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The hospitality industry (food and lodging) attracted some commerce along the U.S. Route 1 corridor until the I-95 era. Housing – particularly affordable housing for Washington area governmental workers and for returning veterans and, in the Baby Boom era, increased populations – became a Stafford growth industry. Relatively cheap land, relatively low taxes, and a…

Colonial Circuits, located in the Hartwood District on U.S. 17, represents the small businesses which have become an economic mainstay for Stafford. About 1,700 smaller businesses provide jobs to Staffordians. Colonial Circuits Geico represents one of the substantial businesses which have become an economic backbone for Stafford. GEICO   Over 40 national companies are already…

With care and perseverance, old buildings can be given new life and commercial viability. For example, the large brick building in the featured photo became Amy’s Café in Falmouth. Amy’s Cafe Sometimes, however, historic places are removed but their names remain. Doctor Hawkins Stone’s house was removed when Doc Stone Plaza was created off of…

Mary Washington College opened a Stafford branch in the fall of 1999. It was specifically designed for mid-life professionals seeking academic degrees. It was originally called James Monroe campus. Later on, Mary Washington changed its name to The University of Mary Washington. The Stafford campus name was changed too to be University of Mary Washington,…

After they are brought to Dover Air Force Base, all fallen soldiers, Marines, airmen, and sailors are escorted home to their families and loved ones by a uniformed member of the U.S. armed forces. In mid-April 2004, 38-year-old U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Michael R. Strobl, a manpower analyst assigned to the Combat Development Command in…

by Eric Powell   While modern highways are a 20th Century feature, transportation has always played an important role in Stafford’s History.  Bordered by both the Potomac and the Rappahannock Rivers, the earliest highways were the rivers.  The local tribes traveled these by canoe, trading with other tribes throughout the Chesapeake.  When the English arrived,…

We often take for granted daily mail delivery, giving little thought to this vital service unless a problem occurs.  Yet daily delivery is a relatively modern convenience that evolved gradually over some two hundred years.  Colonial authorities recognized the need for a dependable postal system early on and on March 2, 1693 the Assembly passed…

A remarkable Stafford figure during and after the Civil War was Mrs. William Henry Fitzhugh, Anna Maria Sarah Goldsborough Fitzhugh. A daughter of Maryland governor Charles Goldsborough, she was Fitzhugh’s wife (1814) and widow (1830). Childless, Anna Maria took an active interest in supporting the Lee family and other relatives and friends. Robert E. Lee…

John Hedgman was born around 1776. He died in 1887 in Detroit, Michigan. His obituary reads: “John Hedgman, Aged 111 years. John Hedgman, who died in Detroit last Sunday, was perhaps one of the oldest persons of modern times. He was born in Fauquier Co., Virginia, in August 1776, and in that state spent nearly…

Oral history should play a part in historical research, but there must always be an effort to find documentation to support it, at least in part. When the MacGregor family purchased Concord in 1859, they were told some of the oral history of the property. On the eastern end of the yard is a finely…