Presquile Plantation was a plantation located in southeastern

Chesterfield County, Virginia Chesterfield County is located just south of Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county's borders are primarily defined by the James River to the north and the Appomattox River to the south. Its county seat is Chesterfield Court H ...

built in the mid 18th century probably by Richard Randolph II of Curles, a grandson of William Randolph the Immigrant. The site of the plantation was just south of Turkey Island, one of William Randolph's earliest land holdings. Richard Randolph most likely built the house at Presquile for his son David Meade Randolph, the husband of the esteemed

Mary Randolph Mary Randolph (August 9, 1762 – January 23, 1828) was a Southern American cook and author, known for writing ''The Virginia House-Wife; Or, Methodical Cook'' (1824), one of the most influential housekeeping and cook books of the 19th century. ...

. Unfortunately, the couple did not live at Presquile for long, as the land surrounding it was extremely swampy and did not promote good health. In 1798 they moved to Richmond and lived in a grand mansion called Moldavia. The next owner of Presquile was Abner Osborne of Nottoway County, who bought the property for £5,000 in 1801. It went through the 19th century and early 20th as a standard farm until 1952 when A. D. Williams, a Richmond tobacco magnate and philanthropist, died. In his will he gave the Presquile tract to the

Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Virginia that regulates wildlife conservation. History The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries was created on June 17, 1916, under the ...

to be used as a wildlife preserve. The following year the land was passed to the

US Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

and is today managed by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

as the

Presquile National Wildlife Refuge Presquile National Wildlife Refuge in the U.S. state of Virginia is one of four refuges that comprise the Eastern Virginia Rivers National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The refuge is a island in the James River, located approximately south of Rich ...

. The house at Presquile was originally used by the park staff until a new dwelling nearby was built. In 1964, a historical consultant for the park service stated that he believed that the house had been built after the Civil War (when in reality it was 100 years older) and thus the 200 year old house was demolished.

References

{{coord missing, Virginia Plantations in Virginia Demolished buildings and structures in Virginia