Site Search

Aquia Church is an excellent example of combining freestone and brick in colonial Virginia.   Built in cruciform design; its eight corners were trimmed with freestone quoins.  Keystones of Aquia stone were inserted in the round brick arches of the windows.  Doorways were decorated with sandstone instead of the rubbed brick popular in other Tidewater…

From an obscure island on Aquia Creek in Stafford, Virginia, came sandstone which was destined to construct America’s most historically significant architectural works.  The stone was never referred to as “sandstone” by our founding fathers.  Instead, it was called “Aquia Stone” since the stone was found on the island or else close to the shore…

This is the first known photograph of the United States Capitol.  Most of it contains stone from Stafford. In 1846, John Plumbe created this daguerreotype which shows the rounded dome known as the Bullfinch Dome.  This dome graced the U.S. Capitol from 1825 -1856.  It was made out of wood and covered with copper.  The…

Stone was quarried by skilled artisans, usually from England or Scotland, along with enslaved labor.  It was shipped by masted ships and sailed down Aquia Creek.  Once it reached the Potomac River, the stone traveled north to Washington, D.C.   In this picture, by N.C. Wyeth, President Washington and architect James Hoban are inspecting the…

This octagonal-shaped church was built in 1814 as a memorial for seventy-two people who perished in an 1811 Richmond Theatre fire.  Chief Justice John Marshall headed fundraising efforts to memorialize the victims.  Robert Mills, designer of the Washington Monument, designed the church.  Built upon the site of the theater, the walls were made of Aquia…

In 1814, during the War of 1812, the British came to Washington, D.C. and burned both the U.S. Capitol and White House.  During this time, the Aquia stone of both buildings got extremely hot, only to be cooled by a violent rainstorm. Stafford historian Homer Musselman identified 153 Staffordians, almost all in the 45th Virginia…

As a wedding gift, George Washington presented granddaughter Nelly Custis and nephew Lawrence Lewis with 2,000 acres.  Included in the tract was Gray’s Hill, an area the president marked off as “a most beautiful Site for a Gentleman’s Seat.”  The couple stayed at Mount Vernon until after the death of both General and Mrs. Washington.…

The “Old Patent Office” was started in 1836 and completed in 1867.  Only the south wing is of sandstone, other wings are of white marble.  The south wing facade is patterned after the Parthenon.  In 1964 – 67 this Greek Revival building became home to the National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of American…

For almost a century, 1694 – 1791,  Aquia stone was quarried from Brent’s Island to assist in the construction of homes, buildings, bridges as well as in the creative arts like mantles and gravestones. After the U.S. Government purchased the island in 1791, most of the stone created the President’s House and U.S. Capitol.  Capitol…

This stately mansion sits on a bluff in Yorktown, Virginia, and was built around 1730.  It was constructed of English-made bricks, previously used as ships’ ballast.  Aquia stone from Government Island was used for decorative trim.  During the Revolutionary War, Thomas Nelson, Jr., lived in the house that was built by his grandfather.  Nelson, a…

The White House was first painted in 1798.  Thereafter, it was painted about every four years for the new president.  In the 1980s through the 1990s the White House underwent a paint removal process and an Aquia stone restoration project.  After 42 layers of paint were removed from the entrance at the North Portico, it…