Ferry Plantation House, or Old Donation Farm, Ferry Farm, Walke Manor House,[2][5] is a brick house in the neighborhood of Old Donation Farm in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The site dates back to 1642 when Savill Gaskin started the second ferry service in Hampton Roads to carry passengers on the Lynnhaven River to the nearby county courthouse and to visit plantations along the waterway.[3][6][7] A cannon was used to signal the ferry, which had 11 total stops along the river.[8] The first ferry service was started nearby by Adam Thoroughgood.[citation needed]
The house, which is reputedly haunted by 11 spirits,[8] has been used as a plantation, courthouse, school, and post office. It is currently a museum and educational center.[9] A Summer History Camp, which educates youths about life in the 18th and 19th centuries, is also held on the site.[10]
Description
The area was initially cleared by the local Indians in the 16th century and many of their artifacts have been found on the site.[8] The third Princess Anne County courthouse, the first brick courthouse in the county, was built on this site, complete with stocks and pillory.[11] This third courthouse was in existence from 1735 until the construction of the Walke Mansion. The Walke Mansion (1751-1828), owned by William Walke, was destroyed by fire on September 12, 1828.[9] Walke may have run a tavern here during the American Revolution.[12]
The current house was built in 1830. Its exterior is Federal style three-course American bond brickwork; all of the bricks were from the ruins of the Walke Mansion. A West Bay addition was built in 1850. The house has 10 rooms with heart-of-pine flooring and several original features. It was once covered with oyster shell stucco. The rear of the home faces the western branch of the Lynnhaven River.[5][9]
The house occupies 0.1 acres (0.040ha) owned by the city and is encompassed by 2 acres (0.81ha) of open space owned by a homeowners association. There are some small gardens on the property and in the back yard is a large Southern Magnolia planted on April 6, 1863, by Sally Rebecca Walke in memory of her fiancé.
Renovation
Virginia Higgins moved out of Ferry Plantation in 1986 and turned the deed over to the City of Virginia Beach. The Ferry Plantation House was abandoned from 1986 to 1996. A group of citizens saved the house from demolition around 1996. Investors bought it in 1994, but their deal to sell it fell through in 1996 when the Virginia Beach City Council said the house could not be a private residence due to deed restrictions. The deed to the property was eventually turned over to the City of Virginia Beach in June 1996, and the Friends of the Ferry Plantation House, Inc. began renovating the house in 1996 in partnership with the City of Virginia Beach.[9] Court House bars (one set and shackles) are still on one window to date.[12]
The house was listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register (Virginia Historic Landmark) in 2004 and the US National Register of Historic Places in 2005 and The +Virginia State Register.[2][3][13]
Belinda Nash has been on the board of directors of the FOFPH since 1996 and the director since 1999. Nash is one of the many volunteers that continue to work to allow The Ferry Plantation House to be enjoyed by so many, including summer camps and many social events that share its history and artifacts.[citation needed]
Hauntings
The house is reportedly haunted by 11 spirits; spirit tours are available,[8] including one during Halloween called "The Stroll of Lost Souls".[9][14] Reported spirits include those of people who perished in an 1810 ship wreck at the ferry landing, a former slave, Sally Rebecca Walke, who mourns her fiancé, a fallen soldier, and the Lady in White, who reportedly died of a broken neck from falling down the stairs, as well as the artist Thomas Williamson, owner of the Manor House who was married to a Walke has been reported seen at the top of the stairs painting. Paranormal groups come to the house to do research. Sounds of dragging chains have been reported, possibly from the days of the old courthouse.[15]
Grace Sherwood, the "Witch of Pungo", was tried by ducking near here and the museum sponsors the annual Grace Sherwood Festival, which includes viewing of the reenactment of the ducking.[9] The actual ducking of Sherwood was at the end of what is now Witchduck Road, 200 yards out in the river from what is now a private home. The House has a Red Maple and marker in honor of Sherwood in the side yard.[citation needed]
Cooker in rear of the Ferry Plantation House
Rose Hall Walk in front of the Ferry Plantation House
Rose Hall Walk marker in front of the Ferry Plantation House
Sherwood Forest Plantation Foundation is located on the north bank of the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. The main plantation house, built in 1730, was the home of the tenth president of the United States, John Tyler (1790–1862) for the last twenty years of his life. It is located on State Route 5, a scenic byway which runs between the independent cities of Richmond and Williamsburg. The house is located approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the river. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961.
Shirley Plantation is an estate on the north bank of the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. It is located on scenic byway State Route 5, between Richmond and Williamsburg. It is the oldest active plantation in Virginia and the oldest family-owned business in North America, dating back to 1614, with operations starting in 1648. It used about 70 to 90 African slaves at a time for plowing the fields, cleaning, childcare, and cooking. It was added to the National Register in 1969 and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970. After the acquisition, rebranding, and merger of Tuttle Farm in Dover, New Hampshire, Shirley Plantation received the title of the oldest business continuously operating in the United States.
Westover Plantation is a historic colonial tidewater plantation located on the north bank of the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. Established in c. 1730–1750, it is the homestead of the Byrd family of Virginia. State Route 5, a scenic byway, runs east–west to the north of the plantation, connecting the independent cities of Richmond and Williamsburg.
Green Spring Plantation in James City County about five miles (8.0 km) west of Williamsburg, was the 17th century plantation of one of the most unpopular governors of Colonial Virginia in North America, Sir William Berkeley, and his wife, Frances Culpeper Berkeley.
Varina Farms, also known as Varina Plantation or Varina Farms Plantation or Varina on the James, is a plantation established in the 17th century on the James River about 10 miles (16 km) south of Richmond, Virginia. An 820-acre (330 ha) property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 as "Varina Plantation". At that time it included two contributing buildings and one other contributing site.
The Thoroughgood House is a brick house located at 1636 Parish Road, in the neighborhood of Thoroughgood, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. It was built ca. 1719. It was formerly known as the Adam Thoroughgood House. It was not built by Adam. The building underwent major restorations in 1923 and in the 1950s and has served as a museum since opening to the public April 29, 1957. Much of the current structure was most likely the house of the great-grandson of Adam Thoroughgood. The City of Virginia Beach acquired the property in 2003. A 2004 grant application to the National Park Service resulted in a $150,000 award from the prestigious Save America's Treasures program. The City matched that amount as required. This restoration took longer and cost more than expected, but the house reopened in May 2011.
Woodlawn is a historic house located in Fairfax County, Virginia. Originally a part of Mount Vernon, George Washington's historic plantation estate, it was subdivided in the 19th century by abolitionists to demonstrate the viability of a free labor system. The address is now 9000 Richmond Highway, Alexandria, Virginia, but due to expansion of Fort Belvoir and reconstruction of historic Route 1, access is via Woodlawn Road slightly south of Jeff Todd Way/State Route 235. The house is a designated National Historic Landmark, primarily for its association with the Washington family, but also for the role it played in the historic preservation movement. It is now a museum property owned and managed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The Adam Keeling House is a historic house in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States.
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.
Virginia Beach, Virginia is a city that has become a popular tourist destination in recent years on account of its historical, scientific, and performing arts.
Bremo, also known as Bremo Plantation or Bremo Historic District, is a plantation estate covering over 1,500 acres (610 ha) on the west side of Bremo Bluff in Fluvanna County, Virginia. The plantation includes three separate estates, all created in the 19th century by the planter, soldier, and reformer John Hartwell Cocke on his family's 1725 land grant. The large neo-palladian mansion at "Upper" Bremo was designed by Cocke in consultation with John Neilson, a master joiner for Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. The Historic District also includes two smaller residences known as Lower Bremo and Bremo Recess.
Old Donation Church is the third Lynnhaven Parish Church and is the oldest church in Virginia Beach. Records show that the parish's first church services were held in 1637 in the home of Adam Thoroughgood. The first church building was constructed on Mr. Thoroughgood's land in 1639 on the location later known as "Church Point." The vestry, or governing body of the church, was established in 1640.
Greenway Plantation is a wood-frame, 1+1⁄2-story plantation house in Charles City County, Virginia. Historic Route 5 and the Virginia Capital Trail bikeway, both of which connect Williamsburg and Richmond pass to slightly south of this private home. Located just west of the county seat Charles City Courthouse, Virginia, Greenway is one of Charles City's earliest and most distinctive Colonial plantations. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. Other Virginia historic sites built in the same era and with similar names are considerably west: Greenway Court, Virginia, built in 1747 and mostly demolished in the 1830s, now in Clarke County, and Greenway a house built circa 1780 for Francis Madison, the brother of President James Madison.
The Francis Land House, or Rose Hall, is a historic brick house in located within the Rose Hall District near Princess Anne Plaza in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It was the plantation home of the prominent Land family, a founding family of Princess Anne County, Virginia.
The Magnolia Grange is a historic mansion located across from the Chesterfield County Courthouse in Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, Virginia. This brick plantation house was built in 1823, and is a two-story, five-bay, brick dwelling in the Federal style. It is known for its elaborate woodwork and ornamental ceiling medallions.
The Lynnhaven House, also Wishart–Boush House, Wishart House, and Boush House, which was built circa 1725, is an example of 18th century Tidewater Virginia vernacular architecture and is located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Although it was founded by the Thelaball family, it is sometimes referred to as the Boush House or the Wishart House. The house was given the name the Lynnhaven House due to its close proximity to the Lynnhaven River, which flows on the same property. Originally, the home, located at 4405 Wishart Road, stood on a 250-acre plantation. Now, it is located on five and a half acres.
Upper Wolfsnare, historically called Brick House Farm until 1939, is a colonial-era brick home built, probably about 1759, in Georgian style by Thomas Walke III in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Grace White Sherwood (1660–1740), called the Witch of Pungo, is the last person known to have been convicted of witchcraft in Virginia.
Belinda Jacqueline Nash was an American historian, author and activist. She wrote a biography of Grace Sherwood, the last person "convicted" by ducking of being a witch in Virginia. As a result of Nash's work, Sherwood was given a pardon, 300 years after her trial by ordeal.
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