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A.A. History in Fredericksburg
A.A. History in Spotsylvania
A.A. History in Stafford
U.S. National Slavery Museum
Historic Buildings/Houses
Monuments/Museums
Walking Tours
Native American History
Prehistoric Period
 To learn more about all that the Fredericksburg area has to offer download our informative brochures and map below. |
14 Walking Tours/Cemeteries Listing(s) within History
During the American Civil War, Fredericksburg's geographic location drew contending armies to its environs with a deadly inevitability. The City is located on the banks of a river that served as a natural defensive barrier as well as astride a north-south rail corridor that helped keep the large armies supplied. On four separate occasions, the Union Army of the Potomac, fought the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in and around the City. This walking tour will visit scenes of the Fredericksburg Campaign of November - December 1862 - the first of these encounters.
Price $ - $
Blacks first inhabited Virginia in 1619. They came to the sparsely settled Rappahannock Valley long before Fredericksburg was officially founded in 1728. Slaves worked on plantations, on the docks, in iron industries, mining and quarries, mercantile businesses, construction, domestic services, and others were skilled blacksmiths, coopers, cobblers, and draymen. African Americans were vital in the development of the area.
Price $ - $
(540) 373-1776
Fredericksburg, VA 22401
Fredericksburg, VA 22401
Blacks first arrived in isolated and sparsely populated Spotsylvania County along with white settlers in the early 1700's. Through the years before the Civil War, as slaves and occasionally as free men and women, they were an important force in area development.
Price $ - $
African American history is an integral part of Stafford's past. From sailors, fishermen, blacksmiths, and coopers, to draymen, stone carvers, artists and educators - enslaved as well as free blacks have held many important Stafford jobs. Many noted individuals have direct ties to Stafford, including John DeBaptiste, Anthony Burns, William & Ellen Craft, Henry "Box" Brown, and John Washington. Between April and September 1862, and estimated 10,000 freedom-seekers sought refuge in Stafford behind Union lines, many of whom were believed to be transported to freedom via Aquia Landing to Alexandria, Washington D.C., and other points north. Important sites to see include Civil War sites: Historic Port of Falmouth Park, Moncure Conway House, Union Church & Cemetery, Chatham, Aquia Landing.
Price $ - $
(540) 658-8681
1300 Courthouse Road
Stafford, VA 22554
1300 Courthouse Road
Stafford, VA 22554
Confederate Cemetery in Spotsylvania County
Local women concerned about these unattended plots formed the Spotsylvania Memorial Association. In 1866 they established a Confederate Cemetery on five acres of land a half mile northeast of the Court House. The Association reburied nearly 600 soldiers from 10 states in the new location. Most are identified and organized by state. A few remain unknown. Headstones provided by the federal government mark all of the graves. In the center of the cemetery, a granite shaft crowned by a stone confederate solider silently stands watch over the dead.
Price $ - $
(540) 507-7090
Courthouse Road
Spotsylvania, VA 22553
Courthouse Road
Spotsylvania, VA 22553
Native American Indians roamed and settled in the area known as Virginia centuries before the first documented Indian settlement in Stafford County. Indians lived here as early as 1,000 B.C., hundreds of years before Indian princess Pocahontas and English Captain John Smith visited these shores. In 1647, the Brent family migrated from Maryland to establish the first permanent English settlement. Stafford County was formed a few years later in 1664.
Price $ - $
Six Confederate generals and more than 3,300 Southern soldiers lie buried here; 2,184 of them are unknown. A complete roster of known soldiers buried here can be found online. A life size zinc statue with granite base of a soldier on dress parade, an impressive monument, was dedicated in 1884 to the "Confederate Dead." The cemetery is open daily, with entry through the gates on Washington Avenue
Price $ - $
(540) 373-1776
Washington Avenue
Fredericksburg, VA
Washington Avenue
Fredericksburg, VA
This house of worship became a house of carnage during the Civil War. Soldiers fired from its windows while others outside swarmed around the church.
After the fighting ended, the floors were crowded with wounded soldiers of both sides. U.S. President Lincoln's brother-in-law was a Confederate surgeon operating in the hospital here.
The grounds are open during daylight hours, and the building is open weekends afternoons from 3-6 from mid-June to mid-August.
The congregation is still active in its new church and its choir returns to the old church in early December each year for a holiday music program.
For complete information from the National Park Service, visit www.nps.gov/frsp.
Price $ - $
(540) 786-2880
4054 Plank Road
Fredericksburg, VA 22401
4054 Plank Road
Fredericksburg, VA 22401
No great battles were fought within Stafford County, but during the winter of 1862-1863, 120,000 men of the Army of the Potomac camped along its ridges and valleys. The federal army combed the countryside, stripping the inhabitants of nearly everything - livestock, fence rails, crops, and lumber.
Price $ - $
The spirit of the past still lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia. George Washington's foot-steps seem to echo on the paths and streets of his hometown. The voices of Thomas Jefferson and other colonial leaders seem to resound through the Rising Sun Tavern.
Price $ - $
