Rural Plains | |
Rural Plains, November 2010 | |
Location | 6 mi. N of Mechanicsville off VA 606, near Mechanicsville, Virginia |
---|---|
Area | 125 acres (51 ha) |
NRHP reference No. | 75002021 [1] |
VLR No. | 042-0029 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | June 5, 1975 |
Designated VLR | March 18, 1975 [2] |
Rural Plains, also informally known as Shelton House, is a historic farm house dating to the 1660s in Mechanicsville, Virginia, Hanover County; it is one of the sites included within the Richmond National Battlefield Park. [3] The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. [4]
John Shelton built Rural Plains in 1670. A subsequent John Shelton, the tavern keeper at Hanover Court House, was the father of Sarah Shelton, who married the statesman Patrick Henry in 1754. [5] Shelton family, as well as popular, lore state that this marriage took place in the house's first floor parlor, though evidence cannot confirm this claim. [6] Sarah's father gave Henry and her a wedding present of 300 acres of the Rural Plains property, which became known as Pine Slash. [5] Their original residence at Pine Slash was destroyed by a fire in 1757; they then moved into the overseer's house today. [7] This building, referred to as the "Honeymoon Cottage" still stands today a mile away from the Shelton House.
During the Battle of Totopotomoy Creek (the house stands 0.4 miles away from Totopotomoy Creek [5] ) on May 30, 1864, the house suffered severe damage from artillery fire. [8] Union signalmen climbed atop the house to convey messages to their troops. Confederate cannoneers tried to shoot them down, striking the building 51 times, but the signalmen survived. The scars of the damage remain today, but the Sheltons, who had sheltered in the basement during the battle, continued to reside in the house.
The house was continuously inhabited by nine generations of Sheltons until the property was transferred to become part of Richmond National Battlefield Park in 2006. [8] The Park owns 124 acres and manages the site in cooperation with the private Rural Plains Foundation, which was established in 2013. [9]
It was initially popularly assumed that the house was built around the same time as the property was acquired, but various architectural features, including brickwork, window size and the original gambrel roof suggested a style which was not used in Virginia until several decades later. [5] The double-pile house is divided by a central passage and the front rooms are deeper than the back rooms. Each room contains a corner fireplace.
Many features which were in the house when first deeded to the National Park Service were not original. [5] Much of the woodwork has been replaced. The rear front porch was relatively recently built. Additional windows have been installed. The single largest change in the house came during a major remodeling since construction; the high quality Greek Revival trim, doors, and windows from this remodel suggest that this remodeling took place in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Since the property was obtained by Richmond National Battlefield Park, there have been continuous efforts to identify the original architectural features of the Shelton House and restore it to its original condition. [9]
Hanover County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 106,374. Its county seat is Hanover Courthouse.
Mechanicsville is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Hanover County, Virginia, United States. The population was 36,348 during the 2010 census, up from 30,464 at the 2000 census.
State Route 156 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs 57.38 miles (92.34 km) from U.S. Route 301 and SR 35 in Templeton north to US 360 Business in Mechanicsville. SR 156 follows a circuitous route through the eastern part of the Richmond–Petersburg metropolitan area. South of the James River, the state highway connects Templeton in Prince George County with Hopewell, which is directly served by SR 156 Business. SR 156 crosses the James River on the Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge and briefly passes through Charles City County. For most of its length in Henrico and Hanover, the state highway is a rural road that provides access to several units of Richmond National Battlefield Park. However, SR 156 provides access to Richmond International Airport, Interstate 64 (I-64), and I-295 as it passes through the Richmond suburbs of Sandston and Highland Springs as a major highway.
The Battle of Totopotomoy Creek, also called the Battle of Bethesda Church, Crumps Creek, Shady Grove Road, and Hanovertown, was a battle fought in Hanover County, Virginia on May 28–30, 1864, as part of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses Grant's Overland Campaign against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
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.
Malvern Hill stands on the north bank of the James River in Henrico County, Virginia, USA, about eighteen miles southeast of Richmond. On 1 July 1862, it was the scene of the Battle of Malvern Hill, one of the Seven Days Battles of the American Civil War.
Buildings, sites, districts, and objects in Virginia listed on the National Register of Historic Places:
This is a list of structures, sites, districts, and objects on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina:
Cold Harbor National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in Mechanicsville, Hanover County, Virginia. It encompasses 1.4 acres (5,700 m2), and as of the end of 2005, had 2,110 interments. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it is managed by the Hampton National Cemetery.
Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park became the 388th unit of the United States National Park Service when it was authorized on December 19, 2002. The National Historical Park was created to protect several historically significant locations in the Shenandoah Valley of Northern Virginia, notably the site of the American Civil War Battle of Cedar Creek and the Belle Grove Plantation.
Scotchtown is a plantation located in Hanover County, Virginia, that from 1771–1778 was owned and used as a residence by Patrick Henry, his wife Sarah and their children. He was a revolutionary and elected in 1778 as the first Governor of Virginia. The house is located in Beaverdam, Virginia, 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Ashland, Virginia on VA 685. The house, at 93 feet (28 m) by 35 feet (11 m), is one of the largest 18th-century homes to survive in the Americas. In its present configuration, it has eight substantial rooms on the first floor surrounding a central passage, with a full attic above and English basement with windows below. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965.
Pamunkey Regional Library serves the counties of Goochland, Hanover, King and Queen, and King William, and the towns of Ashland and West Point in central Virginia.
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Hanover County, Virginia.
Immanuel Episcopal Church is a historic Episcopal church and cemetery located near Mechanicsville, Hanover County, Virginia.
Slash Church, also known as the Upper Church-St. Paul's Parish is a historic Disciples of Christ Church, formerly an Anglican/Episcopal church located at 11353 Mt. Hermon Road, Ashland, Hanover County, Virginia. Built of southern yellow pine cut from the property in 1729–30, it is the oldest frame house of worship still in use in Virginia.
Pine Slash, also known as Prospect Hill, is a historic home located at Studley, Hanover County, Virginia. The main house was built about 1750, and is a one-story dwelling of colonial vertical plank construction with a metal gable roof. In addition to the main house, the property includes a contributing second residence and a brick outbuilding, both dating from the early 19th century. Pine Slash is also significant as Patrick Henry's home in the 1750s.
Oakley Hill is a historic plantation house located near Mechanicsville, Hanover County, Virginia. It was built about 1839 and expanded in the 1850s. It is a two-story, frame I-house dwelling in the Greek Revival style. On the rear of the house is a 1910 one-story ell. The house sits on a brick foundation, has a standing seam metal low gable roof, and interior end chimneys. The front facade features a one-story front porch with four Tuscan order columns and a Tuscan entablature. Also on the property are a contributing smokehouse and servants' house.
Old Pine Church, also historically known as Mill Church, Nicholas Church, and Pine Church, is a mid-19th century church located near to Purgitsville, West Virginia, United States. It is among the earliest extant log churches in Hampshire County, along with Capon Chapel and Mount Bethel Church.
The Polegreen Church, also known as the Hanover Meeting House, is the site of what may be the first non-Anglican church in Virginia. It was named after a 17th-century landowner, George Polegreen.
The Tavern at Old Church is a historic 19th-century tavern complex at 3350-3360 Old Church Road east of Mechanicsville, Virginia in the hamlet of Old Church. The property includes a Federal-era tavern building built in two stages, a wood-frame structure built about 1820, and an attached brick structure built by 1830. Also included on the property are a suite of period outbuildings, a particular rarity for surviving rural 19th-century taverns in Virginia.
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