Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings
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BELLE AIR Virginia |
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This early frame plantation house was built about 1670. Despite 18th- and 19th-century additions, it still retains its rare original structural interior framework of heart pine. Plainly visible today are the summer beams, intermediate and corner posts, and an unusual staircase. Situated on a knoll and surrounded by a 4-acre lawn and a grove of old trees, the house overlooks more than 200 acres of rolling farmland. Restored in the 1950's, it is furnished with 18th-century antiques. A smokehouse, old laundry-kitchen, and a new herb garden are interesting adjuncts to the house, which is privately owned and is open during Historic Garden Week.
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BLADENSFIELD ESTATE Virginia |
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The original Bladensfield Estate, of 1,000 acres, was patented by John Jenkins in 1653, and the present house was built for Jenkins by Nicholas Rochester, who came from England in 1689. At Jenkins' death, in 1719, Bladensfield was added to the Nomini Hall estate. The house is a large frame building on a brick basement. The walls of nogging covered with clapboards rise two stories to a gabled roof, which has several dormers. The largest of the dormers is over the entrance. Mantels and cornices are hand-carved, and the flooring is dowel-pinned. The house is privately owned and is not open to the public.
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| Late in the 17th century, John Jenkins built this mansion on his 1,000-acre Bladensfield Estate, in Virginia. |
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FORT MONROE Virginia |
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Fort Monroe is located on the site of some of the first fortifications built by the English in North America. At this site, in 1609, the Jamestown settlers built Algernourne Fort, a wooden structure, against possible attack by the Spanish. This fort was occupied by 50 settlers and equipped with 7 cannon. During the period 1630 to 1632, it was reconstructed by Col. Samuel Mathews and renamed Point Comfort. It was again reconstructed, this time in brick, during the years 1728-30, and called Fort George, but in 1749 was destroyed by heavy winds. During the Siege of Yorktown, Count de Grasse strengthened his defenses by placing batteries on the point.
Construction of the present Fort Monroe was begun in 1819 and was largely completed in 1836. The fort was completely surrounded by a water-filled moat and a 40-gun water battery, which stood between the outer banks of the moat and the shore of Chesapeake Bay. In 1865, President Lincoln held an unsuccessful peace conference at the fort with Confederate commissioners. After the collapse of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, its President, was captured and held prisoner for 2 years at the fort, which is a Registered National Historic Landmark (relating primarily to the Civil War).
For more than 350 years, the site of Fort Monroe has been occupied continuously—having been garrisoned longer than any other Army post in the United States. Through the years the fort has grown from a crude frontier stockade to one of our major Army posts. Fort Monroe, the last and most important of the defenses built on this site, is now the headquarters for the Continental Army Command.
NHL Designation: 12/19/60
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GRACE CHURCH Virginia |
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York-Hampton Parish was formed about 1680 by uniting the two parishes. In 1697, a new church was erected at Yorktown, the two earlier churches being abandoned. Built of native marl, it was T-shaped and had a steeple. During the War for Independence, the windows and furnishings were destroyed by fire, and the British used the church as a magazine. After being restored and used for many years, it was again burned during the War of 1812. It was then rebuilt, but the transept was pulled down, leaving the nave, the rectangular building of today.
During the Civil War, the church was used again for military purposes; the furnishings were destroyed, and the bricks from the old wall around the churchyard taken away. The old bell was removed in 1865, but in 1889 it was recast and returned. The marl walls have been hardened by the two fires that have gutted the building. The cupola and carved doorway are late additions. Services are still held every Sunday.
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HENRICUS (HENRICOPOLIS) SITE Virginia |
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In the fall of 1611, Sir Thomas Dale and 350 workmen from Jamestown, of which Dale was later Governor, built the city of Henricus about 10 miles below present Richmond at the great bend of the James River. Dale's orders were to move the inhabitants of Jamestown to the new city and to make it the capital of the colony. The proposed city was situated on 7 acres of ground in the neck of Farrar's Island, where it then joined the mainland. In 1618, Gov. Sir George Yeardley was instructed to choose a suitable site at the city for a University of Henrico, already imposed in the town's charter. Accordingly, 10,000 acres were set aside and money was collected in England to finance the college. The Indians, however, destroyed the city in 1622, and the migration from Jamestown never occurred. Nevertheless, Henricopolis marked the first notable expansion of the colony upriver from Jamestown. A small tract of the original city of Henricus is owned today by the Virginia Society of the Colonial Dames of America, and it is marked by two stone monuments.
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HILL FARM Virginia |
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This farm was patented about 1663 by Capt. Richard Hill. The well proportioned, one-and-a-half story brick house was built in the last half of the 17th century; one of the bricks is dated 1697. Frame additions are of a later period. The first story sets on a high foundation; the half story is lighted by dormers set closely together on the tall gabled roof. In the center of the house is a wide cross hall, from which rises a fine stairway. On the left is the parlor, which has handsomely restored paneling and moldings. Privately owned, the house is not open to the public.
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KEELING HOUSE Virginia |
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When Adam Keeling I made his will in 1683, he bequeathed to his son Thomas the land on which this story-and-a-half house was soon built, apparently by Thomas. Especially notable is the fine colonial brickwork, which is a good example of Flemish bond. The design is worked out in the gables by the use of blue headers. The end chimneys give height, and dormers relieve the severity of the steep-pitched roof. A kitchen wing has been added to the original house. Privately owned, the house is not open to the public.
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MERCHANT'S HOPE CHURCH Virginia |
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This gaunt, rectangular church takes its name from a grant of land made in 1635 to the owners of The Merchant's Hope, a bark that plied between England and Virginia. The interior has been greatly altered, though the floors are still paved with the original flagstones. The year 1657, carved in one of the huge rafters of the barrel-vaulted roof, has been considered the date of construction, although the design is of a later period.
Like most of the old colonial churches, Merchant's Hope suffered depredations during later wars. The interior was destroyed during the Civil War, when the church was used as a picket station, but the beautiful colonial brick exterior is practically the same as when it was built. The church, a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia, holds services only during the summer months.
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OLD MANSION Virginia |
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Old Mansion was the seat of the original Bowling Green Estate. Maj. John Hoomes built the house on land he patented in 1670. The early brick portion of the one-and-a-half story house, built not later than 1675, has balanced dormer windows. The brick walls are in good condition, though they are somewhat concealed by a weathered coat of white paint. During the century following construction, a frame portion was added at the rear. It continues the steep-hipped gambrel roof, now covered with modern roofing. A small porch added along the side and a wide screened porch across the front further obscure the original appearance.
The grounds are distinctive. A large tree-lined oval—a well-kept bowling green—stretches from the entrance gate to near the front of the house. This is ringed by cedar trees, some of which are apparently original. An unusual walk, lined by old English boxwoods, leads from the top of the green to the house entrance. At the rear are remnants of a terraced garden. An avenue of ancient holly trees approaches the south side of the house. The house is privately owned and is not open to the public.
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ROSEGILL ESTATE Virginia |
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Ralph Wormeley patented this estate and began construction in 1649. The house contained a chapel, picture gallery, large library, and 30 guest chambers. One immense attic room provided 14 beds for bachelor guests. Two Governors—Sir Henry Chicheley and Lord Francis Howard—lived in the house, which was once the temporary seat of the colony. The present main house contains part of the first. The long, many-windowed building has one brick and one frame story beneath a gabled roof. Green shutters flank the numerous windows and accent the white walls. Privately owned, the house is not open to the public.
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| This mid-17th-century mansion, at Rosegill Estate, was once the temporary seat of the colony of Virginia. |
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SHEILD HOUSE Virginia |
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Thomas Sessions built this one-and-a-half story house, an outstanding example of 17th-century brick construction, in the 1690's. Walls of large brick rise from a high basement to a gabled roof. Outside chimneys and five dormers provide character. The front door is a so-called "Christian door," although not of the same type as in the Old North Church in Boston. This one has two upright crosses, but the same tradition clung to it—that it was good for driving witches away. The house also has many HL hinges, which were chiefly used in New England. The Siege of Yorktown, in 1781, raged around the house, which was also used during the Civil War by one of Gen. George B. McClellan's staff for a headquarters. Privately owned, the house is not open to the public.
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SMITH'S FORT PLANTATION SITE (ROLFE HOUSE) Virginia |
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This is the site of a fortification built by Capt. John Smith on the south side of the James River as a refuge in the event that enemy attack forced evacuation of Jamestown, across the river. Constructed early in 1609, the fort was the first extension of Jamestown, but was hardly used because no attacks occurred. The generally accepted site is marked by a few mounds of earth and is on property owned by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. The site has been called both "Smith's Fort Plantation" and "The Rolfe Property," for the site also contains a small brick residence that was built on property owned by John Rolfe. The property was part of a grant made to Rolfe by Powhatan when Rolfe married Pocahontas, Powhatan's daughter. The house, called the "Rolfe House," "Warren House," and "Fifty-Foot Brick House," was reportedly built by Thomas Warren in 1652 and is the oldest brick house in Virginia. It has been restored, furnished in 17th-century style, and is open to the public.
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| Possibly the oldest brick residence in Virginia, the "Rolfe House," or "Warren House," dates from about 1652. It is located on the site of a fortification built in 1609 by Capt. John Smith to protect Jamestown. |
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http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/explorers-settlers/sitee31.htm
Last Updated: 22-Mar-2005