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In an effort to help Virginia’s low-income farmers who were struggling as a result of the Great Depression, the Farm Security Administration established Home Industries Markets in various areas of the state. One of these was located in Stafford County on U. S. Route 1 near Potomac Run and was operational by June of 1940.…

Walter Lee Watson was the son of John Russell Watson (1842-1901) and Sarah Grigsby of Stafford. He operated a store near the Brooke railroad underpass and did a wholesale-retail business there. A railroad side track ran next to his building, which provided easy unloading of feed, fertilizer, and other commodities. Mr. Watson butchered his own…

Many early place names in this region are corruptions of Indian names or words. These include Potomac River, Chappawamsic Creek, Aquia Creek, Accokeek Creek, Rappahannock River, Occoquan River, Quantico Creek, and many others. English explorers and settlers struggled to find spellings for sounds in the Indian language that didn’t match the English alphabet. “A New…

By the late nineteenth century, granite quarrying in Virginia was a growing business. There were large deposits of the stone on both sides of the Rappahannock River above Falmouth and in the general vicinity of the Interstate 95 bridge across the river. As one drives south across the Rappahannock, a significant quarry pit survives near…

Have you ever wondered where, exactly, Garrisonville is located? Or perhaps you’ve been curious about who or what the area was named for. We assure readers that despite the sign forewarning of yet another new shopping center on Route 610, there was never a military garrison at Garrisonville. While the name Garrisonville presently refers to…

Nathaniel Waller Ford (1820-1880), who signed his personal letters “Waller,” was the son of Capt. William Ford (1788-1834) and Elizabeth Allen Hore (1792-1822) of Stafford. Nathaniel married Margaret Ursula Waller (1821-1901) of Bloomington. Part of the Bloomington tract is now occupied by Patawomeck Park in Widewater. In 1843, Nathaniel purchased Woodstock on Aquia Creek. Part…

Interracial marriage wasn’t legal in Virginia until 1967, but Stafford had several mixed-race families living in Stafford. Nancy Ross (1839- 1924) was enslaved in Stafford County. At some point, she came to live with Alexander Morson Green (1827-1904), the son of Falmouth industrialist Duff Green (1792-1854). The 1870 Stafford census listed Nancy as Alex’s cook.…

Who was Shelton and Where Was His Shop?  Over the years, people have asked about the location and history of Shelton’s Shop. We learned the story from long-time county resident, Mr. Kenny Kendall, of the location of Shelton’s blacksmith shop. Shelton Shop Road (Route 648) is named for Gustavus “Gusty” Thomas Shelton (1874-1967) who ran…

Driving south from Stafford Courthouse you may have noticed an abandoned bridge tucked back in the woods to the immediate south of the Rowser Building. This was part of the U. S. Route 1 project and was built around 1920 at a cost of $9,000. It was abandoned around 1933 when Route 1 was shifted…

Dorothea Lynde Dix was among the Civil War women of note who were also in Stafford during the “Valley Forge”-period and was one of the more famous women in the war. Widely known before the war as a social reformer, she had worked tirelessly for better treatment for the mentally ill and women in prison.…

If the “cruel war” had not come and changed America forever, Ellen Harris, then 45 years of age, would probably have lived a happy matronly life in middle-class obscurity. Like so many ladies before the war, she was a member of a number of charitable groups, earnestly engaged in helping the destitute and ignorant in…

Our Privacy Policy: We are committed to protecting your privacy. Your privacy and the integrity of any information you provide are important to us. We have developed the following policy pursuant to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, 2000 c.5. (the “Privacy Act”). This page sets out our privacy policy and describes why…