Northumberland House and Mantua

About 3.5 miles north is the site of Northumberland House, the seat of the prominent Presly family. William Presly patented the land in 1649. He represented Northumberland Co. in the House of Burgesses, as did several generations of male descendants who inherited the property. Among them was Peter Presly Thornton, who sat in three of Virginia’s Revolutionary Conventions and was an aide-de-camp to Gen. George Washington. Mantua, three miles northwest of here, was built by James Smith, an Irishman who arrived in this area late in the 18th century. The brick mansion features symmetrical wings, a front portico, and end chimneys. The labor of enslaved African Americans sustained both properties.