Prince William Historic Preservation Division

Many people have called Prince William County home.  Our rich heritage features a diversity of cultures spanning hundreds of years from the early contact of American Indians with English settlers to and the establishment and expansion of the English colonies to the foundation of a new nation, struggles of slavery and the horror of a civil war.  Join us to learn and appreciate the importance of this Northern Virginia community and its contributions to the history of our nation.

Prince William County Historic Sites

Experience a home turned hospital during the Civil War where you can smell, feel, hear and taste history.

Originally part of an extensive Northern Virginia land grant, the site of Ben Lomond was one of numerous plantations that Robert “Councillor” Carter III owned in Colonial Virginia. After Carter died, his large land-holdings were divided amongst his heirs.  His grandson, Benjamin Tasker Chinn, inherited the site of Ben Lomond in 1830 and within two years had built the two story main house along with the dairy, smokehouse, and slave quarter. Chinn leased the property to the Pringle family prior to the Civil War. Both the Chinns and Pringles used their enslaved workforce to farm corn and wheat, as well as care for the nearly 500 Merino sheep that were part of the property.


Immediately after the Battle of 1st Manassas the house was converted into a Confederate field hospital. For nearly a month wounded soldiers were crammed into the house with many more covering the grounds. Confederate troops encamped near the house in the winter, requiring the house to be re-established as a hospital treating diseased men. After the Confederates evacuated the area in 1862, Federal soldiers ransacked the house, destroying furniture and littering the interior with graffiti.

After the Civil War, both the Chinns and Pringles struggled to rebuild. Eventually, the Chinns sold the property. A succession of various owners called Ben Lomond home, including Presley Marion Rixey, chief doctor to President Theodore Roosevelt.
 
In time for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, today Ben Lomond was brought back to its Civil War appearance. When visiting Ben Lomond, visitors can experience the Civil War Hospital through a variety of senses for the sounds, smells and sights of the hospital as it may have been during that time period.

Ben Lomond offers a variety of special events, programs, and tours throughout the year.  For more information, click the link below! 

Ben Lomond Historic Site is located at 10321 Sudley Manor Drive in Manassas, VA 20109.  Contact us at 703-367-7872.


Ben Lomond Historic Site

The fourth seat of Prince William County, learn about the historic town & all the stories it has to tell.

Established on 50 acres in 1820, the Town of Brentsville became the fourth county seat of Prince William County.  By 1820, many residents had moved farther west for better farm land and the old county seat (Dumfries) was too far east for the western residents to conveniently travel.  The new town of Brentsville was centrally located in Prince William County, along the major east/west road, which led from the port of Dumfries to the Shenandoah Valley.  Every type of county business occurred in this courthouse, civil and criminal cases alike, for the next 70 years.  In 1893, the county seat moved to Manassas, which allowed Brentsville to retain much of its 19th century character.

Brentsville was the seat of Prince William County during the Civil War. In response to John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859, the Prince William Cavalry (Co. A Virginia Cavalry) formed here, on the courthouse lawn in January 1860. The ladies of Brentsville made a flag and presented it to the company. Other Confederate units from Prince William County such as Ewell Guards (Co. A. 49th Virginia Infantry) also organized and drilled here.

Like many Virginian towns, Brentsville suffered heavily at the hands of both armies. Confederate General Eppa Hunton, a Brentsville resident and lawyer, had his house and other buildings destroyed. The Hampton Legion, among other units, posted here on scouting missions.  Several homes and churches served as hospitals. The county clerk's office was torn down and its bricks used for camp chimneys. Part of the ca. 1822 courthouse roof was torn off and many county records were either destroyed or taken by soldiers as souvenirs. Capt. Andrew McHenry of the 13th Pennsylvania Infantry wrote of Brentsville in 1864 "the houses generally are in ruin."

The Battle of Bristoe Station fought three miles west on Oct. 14 1863 brought combat to Brentsville's doorstep. During the battle, Federal General John Buford's cavalry posted here to protect the Federal supply train. Confederate partisan units operated in Brentsville until the end of the war.

The 28-acre Brentsville Courthouse Historic Centre includes five historic buildings: 1822 courthouse, 1822 jail, 1880 church, 1850 farmhouse, and a one-room schoolhouse that served the young children of Brentsville from 1929 to 1944.  

Brentsville Courthouse offers a variety of special events, programs, and tours throughout the year.  We have a mile long nature trail onsite and provide Passport Stamps for the Journey Through Hallowed Ground.  For more information, click the link below! 

Brentsville Courthouse Historic Centre Special Events

​Brentsville Courthouse Historic Centre is located at 12229 Bristow Road in Bristow, Virginia 20136.  For more information, call 703-365-7895. 


Brentsville Courthouse Historic Centre

A historic and natural treasure, visit the site of two significant battles during the Civil War.

A quiet section of Prince William County for hundreds of years, during the American Civil War two battles and numerous troop encampments occurred at Bristoe Station.  While small compared to other Civil War battles, the August 1862 Battle of Kettle Run and the October 1863 Battle of Bristoe Station produced hundreds of casualties that were felt from Minnesota to New York and from North Carolina to Louisiana.  Evidence of people who occupied this land remains in the park's road traces, buildings, and cemeteries.

Prior to the Civil War, Bristoe Station was an important stop along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. Drawn by the railroad and the nearby water supply, numerous encampments sprang up around Bristoe Station from 1861 through 1864.  

 In the aftermath of the First Battle of Manassas, several Confederate units established encampments in the woods and fields around the station, nominally called Camp Jones after Col. Egbert Jones of the 4th Alabama Infantry who died of his Manassas wounds on Sept 4th.  The camp was dirty and unsanitary, resulting in an extremely high death count from diseases such as meningitis, small pox, yellow fever, typhoid, measles and pneumonia, which were ravaging camps in both armies in the early stages of the war. Several burial grounds for the dead were established around Camp Jones, though today park historians have only been able to identify the spot of an Alabama cemetery where approximately 82 Alabamians are buried.  On Sept 4th, 1861 Confederate officer William Dorsey Pender wrote to his wife of the conditions at the camp: "I find it hard to keep up my spirits with so much sickness and so many deaths.  We have had six in the last week & several more will die."

In April 1862 General Rufus King's Union division marched through Bristoe Station, where they were waylaid by a massive snowstorm that lasted for four days.  The soldiers of the division set up camp around the home of Thomas K. Davis, a union sympathizer, and tore down all of the fences around his property boundary as well as many of the pine trees on his land for firewood and shelter.

In the winter of 1864 General Samuel Crawford's Pennsylvania Reserve Division was ordered to guard the Orange and Alexandria rail line, covering the area between Centerville and Rappahannock Station.  Several units set up winter camps on the Gaines and Limscomb farms at Bristoe station where they completed the destruction of the now abandoned Davis Farmstead, along with the rest of outbuildings at Bristoe Station and many buildings at nearby Brentsville.

In August 1862 the Civil War returned to Prince William County.  As part of the 2nd Manassas Campaign, Confederate soldiers under Stonewall Jackson captured the railroad at Bristoe Station before capturing the warehouses of food at Manassas.  On the afternoon of August 27, 1862 the small, but deadly, Battle of Kettle Run was fought at Bristoe Station, the first of a series of battles known as 2nd Manassas. 

In the fall of 1863 both the Northern and Southern armies were recuperating after the Battle of Gettysburg.  After troops from both armies were sent west to Tennessee, Confederate General Robert E. Lee attempted to repeat his 2nd Manassas Campaign.  Unlike the previous August, Lee's campaign was defeated on October 14, 1863 at the Battle of Bristoe Station. Learn more about the Battle of Bristoe Station through the mobile tour below. 

Bristoe Station Battlefield offers a variety of special events, programs, and tours throughout the year.  We also have more than 2.7 miles of trails available for recreational use. For more information, click the link below! 

Bristoe Station Battlefield Special Events 

 Bristoe Station Battlfield Heritage Park is located at 10708 Bristow Rd
Bristow, VA 20136 and the entrance is located at the corner of Iron Bridge Unit Avenue and Tenth Alabama Way. For more information, please call 703-366-3049. 

Bristoe Station Civil War Battlefield Park

One of the oldest homes in PWC, experience the change of our nation's history through this single site.

Built circa 1747 by Richard Blackburn, the house is situated between Neabsco Creek, the Potomac River, and the historic King's Highway (present day Route 1).  Mr. Blackburn, and his son Thomas, had extensive land holdings in the county where they grew tobacco, wheat, and other commodities.  With the home located just north of the bustling port town of Dumfries, the Blackburn's could easily export their goods and merchandise to England.  Mr. Blackburn and Thomas were both active in local politics, and Thomas served in the Revolutionary War as a militia member. 

By 1842, the Atkinson Family called Rippon Lodge home for about 90 years before the property was sold to Wade Ellis in 1924.  Ellis, and his wife Dessie, purchased 500 acres and began extensive renovations to the home, turning it into the Colonial Revival residence visitors see today.  Ellis, a prominent lawyer from Washington D.C., is regarded as being responsible for preserving much of the history of Rippon Lodge. 


Admiral Richard Blackburn Black, the last private owner of Rippon Lodge, purchased the home in 1952, and continued to preserve the home and history as Wade Ellis had.  Admiral Black was a direct descendant of the original builder Richard Blackburn, and has been linked to many important historical events, including his exploration of Antarctica with Admiral Richard Byrd.  Admiral Black's daughter sold the property to Prince William County in 2000.

Extensive restoration work began at Rippon Lodge soon after, and was completed in 2007 when the site opened for public tours.  Rippon Lodge Historic Site consists of 43-acres, the Blackburn and Atkinson Family cemetery, formal gardens, and walking trails.  The site interprets the history of the house and owners from 1747 to 2000.  Visitors are welcome to stroll the grounds and gardens. Stunning views of the Potomac River allow for boat and bird watching of all kinds.

Rippon Lodge offers a variety of special events, programs, and tours throughout the year.  We also provide Passport Stamps for the Potomac Heritage Trail, and a National Park Service trail that runs from the Allegheny Highlands to the mouth of the Potomac River at our gift shop.  For more information, click the link below! 

Rippon Lodge Historic Site Special Events 

​Rippon Lodge is located at 15520 Blackburn Road in Woodbridge, VA 22191.  For more information, call 703-499-9812 or 703-792-4754.

Rippon Lodge Historic Site

Visit Prince William County's Historic Sites today!

Ben Lomond Historic Site, Brentsville Courthouse Historic Centre & Rippon Lodge Historic Site 

The Historic Sites are open May - October from 11AM-4PM. The grounds are open daily from dawn until dusk. Other hours are available by appointment. 

Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park 

The Battlefield offers free tours the 2nd & 4th weekends of the month from 11AM-3PM from May-October. The grounds are open daily from dawn until dusk. Other hours are available by appointment. 

Contact Prince William Historic Preservation 

17674 Main Street, Dumfries, Virginia, 22026
703-792-4754
historicpreservation@pwcgov.org 

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Explore museum content and digital tours around the state

Explore the Lynchburg Museum System's two sites ~ The Lynchburg Museum at the Old Court House and Point of Honor, Dr. George Cabell's 1815 house overlooking the James River and downtown Lynchburg.

Lynchburg Museum System

Explore Salem Museum's Exhibits and Grounds

The Salem Museum

The Taubman Museum of Art is part of the lively metro mountain mix of arts, culture and outdoor fun in the heart of downtown Roanoke, Virginia.

As you enjoy your visit, you will notice internationally renowned architect Randall Stout took special care to honor naturalistic elements of the Roanoke region.

Taubman Museum of Art

In 1818 the Lexington Arsenal was created in Lexington, Virginia to store weapons intended for use by the state militia. In 1839 the Virginia Military Institute was founded as the first state-supported military college in the nation. Small at first, the institute grew and is currently home to approximately 1,700 cadets. VMI offers four year undergraduate degree programs in liberal arts, science, engineering, and social sciences requiring its students to maintain an academically and physically rigorous schedule that is intended to prepare them for roles as citizen soldiers.

Virginia Military Institute

George C. Marshall: He won the war. He won the peace. Learn about the man known as World War II's "Organizer of Victory," and Nobel Peace Prize winner for the Marshall Plan. Marshall is the Virginia Military Institute's most famous graduate (Class of 1901) and its only five-star general. 

The independent, non-profit George C. Marshall Foundation preserves and perpetuates Marshall's legacy through the George C. Marshall Museum & Library and offers a wide range of programming and resources for use by the general public, amateur historians, scholars and students of all ages. We are located on the Parade Ground at VMI.

George C. Marshall Museum & Library

A National Register Historical Landmark and one of the oldest, most original operational grist mills in the country located in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. This water-powered grist mill was built in 1782 in an area that would become the quaint village of Millwood. 

The Burwell-Morgan Mill…come marvel at the unusual and immense interior water wheel..come see, feel, and listen to the power of the turning wooden gears, shafts, bins, and old millstones, while the dedicated miller explains the process of grinding wheat and corn just as it was done over 200 years ago. Freshly ground flour, corn meal , and grits are available for sale at the mill.

The Historic Burwell-Morgan Mill

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Lynchburg Museum

Built in 1815 by Dr. George Cabell and his family overlooking the James River in Daniel's Hill

Point of Honor

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VMI Museum

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National Museum of the Marine Corps

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Birthplace of Country Music Museum

Second oldest working capital in the United States

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Governor's Mansion

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Shockoe Hill Cemetery

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Chicago Blue Line Stop

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Merchandise Mart Brown Line

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Adams/Wabash Pink Line

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Argyle Red Line Stop

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Clark/Division Red Line Stop

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Prince William County Historic Sites

Ben Lomond Historic Site

Ben Lomond Historic Site

Brentsville Courthouse Historic Centre

Brentsville Courthouse Historic Centre

Bristoe Station Civil War Battlefield Park

Bristoe Station Civil War Battlefield Park

Rippon Lodge Historic Site

Rippon Lodge Historic Site

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