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Historian John Tackett Goolrick described the Confederate “Secret Line”….. The famed “underground telegraph” of the Confederacy ran from Washington down the eastern shore of Maryland, across the Potomac to Aquia or Potomac Creek, or to the point most convenient, and through Stafford to Fredericksburg, and onward to Richmond. The Federals, even when they had a…

 War came unexpectedly to all Americans on December 7, 1941.  In 1942 world events profoundly impacted rural Stafford County.  The Marine Corps, on the brink of the Guadalcanal offensive, desperately needed to expand their training facilities at Quantico to accommodate the large influx of soldiers bound for deployment in the Pacific.  In 1918 the Marines…

Julius Garibaldi (Gari) Melchers was an award-winning American artist whose style encompassed elements of both realism and impressionism. Melchers and his wife, Corinne, purchased the Belmont estate in Falmouth, Virginia in 1916. The artist maintained his home and studio here until his death in 1932. At her death in 1955, Corinne Melchers bequeathed the Belmont…

During the Depression, in the 1930s, Stafford women learned how to extend food by cooking wisely and making their own clothes with home demonstration teams from Virginia Polytechnic Institute (known today as Virginia Tech). During World War II, Stafford women were led again by Home Demonstration and extension agents in programs to increase food production.…

Until Interstate 95 permanently altered the socio-economic make-up of Stafford, many residents lived on small family farms where they grew their own fruits and vegetables, kept hogs, chickens, geese, and a milk cow or two. A few folks, like Dr. John Churchill Gordon (1871-1949), operated small dairies that provided milk and cream to locals who…

New roads through Stafford County brought economic development potential. U.S. Route 1 actually brought on a celebration in 1927. By 1932, Stafford had something approaching a road network. Jefferson Davis Highway Opening Pagent Numerous businesses thrived in Stafford County on U. S. Route 1 between 1920 and the mid-1960s. One such local landmark was Victor’s…

Many drivers utilize GPS navigation systems to find their way around, having abandoned printed highway road maps. Prior to the maps, travelers used the Official Automobile Blue Book to find their way through unfamiliar territory. Publication of these early road guides commenced around 1912. For the most part, directions were given in a written format…

Falmouth has a long history of “damaging floods”. Our historian, Jerrilynn Eby compiled this list of floods that have occurred between 1738 and 1972. There have been 18 major floods in 234 years averages 1 damaging flood every 13 years. That, of course, isn’t counting the many floods that covered River Road with water during…

General Daniel Ruggles: General: Your dispatch, of the 24th instant, requesting to know the policy and orders by which you are governed, is at hand. You will act on the defensive. Station your troops at suitable points to command the railroad; write and give assurance of protection to the inhabitants on the rivers; cause your…

During the Great Depression many young men had difficulty finding jobs. As part of the New Deal legislation proposed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was created. It was a public work relief program for unemployed men age 18-24. The program provided unskilled manual labor related to the conservation and development…

On May 31, 1861, Stafford saw the first engagement of the Civil War between the U.S. Navy and the shore batteries of the Confederacy at Aquia Landing.  Prior to that date, the Confederates believed that Union forces might attack via the Potomac, and if they got control of Aquia Landing they could take over the…

Anne E. Moncure (1895-1984)—the daughter of Robert Ambler Moncure (1864-1923) and Agnes Waller (1864-1951) of Stafford. “Miss Anne E.” began her teaching career in 1921 at what is now the office of the Stafford County School Board. Her first class of first graders contained 65 children from age 6 to teenagers. Over the years she…