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 c ...

located in

Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. With a population of 1,150,309 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most p ...

. Originally a part of

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

's historic

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

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 Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

, 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), Belvoir plantation, seat of the prominent Lord ...

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 National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

, 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 ...

History

George Washington planned the house to overlook Dogue Creek 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 2, 1731 Old Style, O.S. – May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, who was the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, she served as the ...

'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, to design them a house. Construction began in 1800 and was finished in 1805. In late 1846, Eleanor Custis Lewis sold the property to a group of

Burlington County, New Jersey Burlington County is a county in the South Jersey region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The county is the largest by land area in New Jersey and ranks second behind neighboring Ocean County in total area. Its county seat is Mount Holly.< ...

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

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, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, 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 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 its t ...

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. 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 United States of America, 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 designa ...

, one of the last Southern politicians to fight the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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

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 2, 1999) was an American philanthropist and a horse breeding, breeder of thoroughbred horse racing, racehorses. He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Muse ...

. 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 a 76.32 mile east–west Interstate Highway in the East Coast of the United States, eastern United States. The highway runs from an interchange with Interstate 81 in Virginia, I-81 near Middletown, Virginia, on its w ...

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 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 ...

, 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. In April 2024, Woodlawn unveiled two new exhibits, as part of an initiative focusing on "expanding the narrative" about the land's inhabitants. "Woodlawn: People & Perspective" describes Woodlawn's connections to African-American history. "Offerings for the Tauxenent: Acknowledging Indigenous People", curated by Gabrielle Tayac, is dedicated to the

Doeg people The Doeg (also called Dogue, Taux, Tauxenent) were a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American people who lived in Virginia. They spoke an Algonquian languages, Algonquian language and may have been a branch of the Nanticoke Indian Trib ...

, who inhabited the site before it became a plantation. Because the Doeg left behind relatively few surviving artifacts, this exhibit features art made by contemporary native groups to commemorate the Doeg. 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 enti ...

near Port Conway on Virginia's Northern Neck is the centerpiece of the Woodlawn Historic and Archeological District, 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 The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

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 Brick buildings and structures in Virginia

History

Current status

See also

References

External links