Stafford, also known as Stafford Courthouse, is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Stafford County, Virginia, United States. The population was 5,370 as of the 2020 census. It lies north of Fredericksburg, approximately south of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and about north of Richmond, the state capital. Marine Corps Base Quantico is located north of the community. Stafford Courthouse is located at the intersections of U.S. Route 1 and Courthouse Road.

History

English sea captain Samuel Argall abducted

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, also known as Matoaka and Rebecca Rolfe; 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. S ...

near this area in April 1613 in an attempt to secure release of some English prisoners held by her father. She married English colonist

John Rolfe John Rolfe ( – March 1622) was an English explorer, farmer and merchant. He is best known for being the husband of Pocahontas and the first settler in the colony of Virginia to successfully cultivate a tobacco crop for export. He played a ...

in 1614. They sailed in 1616 to England where Pocahontas died in 1617. It was a stop on the

Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad The Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad was a railroad connecting Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C. The track is now the RF&P Subdivision of the CSX Transportation system; the original corporation is no longer a railroad co ...

in the nineteenth Century;

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

is the RF&P's successor today. Accokeek Furnace Archeological Site, Aquia Church, Public Quarry at Government Island, Advanced Courthouse Road Redoubt, and Stafford Training School are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Demographics

Stafford Courthouse was first listed as a

census designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in the 2010 U.S. Census.

Notable people

* Traci Hunter Abramson, novelist * Erin Cahill, actress * Palmer Hayden, American Painter * Gary Jennings Jr., NFL Wide Receiver *

, Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown * Joey Slye, American football kicker for the

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division ...

* Raymond Terczak Jr., racing driver

References

External links

*
Virginia Residents Question Whether Their Neighbor Was A Russian Informant
Census-designated places in Stafford County, Virginia Census-designated places in Virginia County seats in Virginia {{StaffordCountyVA-geo-stub