History Between the Rappahannock & Potomac

Joined
Nov 26, 2016
Location
central NC

Tides.jpg

Our first post-pandemic trip was a stay at the Tides Inn in Irvington, VA. Of course, you don’t have to look far in Virginia to find plenty of history and connections to Robert E. Lee seem to be everywhere. We found a couple that I wanted to share.

Men1.jpg

Menokin, now a mere house fragment, belonged to Francis Lee, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Francis grew up at Stratford Hall where Robert E. Lee was later born. I've never seen preservation attempted in this particular way. Their plan is to rebuild the rest of the outside walls of this house entirely out of glass. Work was suspended when the pandemic hit.

Men2.jpg

Christ Church (Episcopal) in Irvington, VA is unique and interesting in several ways. It is very old (built 1730-1732) and has never been modernized. No electricity, lighting, plumbing, heat, or air conditioning. It's large, even though it's out in the middle of nowhere. And it was financed by Robert Carter, one of the wealthiest men in colonial Virginia. His descendants include two US Presidents, one Supreme Court justice, and Robert E. Lee. This church was built by slaves.

Church1.jpg

I was excited to see the three tiered pulpit, one of only two surviving in Virginia. The lowest level was used to make announcements. The middle level was used to read the gospel and the top level was where the minister delivered the sermon.

Church2.jpg

I highly recommend this area and the Tides Inn. I was ready for some fun in the sun.

Summer Fun.jpg

All of these pics were made by my hubby, @Southern Unionist .
 
Mary Ball Washington, George's mother, was born here. It's just 2 or 3 miles from Menokin, by air. The house is privately owned, unmarked, and notoriously hard to find. It's been expanded in more recent years, so the original structure could be either side.

DSC04037.JPG


We've now completed the entire Mary Ball Washington tour, from her childhood home to the site where George was born and spent his early childhood, to Ferry Farm, where he spent the rest of his childhood across the river from the south side of Fredericksburg, and the house in Fredericksburg that George bought for her to spend her widow years, and the split rock in Fredericksburg where she went on foot to pray for her son while he was leading the Revolutionary War and serving as first President. We have one item left, the Fredericksburg home of her daughter, who George trusted to keep an eye on his mother.
 
Last edited:
Mary Ball Washington, George's mother, was born here. It's just 2 or 3 miles from Menokin, by air. The house is privately owned, unmarked, and notoriously hard to find. It's been expanded in more recent years, so the original structure could be either side.

View attachment 405986

We've now completed the entire Mary Ball Washington tour, from her childhood home to the site where George was born and spent his early childhood, to Ferry Farm, where he spent the rest of his childhood across the river from the south side of Fredericksburg, and the house in Fredericksburg that George bought for her to spend her widow years, and the split rock in Fredericksburg where she went on foot to pray for her son while he was leading the Revolutionary War and serving as first President. We have one item left, the Fredericksburg home of her daughter, who George trusted to keep an eye on his mother.
I somehow missed any mention of her grave in Fredericksburg, which I have visited but neglected to photograph.
 
Oversight. As I recall, she is buried a few paces from Meditation Rock. We saw it too. Have you visited Kenmore? It's still on our list.
Only from the outside during the same ca. 1991 walking tour that I saw Mary's grave. Unfortunately on that trip I had a really poor camera and so took very few photos. I was on my way home after finishing working on Last Of The Mohicans in North Carolina, making a HUGE detour from N.C. through Virginia and Maryland all the way to Morristown, N.J. visiting all the Colonial and Revolutionary sites in between. (The only real deviation was a side trip to Chancellorsville since I was so close!) I hit: Lee's birthplace Stratford Hall (Colonial) and Washington's Birthplace NHS (both on the Northern Neck peninsula); Mount Vernon; Independence NHP & Germantown sites in and around Philadelphia; Valley Forge; Brandywine (Chad's Ford); Monmouth C.H. at Freehold and Morristown NHS in N.J. before turning back towards Texas. Since I took so few poor-quality photos I now no longer remember very much about the entire trip!
 
Last edited:
Back
Top