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Unlike most colonial Virginia plantation houses, Mount Airy was constructed of gray sandstone indigenous to the area.  White sandstone from Aquia Creek was used for contrasting trim.  It can be seen in string courses, or horizontal bands, quoins, window enframements, rusticated center pavilions, and pedestals at the top of terrace steps that support a pair…

Gunston Hall was constructed in Fairfax, Virginia, from 1755 to 1758.  It was the home of George Mason, author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, the forerunner of the Bill of Rights.  In the Georgian home of brick, laid in Flemish bond, freestone was used in quoins, chimney caps, the water table, and as keys…

This moated fortification was built between 1819 and 1835.  The fort is constructed mostly of granite, but the Main Sally Port is composed of sandstone.  Some of the brick residences located within the fort and just outside are trimmed with freestone.  Records from the National Archives list the ships that carried the freestone but not…

This elegant Georgian mansion was home to Betty Lewis, George Washington’s sister and the wife of wealthy plantation owner Colonel Fielding Lewis.  The red brick house was built between a pair of detached wings around 1775.  The portico, facing the Rappahannock River, was made with Aquia Stone. The classic simplicity of the exterior is in…

Built as Planters National Bank in 1927, it later went by the names of Farmers and Merchants and First Virginia.  In 2004 BB&T, which acquired the property, worked with the neighboring museum for acquisition.  The Aquia stone trim came from the George Washington Sandstone Corporation on Aquia Creek.

This Georgian Palladian-style manor house, overlooking the Potomac River, was completed in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1753 by John Carlyle, a wealthy Scottish merchant.  Originally constructed entirely out of Aquia stone, it was the only solid stone house in Alexandria at the time.  In 1755, British General Braddock occupied Carlyle’s house as headquarters to plan the…

In 1893 the Episcopal Church was chartered by Congress to build “a house of prayer for all people.” Started in 1907 and completed in 1990, this Gothic place of worship is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world.  The church walls are made of Indiana limestone, but the fifty-one broad steps leading to the south transept…

This eighteenth century building, known in colonial times as Williams Ordinary, went by later names of Love’s Tavern, Stage Coach Inn, and Old Hotel.  The structure is architecturally significant, as it appears to be the only remaining Virginia building with a front wall laid in all-header bond.  Aquia trim can be seen on the quoins…

Two previous Treasury buildings were destroyed by fire.  This structure was begun in 1836 and required thirty-three years to complete.  During construction in 1845, William Force wrote in the Wm. Q. Force Guide, “a noble structure – pity it were not built of something more durable than sandstone…”  Today it is completely made of granite.…

The new District of Columbia was outlined with Aquia stone Boundary Markers.  The 10 square-mile area was encompassed with 40 markers.  The side that faced the inside read, “Jurisdiction of the United States.” The opposite side read “Maryland” or “Virginia,” whichever side it faced.  The third side gave the date it was placed there while…

After the burning of both the White House and the U.S. Capitol in 1814, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Architect of the Capitol, was chosen to rebuild the Capitol and examine the damage at the White House.  Since he did not find that much Aquia stone still available in Stafford, he decided to rebuild using pieces of…

In 1812 Congress bought one hundred plots from the Washington Parish Burial Grounds to inter members who died in office and whose remains could not be moved to their native states.  Fourteen senators and over sixty representatives were buried in the cemetery.  The Congressional Cemetery, as it is now called, has quite a few freestone…