Robert Orrick (ca. 1827–1902)

Winchester County · dedicated 2022 · 15 S. Braddock St.

African American community leader Robert Orrick, born enslaved, began a freight-hauling business before he became free in 1863. After the Civil War, he became one of the first African Americans awarded a contract to carry the U.S. mail (1865), and he rented a building to the Freedmen’s Bureau to serve as a school. He prospered as the owner of a major livery stable and was a landowner, farmer, and minister. Orrick donated materials to rebuild a Methodist church in nearby Stephens City, later called Orrick Chapel. The African American cemetery in Winchester, which he expanded, was also named for him. Orrick purchased this stone house in 1891, and his livery stable stood on the adjoining lot.

Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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On the National Register nearby

Winchester Historic District290 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.