Historic Falmouth

Historic Falmouth is a Virginia historical marker in Falmouth, Stafford County, dedicated 2016.

Rte. 607, just south of Rte. 1 intersection, Falmouth

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The town of Falmouth was established here in 1727 at the falls of the Rappahannock River. One of Virginia's busiest ports during the 18th and early 19th centuries, the town offered a tobacco inspection station, tobacco and cotton warehouses, flour mills, a ferry, and stores. Hunter’s Iron Works nearby provided crucial supplies to the Continental army during the American Revolution. Union forces arrived in Falmouth in April 1862 and returned to camp here during the winter of 1862-1863, after the First Battle of Fredericksburg. Thousands of enslaved African Americans fled to Union lines and freedom. Prominent residents have included abolitionist Moncure Daniel Conway and artist Gari Melchers.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Princeton University Library

Historical maps covering this location

1733 · A map of the British Empire in America with the French and Spanish settlements adjacent… (Princeton University Library)
1755 · Virginie, Maryland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1794 · Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1895 · N.E. Virginia, Washington 2. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1944 · Fredericksburg, Virginia (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

Virginie, Maryland, 1755, covering the location of Historic Falmouth, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Virginie, Maryland, 1755, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

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Marker program managed by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

Historic Falmouth

Historical maps covering this location

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