Toppahanock Indian Village

Essex County · dedicated 2000 · Rte. 17, about 1900 feet south of Rte. 1210

In this region near the Rappahannock River once stood the Rappahannock Indian village of Toppahanock. When John Smith explored this region in 1607 and 1608, he found fourteen Rappahannock villages along both banks of the river. The river was the center of the Rappahannocks' ancestral lands and served as a food source and travel network. The Rappahannock River was formerly known as the Opiscatumek. Sometime before 1607, the Rappahannock Indians asserted themselves as the dominant group on the river.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Example

under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

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