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Northern Neck - Between the Potomac & Rappahannock

Westmoreland County - It's History

Westmoreland County lies between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers on a peninsula known as Virginia's Northern Neck.

The nearby Chesapeake Bay helps moderate its climate year-round. Residents enjoy four seasons but with milder winters and cooler summers than many other locations in the state.

Prehistoric Era
Over 25,000 years ago glaciers chiseled out the Chesapeake Bay and shaped the land known today as Westmoreland County. At Westmoreland State Park the cliffs along the Potomac River reveal three sedimentary beds dating from 6 to 14 million years ago. Fossils of mollusks, sharks and fish that inhabited the ancient Miocene seas can be seen in the deposits.

The earliest human inhabitants of the regions were Paleo-Indians between 13,000 and 8,000 BC. A few of their characteristic projectile points used for hunting game have been found in the county's uplands. In later years oysters and other shellfish began to provide a dependable and easily gathered food source. Evidence of prehistoric oyster gatherers has been found along many of Westmoreland County's estuaries. By 1300 BC, the native people had settled into more permanent villages and were growing maize, harvesting shellfish and manufacturing pottery.

By the time English colonists arrived in the 1600's, the native Algonquians had a well-defined lifestyle and had established villages along the coves and streams of the mighty Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers.

In the years that followed, European settlers drove out these people. Today, the Rappahannocks are the only surviving Northern Neck natives. Artifacts of Westmoreland County's earliest inhabitants can be seen at the Westmoreland County Museum and the Kinsale Museum.

Colonial Period
At the beginning of the Colonial era, Westmoreland was part of Northumberland County, which was created in 1648. Five years later Northumberland was divided and Westmoreland County as we know it today was established.

Seeds of Independence
Westmoreland is best known for its host of Revolutionary leaders. In 1766 Richard Henry Lee of Stratford Hall wrote the Leedstown Resolutions. Considered the forerunner of the Declaration of Independence, the resolutions were the first organized resistance to British tyranny. 115 patriots protesting the Stamp Act signed the document at Leedstown. Among the signers were six Lees, five Washingtons and Spence Monroe, father of President James Monroe.

When war eventually did break out ten years later, Richard Henry Lee and his brother, Francis Lightfoot Lee, joined other patriots in signing the Declaration of Independence.

At that same time another Westmoreland native, George Washington, took command of the Continental Army and was later elected the nation's first president. George Washington's Birthplace is now a 538-acre national park located on Pope's Creek between Montross and Oak Grove.

A Young Nation
Westmoreland's battles with the British did not end with the Revolutionary War. During the War of 1812, British forces disrupted shipping and raided villages throughout the Chesapeake Bay area. In 1813 British forces attacked the USS Asp near Kinsale. Her commander, Midshipman James Butler Signourney, was killed in the battle. Today, a replica of a cannon stands guard over his grave. It is one of the landmarks that can be seen on a walking tour offered by the Kinsale Museum.

Westmorelander James Monroe served as the fifth US President from 1817-25. Under his leadership, many key elements of America's foreign and domestic policy were drafted, including the Monroe Doctrine. His birthplace can be seen on Route 205 between Oak Grove and Colonial Beach.

A Nation Divided
When the War Between the States broke out, Westmoreland found itself on the dividing line between the North and the South. Robert E. Lee turned down command of the Union armies, refusing to "take part in an invasion" of his homeland. Instead he returned to Virginia to take command of the Confederate forces. More information about Lee can be found at Stratford Hall Plantation, his birthplace and childhood home. Following the Civil War, life in Westmoreland County returned to its fishing, farming and forestry traditions.

Steamboats & Summer Resorts
The first regularly scheduled steamboat stops in the county began in 1855 at Kinsale. By the late 19th century, there were numerous steamboat stops along both the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers.

In 1893 the Colonial Beach Improvement Company was formed to build a steamboat wharf and summer resort. Soon people from Washington DC and other nearby cities were flocking to the white sandy beach. A. Melville Bell, inventor Alexander Graham Bell's father, owned one of the most impressive homes in Colonial Beach.

Links to Northern Neck, Westmoreland County & Colonial Beach areas:

Westmoreland County Government:    www.westmoreland-county.org/cc_gov.htm

Westmoreland County Visitor Center:    www.westmoreland-county.org/index.htm

Colonial Beach:    www.colonialbeachva.net

The Northern Neck:    www.thenorthernneck.com