Category: Virginia Historical Homes

This shrine to George Washington is so near to the hearts of Americans and its history so well known to every school child, that it is trite to attempt an extended sketch of it in this volume. The mansion was built in 1743 by Lawrence Washington, half brother and guardian of George Washington. It was […]

There sailed away from the Downs, in England, on December 19, 1606, three small ships bound on the most eventful voyage that has ever crowned the history of Anglo-Saxon people. After weeks and months of hardship in the rough seas these little ships landed on May 13, 1607, at a low-lying wooded peninsula on the […]

The view of Yorktown from York River has been pronounced by an English traveller as not dissimilar to that of Dover, seen from the English Channel. Its long line of cliffs, however, are composed of reddish rock marl, and not white chalk as are those of Dover. The view, both up and down the river, […]

The Nelson House, at Yorktown, was built by the first Nelson who came to Virginia and who was known as “Scotch Tom” from his having come from Penrith in Cumberland, near the border of Scotland. This Thomas Nelson was the great merchant who established the prominent family of which his grandson, Thomas Nelson, Jr., and […]

Carter’s Grove is on the James River in the lower end of James City County, about five miles from Williamsburg. It was built by Carter Burwell in 1751. Carter Burwell was the son of Nathaniel Burwell, who married Elizabeth Carter, “King” Carter’s daughter, and he, Carter, married Lucy, daughter of John Grymes. The place had […]

One of the most interesting spots in Virginia is Williamsburg, second capital of the Colony of Virginia, where at present many historical shrines are being restored through the generosity of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Williamsburg had its inception in a meeting held by the colonists in 1699, when it was proposed to move the capital […]

Sherwood Forest, in Charles City County, is about twelve miles below Westover on the River Road. It is situated on the north side of the James River opposite the Brandons, as a bird flies. The manor house is a mile back from the river, although the plantation originally took in a mile or more of […]

Elsing Green is situated in King William County, the original owner being Captain William Dandridge, who was a member of the Virginia Council. The Dandridges sold the place to the Braxton family, and from them it was purchased by William Burnet Browne, who is supposed to have named it after Elsing Hall in Norfolk, England, […]

River Edge, as it has been known for the last hundred years or more, is on Old Indian Trail road, now River Road South, in Charles City County. The property was a grant of ten thousand acres from the king to Colonel William Cole, Esquire. The grant included all land along the James River from […]

A place of much beauty and charm is Hampstead, the home of Mrs. William Wallace, in New Kent County, and situated about twenty miles east of Richmond, near Tunstall Station. This handsome old place was built about 1812 by Colonel Conway Webb, of Virginia, for his young wife, a Miss Osborne from New England. Their […]