Moor Green is a historic home located near Brentsville,

Prince William County, Virginia Prince William County is located on the Potomac River in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 482,204, making it Virginia's second-most populous county. Its county seat is the independent city of Manassas ...

. It dates to the early-19th century, and is a two-story, five-bay,

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

style brick residence, with a one-room, two-story ell. It has a standing seam metal gable roof and a single-pile, central-passage plan. an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref>

History

Although some speculated that the house's foundation dates to a blockhouse built in 1711, the earliest reference to what became that plantation was a 1793 deed for 482 acres from the heirs of John Bronough to young Howson Hooe. The plantation was one of the most valuable properties in Prince William County in 1815, when it was taxed to pay for the War of 1812.https://www.pwcva.gov/assets/2021-07/PWR_4-2005.pdf Members of the Hooe family owned the property until 1909, when the surviving (second) husband of Jane Hooe (Howson's daughter) sold his life interest in what had become 375 acres. Howson's grandson Richard I Reid, enlisted in the Confederate Army, was wounded at Fredericksburg in December 1862, and later captured at Mechanicsville in May 1864. Released upon signing an oath of Allegiance to the United States in June, 1865, he married moved to Fulton County, Kentucky, but both he and his younger brother John died at this plantation in 1885, and their mother in 1893. The Fletcher family then owned the house through the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, during which it was noted on the

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

. In 1941, John Cox and his family bought the property, and renovated it, as noted in a 1953 article in the local 'Journal Messenger.' After his widow died in a nursing home in 1970, the property passed through several hands and was vacant for 19 years as the area developed. In 1978, the historic house was placed on both the

Virginia Landmarks Register The Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR) is a list of historic properties in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The state's official list of important historic sites, it was created in 1966. The Register serves the same purpose as the National Registe ...

and the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The house was burned on March 4, 1984, but a local bank renovated it, and in 1992 it was bought by the Flory family, who made it their residence. The property includes the Hooe/Reid family cemetery, which according to a Smithsonian Institution historic survey in 2004, might include up to 60 graves, especially if the home became a hospital during the American Civil War. A nearby slave cemetery was no longer part of the property by 2004, as a result of subdivisions and development. The back of the surviving house and outbuildings are visible from Moor Green Road, which has more recently built houses.

References

External links

Moor Green, State Route 692, Brentsville, Prince William County, VA
2 photos at

{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Federal architecture in Virginia Houses in Prince William County, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Prince William County, Virginia