Category: Virginia Historical Homes

On the way from Petersburg to the battlefield of the Crater is a large cemetery, within which can be seen a little church of unmistakable colonial architecture. This is old Bristol Parish Church, commonly known as Old Blandford, now restored in all faithfulness but with a newness that seems in curious contrast with its almost […]

The battles of Manassas, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor had been fought. Lee was defending the Confederacy behind a line of earthworks stretching from Richmond to Petersburg. Against this wall pressed the tremendous forces of the Union. In the summer of 1864 Grant concentrated his efforts against Petersburg, regarding it as the key to Richmond. […]

JUST before entering Petersburg from Richmond, over the Petersburg Turnpike, is a stone marker erected by the Daughters of the Confederacy. The road to the left leads to Violet Banks, the old estate of John Shure and the headquarters of General Robert E. Lee from June to September, 1864. The colonial estate of John Shure […]

Colonel Augustine Warner first came to this country in 1628. He was Justice of York in 1650 and Justice of Gloucester in 1656. He named his house Warner Hall after the home of the Warners in England. The main part of the original house was consumed by fire in 1845, leaving only the two wings […]

Ware Church was built upon land donated from the estate called Mordecia Mount, the original seat of the Cooke family and later of the Throckmorton family, who donated the land for the building of the church. Ware Parish, in Gloucester County, was established about 1653. The first church was near Ware River, on the present […]

This old church stands in a walnut grove near the road leading from Gloucester Point to Gloucester Court House. It is the second known church at this spot. The first church was built about 1651, upon land donated by Augustine Warner. Some remains of the foundation may still be traced close to the present building, […]

Half a mile from Gloucester Court House stands a quaint colonial building, which was formerly known as Long Bridge Ordinary, now owned and occupied by the Gloucester Woman’s Club. In colonial days when our ancestors travelled in the leisurely manner of coach and four or by stagecoach, many weary travellers stopped at Long Bridge Ordinary […]

At the head of Ware River, in Gloucester County, is Goshen. The date of the original part of the house is not definitely known, but various authorities have put it between 1750 and 1760. Originally, the house consisted of a large, wainscoted room on each side of a central hall. In 1856 a back building […]

This historic estate, one of the earliest king’s grants in Virginia, has recently been purchased from Norwood B. Smith of Palo Alto, California, by Henry L. Bogert, Jr., of Long Island, New York. The estate has passed through many hands, including the late Senator Cochran of Pennsylvania, who restored the mansion, since it left the […]

This Church, one of the oldest in Virginia, is filled with associations of the people whose names are closely allied with the early history of the State. It is situated twenty miles from Washington and a short distance from Mount Vernon and Gunston Hall, whose owners, George Washington and George Mason respectively, were regular attendants […]