Scotchtown (plantation)
Patrick Henry's Scotchtown | |
Location | 10 mi. NW of Ashland on VA 685, Ashland, Virginia |
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Coordinates | 37°50′39.7″N 77°35′4.4″W / 37.844361°N 77.584556°W |
Area | 41 acres (170,000 m2)[1] |
Built | after 1717, expanded ca. 1760s |
Architectural style | Georgian/first period colonial |
Website | preservationvirginia.org/historic-sites/patrick-henrys-scotchtown |
NRHP reference No. | 66000835 |
VLR No. | 042-0030 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966[3] |
Designated NHL | December 21, 1965[4] |
Designated VLR | September 9, 1969[2] |
Scotchtown is a
The house is owned and managed by
History
The Scotchtown property was given as a land grant to Charles Chiswell, a prominent
Patrick Henry purchased the house in 1771 and lived there with his wife, Sarah Shelton Henry, and their six children. This was his home during his most influential period, including his famous "
The house was purchased by the Wilson Miles Cary family after their original home had been taken over as a small-pox rest camp. They briefly resided there until attempting to sell it in December 1781. The house and land were transferred to Benjamin Forsythe in Hanover County's 1787 tax records, but Cary is charged once more in 1792. An ad in a 1794 Richmond paper announces, "Scotch-Town Grammar School will be conducted the present year by Peter and Thomas Nelson. Peter Nelson, Rector, St. Martin's, Hanover".[7]
Beginning in 1801, the property was owned by John M. Sheppard-Taylor. Little is known about the Sheppard-Taylor family, other than the changes they made to the appearance of the house over the generations.
Scotchtown was long believed to have been the girlhood home of Dolley Madison, wife of president James Madison, who was a relative of Patrick Henry. But, there is little evidence beyond Madison's own recollections of the house as a child to support this fact. Dolley Madison's recollections may have been memories of visits to the house during her childhood.[6]
Preservation
The property was sold at auction in July 1958, when it was purchased by
Scotchtown was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965 as an unusual 18th-century structure associated with a Founding Father.[1][4] The property received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services in 1993 to "reexamine its policies, procedures, and the current condition of its collection and structures,"[6] including restructuring its programming. It is currently open for visitors seasonally or by appointment.[6]
See also
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Virginia
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Hanover County, Virginia
- Birthplace of Patrick Henry
- Pine Slash
- Leatherwood Plantation
- Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial
References
- ^ a b c d e Stephen Lissandrello (February 12, 1975). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Scotchtown / Patrick Henry Home (Scotchtown)" (pdf). National Park Service.
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(help) (includes a map of the property) - ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ a b c "Scotchtown (Patrick Henry House)". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved April 11, 2008.
- ^ Bryan Clark Green and Bryan Townes (February 2009). "Historic Structure Report for Scotchtown". Commonwealth Architects.
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(help) - ^ a b c d e f g Dean, Catherine. "History of Scotchtown". Preservation Virginia. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
- ^ a b Shaw-English, Virginia. "Scotchtown" Hanover County Historical Society Bulletin, Nov. 1993, Vol. 49, pp. 1,6.
- ^ “Review of 1958 Events.” Ashland Herald-Progress, January 1, 1959, sec. 1.
External links
- Scotchtown at Preservation Virginia
- Patrick Henry timeline at Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial website
- Scotchtown - A Place Of Celebration, Grief
- Scotchtown, Hanover County, single photo at Virginia DHR
- Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. VA-117, "Scotchtown, State Route 685 vicinity, Beaverdam, Hanover County, VA", 12 photos, 11 measured drawings, 6 data pages, supplemental material