Places To Visit

Nestled deep in a hollow at the headwaters of the Rapidan River is a little piece of history: Rapidan Camp. This National Historic Landmark was the beautiful, rustic getaway of President Herbert Hoover and First Lady Lou Henry Hoover during their tim... Read More

The volunteer-run Rappahannock Railroad Museum, home of the Little Yellow Train, offers a unique glimpse into the lives of railroad workers of the past and present. This Spotsylvania attraction houses two cabooses, a baggage car, model railroad layou... Read More

Lot Number 10 was owned by Richard Ratcliffe, the City's founder. In 1807, cobbler Henry Logan purchased the lot and built a small brick house. It was expanded in 1824 by the Allison family. This charming brick house is the City's oldest residence ... Read More

The Rebecca Vaughan House is the only intact house remaining where white owners and their families were killed during the Nat Turner slave rebellion in Southampton County. The house is also the last place where Turner and his followers killed residen... Read More

Rebel Hall was built about 1848 for Dr. James H. Minor, a prominent surgeon and farmer in the Town of Orange. The two-story brick house is one of a handful of antebellum dwellings surviving in the town and the only one executed in the Greek Revival s... Read More

Although antebellum Halifax County was dotted with small farm complexes, the area also saw the establishment of vast plantations with architecturally sophisticated houses. John R. Edmunds, owner of 1,110 acres on Birch Creek, was able to build an Ita... Read More

The United States of America’s story starts well before 1776 right here in Northampton County. Don’t be fooled by the beautiful idyllic landscape on this isolated peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay. These roads, bu... Read More

The Reynolds Homestead, also known as Rock Spring Plantation, is a slave plantation turned historical site. First developed in 1814 by slaveowner Abram Reynolds, it was the primary home of R.J. Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company a... Read More

Dating back to the late 1700's, Historic Rice's Hotel/Hughlett's Tavern is located in Heathsville's Historic District behind the Old Northumberland Courthouse. Working artisan guilds on-site include the Blacksmiths in the Forge and the Woodworkers... Read More

Renowned frontier soldier and Revolutionary War hero General Andrew Lewis lived on his estate Richfield. The house, destroyed by fire in the 1820s, was between the Civic Center and the Roanoke River. His original grave site was a few blocks to the so... Read More

The center of Confederate manufacturing fueled a modern war, one of the South's largest hospitals gave care to the sick and wounded, and armies battled on open fields and in miles of defensive earthworks. From 1861 to 1865, Richmond's fate would dete... Read More

The Ringgold Rail Trail is a 5.5 mile walking and biking trail that follows part of the right-of-way of the old railroad of the same name. Currently, about 2 miles of the trail is open to the public; the rest of the trail was rendered unusable by Tro... Read More

Rippon Lodge is one of the oldest known homes in Prince William County. The home provides a vital connection and opportunity to interpret our community's link to Colonial Virginia. The site's story includes important people, events and times in Pr... Read More

Built by George Washington's youngest brother Charles around 1760 as his home, this frame building became a tavern in 1792 when it was purchased by the Wallace family. It operated for 35 years as a stopover for travelers in the bustling port town of... Read More

The Virginia Room holds the library's special collection of historical and genealogical research resources. We comprehensively collect materials for the Roanoke Valley and the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Virginia Room has the most extensive holding... Read More