated as an 18th-century period historic house museum, one of several museums in Fredericksburg operated by Washington Heritage Museums. Today it displays 18th-century furniture, and her personal possessions, such as her "best dressing glass”.
Kenmore, also known as Kenmore Plantation, is a plantation house at 1201 Washington Avenue in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Built in the 1770s, it was the home of Fielding and Betty Washington Lewis and is the only surviving structure from the 1,300-acre (530 ha) Kenmore plantation.
Andrews Tavern is an historic building located in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The original building was constructed for Samuel Andrews in 1815. Around 1848, a frame wing was added to the brick structure for a tavern. Though the wing was added to the original residence, there is no interior connection between the two. The tavern is an example of Federal provincial architecture.
Bloomsbury Farm was an 18th-century timbered framed house, one of the oldest privately owned residences in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The house was originally built by the Robinson family sometime between 1785 and 1790. It was architecturally significant for its eighteenth-century construction methods and decorative elements. The surrounding location is also significant as the site of the last engagement between Confederate and Union forces in the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse on May 19, 1864. Bloomsbury Farm was added to the National Register of Historic Places in May 2000. The house was demolished in December 2014 by Leonard Atkins, a nearby resident who purchased the property in November 2014 ostensibly to restore it. Atkins cited the building's supposedly poor condition and public safety as the reasons for the abrupt demolition, and he planned to replace the historic house with a new one commensurate in style and value with the modern houses in the surrounding development in which he lives. The farm was removed from the National Register in 2017.
Kenmore,, is a historic house in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, United States. It was built in 1829 by Samuel Alsop, Jr. (1776–1859) for his daughter Ann Eliza and her husband, John M. Anderson. The home bears the same name as the home of Fielding and Betty Lewis in nearby Fredericksburg, Virginia. To distinguish the houses, Kenmore in Spotsylvania County was renamed Kenmore Woods. Samuel Alsop, Jr. designed a number of homes in Spotsylvania County. In addition to Kenmore, he also designed and built "Oakley" for another daughter as well as his own home, "Fairview". In all, Alsop designed and built 10 homes.
Fall Hill is a plantation located near the falls on the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Though the Thornton family has lived at Fall Hill since the early 18th century, the present house was built in 1790 for Francis Thornton V (1760–1836). The land on which Fall Hill is located is part of an 8,000 acres (3,200 ha) land patent obtained by Francis Thornton I (1657–1727) around 1720. The present-day town of Fredericksburg, Virginia is located on that original patent.
La Vue is an historic home located in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The home was built in 1848 by George Alsop for his son, John. La View was added to the National Register of Historic Places in January 1994.
St. Julien is an historic plantation home located in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The main house was built by Francis Taliaferro Brooke in 1794, with an addition added in 1812. There are several outbuildings that surround the main house. They include a slave quarters, smokehouse, milk house and law office used by Francis Brooke. Though relatively small in size, the home is exemplary of Federal architecture. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in June 1975
Oakley is a historic plantation and home located in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, Virginia. The Federal/Georgian style, 2 1/2 -story home was built in 1828 by Samuel Alsop, Jr. as a wedding present for his daughter, Clementina. Alsop built several notable houses in Spotsylvania County including Kenmore, Spotswood Inn, and Fairview.
Walnut Grove is an historic Greek Revival-style house in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The house was built in 1840 on land that was purchased by Jonathan Johnson in 1829. Markings on the exposed oak beams indicate that Walnut Grove was built by William A. Jennings. Jennings was recognized as a master builder of Greek Revival homes during that period. Walnut Grove was added to the National Register of Historic Places in August 2004.
The Matthew Fontaine Maury School, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, is an historic school building noted for its Colonial Revival architecture and design as well as its significance in the entertainment and cultural life of Fredericksburg. The architect of the building was Philip Stern. Built in 1919-1920, the school was used from then until 1952 for both elementary and high-school students. After the construction of James Monroe High School, the building was used as an elementary- and middle-school. The school was closed in 1980. Maury School was added to the National Register of Historic Places in March 2007.
Braehead is a historic house located in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The 6,000 square foot house was built in 1858-1859 by George Mullen for John Howison, born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1809. John Howison's sister was the now-famous Civil War diarist, Jane Briggs Beale.
Walker–Grant School is a historic school in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The school was built in 1938 and was the first publicly supported black high school in Fredericksburg. The school was named for Joseph Walker and Jason Grant (1861–1951) who worked to establish the school. The Art Deco designed school was added to the National Register of Historic Places in October 1998.
The Chimneys is a historic house located in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The house was constructed around 1771-1773. The house is named because of the stone chimneys at each end. The Georgian home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in April 1975. Of note are the interior decorative woodwork in the moldings, millwork, paneling indicative of building styles of the period. The decorative carving on the mantelpiece as well as on the door and window frames is particularly significant.
Spotsylvania Court House Historic District is a national historic district located at Spotsylvania, Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The district includes 24 contributing buildings in the historic core of Spotsylvania. The principal building is the Spotsylvania Court House, a two-story Roman Revival style brick building built in 1839-1840 and extensively remodeled in 1901. The front facade features a tetrastyle portico in the Tuscan order. Associated with the courthouse is a late 18th-century jail and office and storage buildings erected in the 1930s. Other notable buildings include the Spottswood Inn, Berea Church (1856), Christ Church (1841), Dabney Farm, J.P.H. Crismond House, Harris House, and Cary Crismond House.
Lansdowne, also known as Retreat Farm and Backus House, is a historic home located near Fredericksburg, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The property is very near the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. The original section was built about 1755, and enlarged in the early-19th century and in 1950. It is a 1 1/2-story, three-bay, side gable-roofed, double-pile, wood-framed dwelling. It features tall exterior chimneys. Also on the property are the contributing board-and-batten, side-gabled frame bank barn (1920s), a cinderblock spring house and cinderblock pumphouse with an early pump, the remnants of a mid-19th century historic formal landscape including terracing, and an historic road trace.
