Hot Water/Centerville

James City County · dedicated 2004 · Centerville Road at intersection with Green Springs Rd., at Freedom Park.

Royal Governor William Berkeley, owner of nearby Green Spring plantation, purchased the land here by 1652, then known as Hot Water. After Berkeley's death, the Hot Water tract passed to the Ludwell and Lee families. William Ludwell Lee inherited the property in 1796 and died in 1803. Lee's will specified that his slaves be freed when they reached the age of 18. They were allowed to live on the property for ten years at no charge and "comfortable houses" were to be built upon the tract for them. Lee's philanthropy gave rise to one of Virginia's early free black settlements located at Centerville

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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Hot Water/Centerville

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