Marlborough

Marlborough is a Virginia historical marker in Stafford County, dedicated 2001.

Rte. 1, half a mile north of Centreport Parkway

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Strategically situated at the tip of a peninsula jutting into the Potomac River at Potomac Creek, Marlborough was established under the Town Act of 1691 as a river port town. It served as the county seat of Stafford County from 1691 until about 1718. Marlborough never fully developed. In 1726, noted lawyer John Mercer (1705-1768) moved there and built Marlborough plantation and attempted to revive the town. Mercer had one of the largest private libraries in Virginia, in which the young George Mason received much of his education. Mercer's attempt to revive the town was unsuccessful and it ceased to exist by the end of the 18th century.

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

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1630 · Nova Virginia Tabula. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1755 · Virginie, Maryland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1889 · Virginia and West Virginia (eastern portion). (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1895 · N.E. Virginia, Washington 2. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1926 · Stafford, Virginia (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

Virginie, Maryland, 1755, covering the location of Marlborough, 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.

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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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Marlborough

Historical maps covering this location

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