Sanford-Burgess Slave Quarter
Located on what was once the Sanford Farm is a newly preserved and rebuilt building that was once home to an enslaved family. Called the Sanford-Burgess Slave Quarter, it is one of the few examples of housing for enslaved peoples in Stafford County.
The Sanford-Burgess Slave Quarter is a one-and-a-half-story log cabin built around the 1850’s. The building is located on what used to be the Sanford Farm, which was owned by Lawrence and Apphia Sanford and operated before and during the Civil War. During the peak of the Sanford farm, the family enslaved 20 individuals, but by the time the cabin was built in the 1850s, that number had gone down to 13. The exact identities of the enslaved people who would have lived in this house and on the farm are unknown, but we do know there were 13 enslaved male farm workers, with one remaining by emancipation in 1863. The decline of the number of enslaved people follows the decline of the farm, which took a large hit after the death of Lawrence Sanford and at the beginning of the Civil War. In 1860, there were 9 enslaved people left on the property, with most being children or elderly. In 1864 Apphia Sanford passed away, leaving the farm to be sold.
At the start of the 20th century, years after the sale of the farm the building was converted into a farm shop, resulting in various updates and changes to the structure. Some of these changes are an update to the roofing, replacing the wood tiles with metal, and adding additions like a shed and counters. Despite these updates, elements of the original structure and how it would have been while the original enslaved inhabitants lived there remain. Components like a small stairwell that lead to the half-story would have been used for storage and possibly a sleeping area, a now-covered brick flute that would have been connected to a wood stove for heating, and some of the original dovetail logs that make up the walls remain to show the conditions of the original inhabitants.
Currently, the Sanford-Burgess Slave Quarter has been deconstructed and repaired, with the walls, roof, and structure repaired and preserved so that the building and its history can continue.
