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Towns
Colonial Beach is a small, quaint, vibrant community on the Potomac River and plays host to people from around the world because of its close proximity to Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, Richmond, and the Hampton Roads area. The town is ideal for boaters. There are several marinas in town for dockage and service, wonderful restaurants, a summer Town Trolley, and for a romantic evening a sunset horse and carriage ride around “the point” will prove memorable. Colonial Beach also has a very active art guild, with over fifty eight artist members. The Second Friday Art Walk allows guests and townsfolk to view artworks at area businesses and restaurants and is very popular. Throughout the spring, summer, fall, and into early winter there is something for everyone on the agenda, from outdoor concerts, festivals, parades, antique boat and car shows, arts and crafts shows, to golf cart parades. There truly is something for everyone in Colonial Beach!
Deltaville is all about boating. Once the (wooden) boat-building capital of the Chesapeake Bay, it is now home to numerous marinas and yacht dealers. With its deep-water creeks just off the mouths of the Rappahannock, the Piankatank, and the Bay itself, it draws world-class vessels and hosts several noted Regattas. The town now boasts the Deltaville Maritime Museum and Holly Point Park on the waterfront, worth a visit any time and not to be missed when festivals are held. On land, there are some cute shops, independent restaurants and cafes: no chains!, Yates House Gallery and a library branch.
First settled in the mid 1600s, Kilmarnock was originally known as The Crossroads: today, those roads are known as Routes 3 and 200. It was incorporated as the Town of Kilmarnock in 1930, but the Scottish name had been adopted in the late 1700s. With an area of 2.69 sqaure miles, it is one of the larger towns in our region, and boasts a good number and variety of restaurants and shops. It is also the home of the Rappahannock Art League.
Reedville
A town that grew wealthy from the fishing industry. Menhaden fleets still go out from Reedville and a processing plant still thrives. Today the town is also known for the Reedville Fishermen's Museum with its many special events. Tangier and Smith Island cruises depart from Reedville.
The town features many of its original buildings, one dating all the way back to 1680! Tappahannock is known as an antiques center, with a good number of unique shops carrying unusual and high-quality items. It is also known for its fine homes along the river, and a relaxed, river-oriented lifestyle. Essex county courthouse has an excellent collection of early records for genealogists.
A quaint village of 800 people that dates back to the late 1600’s when the town built its fortune as a shipping port. Goods were brought to Urbanna and loaded on cargo vessels that sailed to Baltimore, New York and England. The area has always been famous for great agricultural products and even more renowned for the bounty of the river and bay- oysters, fish and crabs. Today the ships that were used to carry tobacco, lumber and seafood have been replaced by ever increasing numbers of pleasure boaters who seek the bounty of the river and the bay for sailing, cruising and fishing.
Counties
The history of Gloucester County, named for Henry, Duke of Gloucester, third son of Charles I, began soon after the settlement of Jamestown in 1607. When English settlers arrived at Jamestown in 1607, the Indian stronghold of Chief Powhatan was located on the north side of the river in Gloucester. Early land patents were granted in 1639, but it was not until after 1644 that Gloucester was considered safe for settlement. George Washington's great grandfather received a Gloucester County land patent in 1650. Gloucester County was formed from York County in 1651, and consisted of four parishes: Abingdon, Kingston, Petsworth and Ware. In the 1600's and 1700's, Gloucester was a tobacco producing area, and many old plantation homes and magnificent private estates remain today in perfect condition.
Settled in the mid-1600's, Lancaster County is located at the southeastern tip of Virginia's Northern Neck peninsula. The courthouse holds county records maintained virtually intact since 1652. Besides Lancaster courthouse, the towns of Kilmarnock, Irvington and White Stone offer interesting diversions.
With its earliest English settlement in 1650, Mathews County is rich in historical landmarks: buildings, churches, estates, gravesites, cemeteries. In 1776, the last of Virginia's Royal Governors, Lord Dunmore, was driven from the colony's shores by Continental cannons at Cricket Hill across from Gwynn's Island.
Kingston Parish in Gloucester County was created circa 1651; only in 1791 was the parish designated as a separate county by the Virginia General Assembly. Mathews County, named for General Thomas Mathews of Norfolk, a prominent American Revolutionary War officer, has a courthouse in use today that dates to circa 1795. Mathews also has The Tabernacle, one of the last remaining outdoor pavilions for religious use. The county was an important shipbuilding center in the early 1800s. Captain Sally Tompkins, the only woman to serve as a commissioned officer in the Confederate Army, was born here at Poplar Grove. With only 94 square miles of land, Mathews is one of the smallest of Virginia's counties, but it has some 200 miles of coastline.
Lying along the Rappahannock River at its mouth, with the Dragon Run and Piankatank River on its opposite (southern) border, Middlesex life is that of Rivah Country. Urbanna, a 1600s tobacco port, is its only incorporated town; Deltaville is its other commercial center, and both are paradise for boaters. Deltaville's Maritime Museum and Holly Point Nature Park are well worth a visit, and host a number of family events. The courthouse town of Saluda, just off Route 17, has good genealogy records and the county museum. Topping, near the bridge to the Northern Neck, is the home of Hummel Field Airport. Route 33 is the main road through half the county - until it ends at the Chesapeake Bay. Route 3 crosses Route 33 at two points: the leg connecting to the Northern Neck comes in about 3 miles west of the leg connecting to Mathews and Gloucester.
Formed in 1648, the "Mother County" of the Northern Neck has since ceded land to the newer counties of Lancaster, Richmond and Westmoreland. It retains 222 square miles with a population of some 12,000 today. Reedville, Callao, Heathsville and Wicomico Church are all in Northumberland. The county offers seven public boat ramps, giving access to the Great Wicomico and Coan Rivers as well as Cockrell's Creek.
Historic sites and other points of interest
Christ Church is the best preserved of colonial Virginia's Anglican parish churches. It is the only church from colonial Virginia to retain its original high-backed box pews, and it is one of only two with its original triple-decker pulpit. The first church constructed here, most likely a wood-framed structure, was built under the direction of John Carter and finished in 1670. In 1730, John's son Robert "King" Carter proposed to build a brick church here at his own expense, which the vestry of Christ Church Parish accepted. Finished in 1735, Christ Church was the most finely crafted Anglican parish church in all of colonial Virginia. Located outside Irvington, off Route 200, on Route 646 (the road to Weems) in Lancaster county.
On Route 33 in Middlesex county, between Urbanna and Deltaville.
The Museum/Library dedicated to the history of the Northern Neck and its residents took the name Mary Ball Washington to honor the mother of the nation's first president. Mary Ball was born just eight miles from the Museum. Much genealogical material is available. On Route 3 (8346 Mary Ball Road), Lancaster.
The Morattico Waterfront Museum is housed in the 1901 Morattico General Store building, where a country store was in busines until 2002. On the north shore of the Rappahannock River, the village offers commanding views of the river, Lancaster Creek, and Mulberry Bay. Morattico takes its name from the Moraughtacund Indians of the Algonquian Nation encountered in the area by Captain John Smith in 1608.
The third oldest light on the Bay was built in 1804. This 58-foot tower of cream-colored Ashlar sandstone is located at the entrance to Mobjack Bay and the mouth of the York River in Mathews County, Virginia. There is a good webpage on its history. Not accessible by land, but you can view the light from a deck at the end of the road. See it up close by kayak!
George Washington Birthplace National Monument preserves the heart of the Washingtons' lands in America. John Washington, the immigrant, arrived in Westmoreland County in 1657, and settled near Bridges Creek. The house where George Washington was born burned down in 1779. Its foundation has been excavated and is marked out. A house and kitchen representative of planters of the Washingtons' status and times have been built here and furnished with some thousand Colonial pieces. 1732 Popes Creek Road, Washington's Birthplace, VA 22443, 804 224-1732 ext. 227
The Lee family home, birthplace of Robert E. Lee, is on State Route 214, just off State Route 3, six miles northwest of Montross, Virginia in Westmoreland County. Thomas Lee (1690-1750) was a founder of the Ohio Company, a member of the governing Council of the colony, and acting Governor of Virginia. In 1717, he purchased the land for Stratford Hall Plantation and, during the period of 1730-1738, built the brick Georgian Great House. A successful tobacco planter and land speculator, he owned more than 16,000 acres in Virginia and Maryland. 483 Great House Road, Stratford, VA 22558, 804 493-8038 M-F 9-5
Recreation
The 733-acre site is a window to the beautiful lower Rappahannock River in Lancaster County. The park has seven miles of frontage on the north shore of the Rappahannock, and it borders Deep and Mulberry creeks. It features diverse tidal and nontidal wetlands, lowland marshes, tidal coves and upland forests. 1632 Belle Isle Road, Lancaster, VA 22503, (804) 462-5030.
Our area is home to a number of beautiful and scenic courses, most very reasonably priced and not overbooked. See the "Things to Do" section of our Links page for courses with websites. Others: Piankatank River Golf Club, Hartfield, Middlesex county, 804 776-6516; Village Green Golf Course, Callao, Northumberland county, 804 529-6332.
Sandy beach on the Chesapeake Bay at Dividing Creek in Northumberland county. End of Route 605 off Route 200 north of Kilmarnock. 804 462-5030.
Local volunteers have created the Mathews Blueways Water Trail, an interconnected system of five separate water trails for over ninety miles of exceptional cruising from 18 public launch sites. Sea and touring kayaks are recommended, being faster and safer than canoes for your exploration of Mathews County's 200-plus miles of shoreline bounding its 87 square miles of land. The waters include the Chesapeake Bay, three tidal rivers and over fifty navigable creeks. An excellent trail guide can be purchased. Read more about it here.
This annual bicycling event is great for the whole family. The 10th Annual Tour de Chesapeake will be held May 16, 17, 18, 2008. Cyclists can choose tours of 17, 40, 60 and 80 miles in length. For information, phone 757 229-0507.
The park extends about one and a half miles along the Potomac River in Westmoreland County, from which it takes its name. Its 1,299 acres neighbor the former homes of both George Washington and Robert E. Lee. The park’s Horsehead Cliffs provide visitors with a spectacular view of the Potomac River. In addition to the scenic beauty at Westmoreland, the park offers hiking, camping, cabins, fishing, boating and swimming. 1650 State Park Road, Montross, VA 22520-9717, (804) 493-8821.
Amusement
A non-profit community arts organization offering concerts and art exhibits in the Town of West Point, serving the counties of King and Queen, King William and New Kent.
Offering quality musical programs to the Tidewater Virginia area, particularly residents of the Middle Peninsula: Gloucester, Mathews, and Middlesex Counties.
Quality community theatre in Gloucester, Mathews, and Middlesex counties.
Donk's Theater in Hudgins, Virginia, in beautiful Mathews County, is the home of Virginia's Lil Ole Opry, where you can enjoy a live country music show suitable for the whole family.
Community theatre in White Stone. Call 804 435-3776 for information.
Rappahannock Concert Association is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to building and maintaining a permanent concert audience in the Northern Neck and surrounding areas and to provide quality concerts and recitals.
Half a dozen wineries, offering tastings, food festivals and concerts, are within reach of our guests. See the "Places to Visit" section of our Links page.