Woodlawn is a historic

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

located in

Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...

. Originally a part of

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

's historic

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

estate, it was subdivided in the 19th century by abolitionists to demonstrate the viability of a free labor system. The address is now 9000 Richmond Highway,

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

, but due to expansion of

Fort Belvoir Fort Belvoir is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It was developed on the site of the former Belvoir plantation, seat of the prominent Fairfax family for whom Fair ...

and reconstruction of historic Route 1, access is via Woodlawn Road slightly south of Jeff Todd Way/State Route 235. The house is a designated

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

, primarily for its association with the Washington family, but also for the role it played in the historic preservation movement. It is now a museum property owned and managed by the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...

History

George Washington planned the house to overlook

Dogue Creek Dogue Creek is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia, named for the Tauxenent Indigenous Native ...

as well as be visible from (and viewing)

. In 1799, he gave the plantation ( of land as well as gristmill and distillery) as a wedding present to Eleanor ("Nelly" or "Nellie") Parke Custis (

Martha Washington Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 21, 1731 — May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington served as the inaugural ...

's granddaughter who was raised on the Mount Vernon estate), and his nephew Major Lawrence Lewis. The President asked architect Dr. William Thornton, who had designed the

U.S. Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the Legislature, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is form ...

, to design them a house. Construction began in 1800 and was finished in 1805. President Washington freed his slaves in his will (though not those belonging to his wife), and Nellie Custis Lewis followed his example and became a leading abolitionist in Virginia. The Lewis family operated the farm using about 90 slaves, but Nellie manumitted some slaves, as well as was active in the

American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...

. In late 1846, she sold the property to a group of

Burlington County, New Jersey Burlington County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The county is the largest by area in New Jersey. Its county seat is Mount Holly.

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

from outside Philadelphia led by Chalkley Gillingham (1807–1881) and Jacob Troth. They harvested wood and began subdividing it into smaller farms to demonstrate that a free labor system could work at least as well as slave labor. Jacob Troth deeded the mansion to his son Paul Hillman Troth on March 25, 1850. The Quakers founded a cemetery and built a meetinghouse nearby in 1851 (for the Fairfax Section of the Alexandria Friends Meeting). In 1853, the Quakers sold Woodlawn house and some land to Baptist John Mason, who likewise refused to use slave labor. By 1859, he and his wife operated a Sunday School on the property. After the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, his sons Ebenezer E. Mason and Otis T. Mason would found a Baptist church and burial ground across from the Quaker meetinghouse. Eben Mason and Quaker John Hawxhurst were Fairfax County's two Unionist delegates to the

Wheeling Convention The 1861 Wheeling Convention was an assembly of Virginia Southern Unionist delegates from the northwestern counties of Virginia, aimed at repealing the Ordinance of Secession, which had been approved by referendum, subject to a vote. The first ...

of 1861 which established the state of West Virginia. Hawxhurst would become one of Fairfax County's delegates to the

Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1868 The Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1868, was an assembly of delegates elected by the voters to establish the fundamental law of Virginia following the American Civil War and the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. The Convention, w ...

. Woodlawn's mansion house has fallen into disrepair several times, but all of its owners, recognizing its historic significance, have worked to preserve its character. Portions of the property were sold for development or merged into

over the years. Progressive former U.S. Senator

Oscar Underwood Oscar Wilder Underwood (May 6, 1862 – January 25, 1929) was an American lawyer and politician from Alabama, and also a candidate for President of the United States in 1912 and 1924. He was the first formally designated floor leader in the Unite ...

, one of the last Southern politicians to fight the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, retired to Woodlawn, where he died in 1929. Only about 160 acres surrounded the mansion house by 1970, and about 126 acres exist today. Since 1965, as discussed below, the Woodlawn Estate property is now also the site of the Pope-Leighey House, a

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

designed house.

Current status

Woodlawn is owned and operated as a museum by the

, part of the National Trust Community Investment Corporation. It was the National Trust's first acquisition, achieved in the late 1960s as part of a nationwide campaign that included major donations from philanthropist

Paul Mellon Paul Mellon (June 11, 1907 – February 1, 1999) was an American philanthropist and an owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses. He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall ...

. It and the adjacent Pope-Leighey House are open to the public (admission charged) Friday through Monday from April until mid-December. The property name is Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House. It also hosts special events, particularly weddings and an annual Needlework Show, and hosts museum tours. In 1965, construction on

Interstate 66 Interstate 66 (I-66) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It runs from an interchange with I-81 near Middletown, Virginia, on its western end to an interchange with U.S. Route 29 (US 29) in Washingt ...

led to that home built in 1940 by architect

for Loren Pope to be moved to the grounds of the Woodlawn estate . Four years later, Virginia's historic preservation office nominated Woodlawn, then Woodlawn plantation, for listing on 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 ...

, and such was approved in 1970. Woodlawn plantation was designated a U.S.

in 1998, and and the boundaries were increased slightly in 2011 by a donation of land from nearby

which had been part of the Woodlawn plantation. The Quaker meetinghouse once part of the plantation was added to the National Register in 2009. Arcadia Farm leases land at Woodlawn to demonstrate sustainable agriculture by the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture since 2010. A different plantation with the same name on the

Rappahannock River The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 It traverses the entir ...

near Port Conway on Virginia's Northern Neck is the centerpiece of the

Woodlawn Historic and Archeological District The Woodlawn Historic and Archeological District encompasses a historic plantation near the Rappahannock River in southern King George County, Virginia. The property is located east of US Route 301 near Port Conway. The estate boundaries ar ...

, recognized in 1990.

References

External links

Woodlawn and Pope-Leighey House
– official website
Woodlawn, 9000 Richmond Highway, Mount Vernon, Fairfax County, VA
22 photos, 2 color transparencies, 13 measured drawings, 5 data pages, and 3 photo caption pages at

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 ...

Woodlawn, Dairy, 9000 Richmond Highway, Mount Vernon, Fairfax County, VA
1 photo and 1 photo caption page at Historic American Buildings Survey
Woodlawn, Smokehouse, 9000 Richmond Highway, Mount Vernon, Fairfax County, VA
1 photo at Historic American Buildings Survey {{Authority control Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia Custis family residences Federal architecture in Virginia George Washington Historic house museums in Virginia Houses completed in 1805 Lewis family Museums in Fairfax County, Virginia National Historic Landmarks in Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Plantation houses in Virginia Washington family residences William Thornton buildings Houses in Fairfax County, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Fairfax County, Virginia National Trust for Historic Preservation 1805 establishments in Virginia

History

Current status

See also

References

External links