Leesylvania State Park | |
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IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape) [1] | |
Leesylvania State Park | |
Location | Prince William, Virginia, United States |
Area | 542 acres (219 ha) |
Elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
Established | 1978 [2] |
Operator | Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation |
Leesylvania Archeological Site (44PW7) | |
Nearest city | Dumfries, Virginia |
Coordinates | 38°35′23″N77°15′31″W / 38.5896077°N 77.2585091°W |
Area | 1.5 acres (0.61 ha) |
NRHP reference No. | 84003565 |
VLR No. | 076-0045 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | September 13, 1984 |
Designated VLR | June 19, 1984 |
Leesylvania State Park is located in the southeastern part of Prince William County, Virginia. The land was donated in 1978 by philanthropist Daniel K. Ludwig, and the park was dedicated in 1985 and opened full-time in 1992. [3]
At the time of early English settlers, Leesylvania was believed to be the site of an Algonquian village, overlooking Neabsco Creek.
Henry Lee II settled on the land from 1747 until his death in 1787. He and his wife had eight children at their home including Revolutionary War hero Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee. He is also the grandfather to Civil War general Robert E. Lee. George Washington mentions visiting the Lee House three times in his diaries.
In 1825 the property was sold to Henry Fairfax, and later passed to John Fairfax in 1847. Fairfax later served as a staff aide to Confederate Lt. General James Longstreet. The site was Fairfax's boyhood home, and he returned to live on the property in late 1875, remaining there until his death in 1908. The land was also used as a small Confederate force and gun emplacement during the Civil War. The Freestone Point Confederate Battery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. [4] The battery engaged with vessels of the US Navy's Potomac Flotilla on September 25, 1861. There were no casualties on either side, but the Federal vessels withdrew at the conclusion of the fighting. (Ref: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in The War of The Rebellion)
Today, only a small cornerstone of the Lee House remains. The house and its path were completely bulldozed in the 1950s to make way for a road. A restored chimney of the Fairfax House remains. Henry Lee II and his wife, along with Henry Fairfax and his third wife are buried on the property. The sites and the cemetery are accessible by trail. The Leesylvania Archeological Site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. [5]
The park has a small group-only campground, five hiking trails, fishing pier, boat ramp, visitor center, natural sand beach, and four picnic shelters. [6]
The Appomattox Court House National Historical Park is a preserved 19th-century village in Appomattox County, Virginia. The village is famous for the site of the Battle of Appomattox Court House, and contains the house of Wilmer McLean, where the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee to Union commander Ulysses S. Grant took place on April 9, 1865, effectively ending the American Civil War. The McLean House was the site of the surrender conference, but the village itself is named for the presence nearby of what is now preserved as the Old Appomattox Court House.
Oak Hill is a mansion and plantation located in Aldie, Virginia that was for 22 years a home of James Monroe, the fifth U.S. President. It is located approximately 9 miles (14 km) south of Leesburg on U.S. Route 15, in an unincorporated area of Loudoun County, Virginia. Its entrance is 10,300 feet (3,100 m) north of Gilberts Corner, the intersection of 15 with U.S. Route 50. It is a National Historic Landmark, but privately owned and not open to the public.
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.
Stratford Hall is a historic house museum near Lerty in Westmoreland County, Virginia. It was the plantation house of four generations of the Lee family of Virginia. Stratford Hall is the boyhood home of two signers of the Declaration of Independence, Richard Henry Lee (1732–1794), and Francis Lightfoot Lee (1734–1797). Stratford Hall is also the birthplace of Robert Edward Lee (1807–1870), who served as General-in-Chief of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865). The Stratford Hall estate was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960, under the care of the National Park Service in the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Manassas National Battlefield Park is a unit of the National Park Service located in Prince William County, Virginia, north of Manassas that preserves the site of two major American Civil War battles: the First Battle of Bull Run, also called the First Battle of Manassas, and the Second Battle of Bull Run or Second Battle of Manassas. It was also where Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson acquired his nickname "Stonewall". The park was established in 1936 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.
The Richmond National Battlefield Park commemorates 13 American Civil War sites around Richmond, Virginia, which served as the capital of the Confederate States of America for most of the war. The park connects certain features within the city with defensive fortifications and battle sites around it.
Richard Bland Lee was a planter, jurist, and politician from Fairfax County, Virginia. He was the son of Henry Lee II (1730–1787) of "Leesylvania" and Lucy Grymes (1734–1792), as well as a younger brother of both Maj. Gen. Henry Lee (1756–1818) and of Charles Lee (1758–1815), Attorney General of the United States from 1795 to 1801, who served in both the Washington and Adams administrations.
Buildings, sites, districts, and objects in Virginia listed on the National Register of Historic Places:
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.
Col. Henry Lee II (1730–1787) of Alexandria, Westmoreland, Virginia Colony, was an American planter, soldier, and politician, the father of Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee III, and grandfather of Robert E. Lee.
Sully Historic Site, more commonly known as Sully Plantation, is both a Virginia landmark and nationally registered historic place in Chantilly, Virginia.
Westmoreland State Park lies within Westmoreland County, Virginia. The park extends about one and a half miles along the Potomac River and covers 1,321 acres. The Horsehead Cliffs provide visitors with a panoramic view of the Potomac River, and lower levels feature fossils and beach access. The park offers hiking, camping, cabins, fishing, boating and swimming, although mechanical issues in 2021 kept the swimming facility closed. Located on the Northern Neck Peninsula, the park is close to historical sites featuring earlier eras: George Washington's birthplace and Stratford Hall, the birthplace of Robert E. Lee.
Salona, in McLean, Virginia, is a former plantation house on the National Register of Historic Places surrounded by land protected by two conservation easements. The Salona homestead and grounds comprise 7.8 acres (3.2 ha) within the 52.4-acre (21.2 ha) site, and are protected by a 1971 easement held by the Fairfax Board of Supervisors. A much newer conservation easement held by the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust added an additional 41 acres (17 ha), of which 10 acres (4.0 ha) will be placed in active recreational use, and the rest used for passive recreation, such as trails.
Sayler's Creek Battlefield, near Farmville, Virginia, was the site of the Battle of Sayler's Creek of the American Civil War. Confederate general Robert E. Lee's army was retreating from the Richmond to the Petersburg line. Here, on April 6, 1865, Union general Philip Sheridan cut off and beat back about a quarter of Lee's depleted army. Eight Confederate generals surrendered, and 7,700 men were lost. Confederate Major General George Washington Custis Lee, eldest son of Robert E. Lee, was forcibly captured on the battlefield by Private David Dunnels White of the 37th Massachusetts Regiment. The battle was the last major engagement of the war in Virginia; Lee's surrender at Appomattox occurred three days later. A portion of the landmarked battlefield area is included in Sailor's Creek Battlefield Historical State Park. The Civil War Trust and its partners have acquired and preserved 885 acres (3.58 km2) of the battlefield in five transactions since 1996.
Belvoir was the plantation and estate of colonial Virginia's prominent William Fairfax family. Built with the forced labor of enslaved people, it sat on the west bank of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia, at the present site of Fort Belvoir. The main house — called Belvoir Manor or Belvoir Mansion — burned in 1783 and was destroyed during the War of 1812. The site has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973 as "Belvoir Mansion Ruins and the Fairfax Grave."
Historic Blenheim is a c. 1859 brick farm house designed in the Greek Revival style and located in City of Fairfax, Virginia. During the American Civil War, Union soldiers were often encamped on the grounds surrounding the house and utilized it as part of a reserve hospital system. As a result, more than 115 of these soldiers inscribed words and pictures on the first and second floor walls, as well as the attic of the house. Blenheim was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
Freestone Point Confederate Battery is a historic American Civil War gun emplacement located at Leesylvania State Park, Woodbridge, Prince William County, Virginia. The battery has four individual gun emplacements, which are fairly simple in configuration. All are formed by a large, deep, rectangular depression with high earthen berms built up on the north and south side of each depression. Three of the batteries are located on the cliff about 90 feet above the Potomac River. For five months, from October 1861 to March 1862, the batteries contributed to the Confederate military's success in blockading the Potomac River.
Fort Clifton Archeological Site is a historic American Civil War fort archaeological site located at Fort Clifton Park, Colonial Heights, Virginia. The park is the site of Fort Clifton on the Appomattox River where five Union ships sailed on Confederate troops on June 11, 1864. The Confederate Battery, with cannon emplacements, remained in Confederate hands as the cannons drove the Union attackers away. The park has earthworks that criss-cross the property. Fort Clifton Park has hiking trails and Civil War campaign signage on site.
Leesylvania was a plantation and historic home in Prince William County, Virginia, now part of Leesylvania State Park. During the 18th century, it was the home of Henry Lee II, his family and numerous enslaved people, and known for its productive land and especially the quality of its tobacco. Lee's sons Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, Richard Bland Lee and Charles Lee, held prominent positions in Virginia during the American Revolutionary War and early federal government.
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