Historical Attractions
Lancaster County was created by the Virginia Assembly
in 1651 from land then belonging to York and Northumberland Counties. At
the time it spanned both sides of the Rappahannock and extended into what
is now West Virginia. Over time, the General Assembly pared down this vast
acreage, eventually creating 16 of modern-day Virginia's 96 counties, along
with three counties now in West Virginia, from land that belonged at one
time to "old Lancaster County." Through it all, Lancaster County's
contribution to Virginia-and national-history has remained large.
Colonial Era
While Williamsburg was filling up with merchants and innkeepers catering
to the crowds that gathered there for meetings of the House of Burgesses, court
hearings and market days, in Lancaster County, men like John Carter and William
Ball were clearing land, planting tobacco and building the plantations that
would—until the soil gave out—serve as the economic backbone of the
Virginia colony. Many of the fine houses built by the planters succumbed to
fire and other forces of nature. Those that remain standing are privately owned.
(But check the Calendar of Events regularly. Some are open for Spring Garden
Week and other special events.)
Lancaster County's colonial heritage is preserved not only in its surviving
colonial homes but in a number of museums and historical sites, as well.
- Historic
Christ Church is perhaps Lancaster County's major monument to the
colonial heritage. An architectural and historical gem built by Robert "King" Carter
in the 18th century and restored to its original condition in the late
1950s, it is open to the public year-round.
- St. Mary's Whitechapel was built in
1739-1741 on the site of an earlier church. In it are preserved two sets
of altar tablets dating from 1702 and 1718, and its cemetery contains the
graves of parishioners dating back to 1698. The church still serves an active
congregation today.
- The Mary Ball Washington Museum and Library,
named for George Washington's mother, born just down the road at Epping Forest
Plantation, is actually a complex of several buildings, including the first
county clerk's office and the old county jail, where public hangings were
a big draw in the 19th century. It is also an important center for genealogical
research and houses an impressive textile collection consisting of over 500
items from the 18th through the early 20th century.
The Civil War and the Steamboat Era
Lancaster County was spared much of the military depredation suffered
by other Southerners during the Civil War, although official records are replete
with stories of Yankee raiding parties coming ashore to seize provisions or
loot. And local graveyards bear witness to the terrible price paid by families
who lost fathers, husbands and sons in the tragic conflict.
However, even though Lancaster County never became a battlefield and her citizens
never had to endure the presence of an occupying force, the war's economic
impact was just as devastating as elsewhere in the South, so much so, in fact,
that at one point in the war, a Yankee gunboat captain requested permission
to provide the destitute population with "the necessities of life."
Recovery was aided by the steamboat traffic that, even before the outbreak
of the war, had begun to stimulate the economy of the Northern Neck.Throughout
the 19th and into the 20th centuries, steamboats would be an integral part
of the Northern Neck economy and the lifestyle of its citizens with ports such
as Irvington becoming major centers of commerce and culture and serving as
clearing-houses for news and gossip.
Irvington, Weems, Merry Point, Millenbeck and Morattico are living monuments
to the steamboat era, although little remains of the busy wharves, ticket agencies
and inns that once served passengers.
- The Confederate Memorial on the grounds
of the Lancaster Courthouse Historic District was erected in 1872. It is
believed to be the first monument of its kind erected in the state.
- A
new, 4300-square foot Steamboat Era Museum is
slated to open on the town green in Irvington in spring 2003. The museum
will house artifacts, photographs, oral history and serve as a center for
the study of this important epoch in the history of Lancaster County, the
Northern Neck and the Middle Peninsula.
The 20th Century and Beyond
In the 20th century, fire and foul weather inflicted far more damage on Lancaster
County than the Civil War did. Fire decimated Irvington in 1917 and struck
Kilmarnock three times between 1909 and 1952. A hurricane in 1933 destroyed
the last of the steamboat wharves, and in 1954, Hazel visited, wreaking havoc
on fishing boats, homes, highways and businesses.
Lancaster County languished for awhile. Then tourists and retirees began to
discover the area, and an economic turnaround that continues today began.
- The Reedville Fishermen's Museum in
neighboring Northumberland County displays artifacts, models and records
documenting the history fishing in the Northern Neck from early Native American
techniques to those that still survive among oystermen, pound fishermen and
crabbers.
- The
Kilmarnock Museum on Kilmarnock's Main Street focuses on the history
of commerce, banking, education, religion, social customs, aquaculture
and agriculture in the area. Noteworthy is a videotape of the 1952 fire
that nearly destroyed the town.
Nearby Attractions
- Stratford, the family seat of the Lees, home to the only two brothers
to sign the Declaration of Independence and birthplace of the Civil War general
Robert E. Lee, is located in Westmoreland County, approximately 45 minutes
from the town of Kilmarnock.
- A short drive beyond Stratford is George Washington
Birthplace National Monument, a 550-acre site featuring a Memorial
House built to replace the original, which burned on Christmas Day in 1779.
Also a Visitor Center, the Washington family cemetery, a colonial kitchen,
gardens and picnic grounds with a nature trail.