Smoky Ordinary

Brunswick County · dedicated 2021 · Rte. 712, at intersection with Rte. 634

Smoky Ordinary, built 1/2 mile northeast of here by 1750, provided lodging, food, and drink to travelers on the north-south stage road. A small community later developed around the ordinary. British raiders under Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton reportedly burned tobacco warehouses here in July 1781. Union forces under Brig. Gens. James Wilson and August Kautz passed here late in June 1864 at the end of a cavalry raid on Confederate supply lines. The ordinary served as a post office (1832-1964) and as a polling place. In Oct. 1867, African American men cast ballots here during the first election in which they had the right to vote in Virginia. The ordinary burned in the 20th century.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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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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