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The Mariner’s Cross depicts the crucifixion of Christ on an anchor motif. The King James II Tuppence Piece (right) was pierced for a pendant. Both artifacts were recovered from the Brent “Woodstock” house archaeological site in Stafford. (Northern Virginia Chapter of the Archaeological Society of Virginia – NVC/ASV).

Between 5,000 and 1,000 years ago, native-people tribal groups occupied the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay including the Stafford area. Subsisting primarily on small game and nuts, they migrated from hunting camp to camp. About 3,200 years ago the Woodland-period began.  

Between 8,500 and 5,000 years ago, Paleo-Indians responded to warming trends and heavier precipitation, which exposed the continental shelf on which Tidewater Virginia now sits. In forests of oak and pine, Paleo-Indian groups mastered woodlands and refined stone weapons and tools, as shown in the exhibit hand axe. They formed larger “band-level” societies in temporary…

Humans have occupied Virginia for 16,000 years. Relatively little is known of the earliest, Paleo-Indians or “hunter-gatherers” who arrived after the Ice Age.  These first humans are identified by their tell-tale fluted projectile points and lived by hunting bison, mastodon, and elk in small groups or “bands,” and by foraging for edible and medicinal plants.…

During a lengthy prehistoric-era, the area roughly east of today’s I-95 highway was covered by ocean water. Prehistoric sharks and other sea life were found in abundance. As the waters receded and the shelf was exposed, prehistoric creatures and other life forms of many types emerged. Over 119 million years ago, new life was evident.…

The town of Falmouth was established in 1728 on the falls of the Rappahannock River. In the 18th century moving goods overland was extremely difficult due to the lack of roads and the extremely poor condition of those that existed; it was far easier to move goods and people by water. Consequently, early 18th century…

Stafford County saw three major Federal occupations during the Civil War: April-September 1862; November 1862-June 1863; and April-June 1864. By far the largest and most significant occupation was November 1862 to June 1863. This involved the Union Army of the Potomac’s arrival and participation in the battle of Fredericksburg (December 11-15, 1862); post-Fredericksburg recovery; the…

Recent discoveries reveal humans have been in Virginia for at least 16,000 years B.P. [Before Present] or 14,000 B.C. [Before Christ]. The earliest, known as Paleo-Indians, were “hunter-gatherers,” who arrived after the Ice Age. In small bands, they roamed grasslands hunting mastodon, bison, elk, deer, and smaller mammals, and gathered edible and medicinal plants, using…

Besides the Brents, the Masons were another English family that settled early in Stafford. George Mason (I) left England along with his cousins, Thomas and Gerard Fowke of Staffordshire. George Mason (I) was the great-grandfather of the famous George Mason (IV). Originally, they moved to Westmoreland County. Later, they settled on a hill by Accokeek…

Anne Brooks Braurer sat down with the Tell Your Stafford Story camera crew at her home. Anne talks about growing up in the Historic Falmouth area of Stafford County, VA in the 1930s and 40s.