The Neabsco Mills Ironworks complex, under the ownership of three generations of the Tayloe family, of Richmond County, operated between 1737 and 1828. Located near this site, it was one of the longest continuously operating ironworks in present-day Northern Virginia. The 5,000-acre iron plantation, which was worked by resident free laborers, indentured servants, and slaves, was a multifaceted operation. The workers produced not only pig and bar iron for sale at home and export to Great Britain, but also engaged in shipbuilding, milling, leatherworking, shoemaking, and farming. The complex was an important supplier of iron for weaponry during the American Revolution and the War of 1812.