Scotchtown

Scotchtown is a Virginia historical marker in Hanover County, dedicated 2017.

Intersection of West Patrick Henry Road (VA 54) and Scotchtown Road

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Scotchtown, about a mile north of here, was built ca. 1719 for Charles Chiswell, a land speculator and iron mine owner. Patrick Henry bought the property by 1771 and lived there until he sold it in 1778. During these years he represented Virginia at the First and Second Continental Congresses, delivered his “Liberty or Death” speech in Richmond in March 1775, and served for six months as commander in chief of the Virginia militia. He also helped write the Virginia Constitution and Declaration of Rights and was elected the first governor of the independent Commonwealth of Virginia. Henry's first wife, Sarah, died at Scotchtown in 1775.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

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American Geographical Society Library, UW-Milwaukee

Historical maps covering this location

1719 · A new map of the English empire in America viz Virginia, New York, Maryland, New Jersey… (American Geographical Society Library, UW-Milwaukee)
1755 · Virginie, Maryland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1781 · MARCH of the ARMY under Lieut:t General EARL CORNWALLIS in VIRGINIA, from the JUNCTION at… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1889 · Virginia and West Virginia (eastern portion). (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1943 · Hanover Academy, Virginia (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

Virginie, Maryland, 1755, covering the location of Scotchtown, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Virginie, Maryland, 1755, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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Scotchtown

Historical maps covering this location

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