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The Stafford County Historical Society supports all levels and eras of Stafford’s history from prehistoric to modern times.    New technologies and media allow us to expand our reach far beyond physical presence and community and engage with younger audiences.  By interconnecting our knowledge, resources, and collections we can make a larger impact and be relevant…

Marker inscription: Here at Berea, during the Great Depression, was the site of Civilian Conservation Corps Company 2363. This camp, one of many in Virginia, was organized in 1935 and disbanded in 1940. During its existence, the company strung farm fences, planted trees, fought forest fires, and instructed farmers in the practice of soil conservation.…

Marker inscription: Frustrated by the Army of the Potomac’s lack of progress, President Abraham Lincoln replaced army commander Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan with Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, who assumed command on 9 Nov. 1862. Within a week, he had the army marching from its camps near Warrenton toward Fredericksburg along this road. Burnside…

Marker inscription: In Jan. 1863, after the Federal defeat at the First Battle of Fredericksburg on 13 Dec., Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside sought to restore the army’s morale by crossing the Rappahannock River at Banks’s Ford two miles south and attacking the rear of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s army. The march began on 19…

Marker inscription: During the Civil War, a railroad station stood on this site. The station consisted of a warehouse, a platform, quartermaster tents, and several sidings. Trains arrived and departed on the hour traveling to and from Aquia Landing. The station witnessed distinguished visitors like President and Mrs. Lincoln, Clara Barton, and Walt Whitman. In…

Marker inscription: The Creek provided fish for centuries for the Patawomeck people who in turn taught the colonists to fish to survive, to plant vegetables hitherto unknown to the English and to hunt in the forests. A surviving remnant of the Patawomeck became commercial fishermen in the 19th Century and their descendants today continue to…

Marker inscription: Three Stafford High graduates competed in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Jeff Rouse won a gold and a silver medal in swimming. Mark Lenzi received a gold medal in diving. Conrad Adams was the captain of the U.S. Olympic Pentathlon Team. In 1996, Rouse and Lenzi participated in the Atlanta, Georgia Olympics.…

Marker inscription: Nearby here was Sthreshley Farm, site of Abraham Lincoln’s Grand Review. On April 8, 1863, 60,000 men passed the president who sat on a horse for the long, 5½ hour review. 10 year old Tad stayed by his father, while Mrs. Lincoln watched from a carriage. Lincoln constantly touched his tall hat in…

Marker inscription: Originally referred to as Wide Water, this peninsula was a favorite hunting and fishing ground for many U. S. presidents and other dignitaries.  A 13-acre fishing shore at Clifton was the site of Stafford’s longest running industry.  Widewater was the largest railroad fish shipping terminal on the Chesapeake.  In 1903, Professor Samuel Pierpont…

Marker inscription: Pyrite, an important source of sulfuric acid, was discovered in Stafford in 1902. Mining commenced near Smith Reservoir in 1903 but soon moved south to Garrisonville Road in what is now Hampton Oaks subdivision. The main shaft was 650 feet deep. In 1909, a narrow gauge railroad opened to carry ore to coal…

Marker inscription: “I bounded across the Gang plank and concealed Myself for a while until the Steamer got off from the Wharf. I then came out and arrived Safe at 6th Street Wharf in Washington D.C. on the Night of September 1st, 1862 in a hard rain.” —John WashingtonDuring the Civil War, most white Stafford…

Marker inscription: The Patawomeck Tribe, members of the Powhatan Confederacy and millennial original residents of Indian Point, greeted Captain John Smith as he sailed up the Potomac River in 1608. Smith viewed the Tribe’s palisaded villages, built by the Patawomeck who saved Jamestown in the Starving Time. In 1613 Captain Samuel Argall kidnapped Pocahontas, beloved…