Fort Belvoir's history is interwoven with the founding of Fairfax County, the settling of Virginia and the birth of our nation. The 8,656-acre tract along the Potomac River that is now Fort Belvoir was once part of a grant from a 17th century English king. Control of the land known as the Northern Neck was handed down through the Culpeper family to Thomas, the sixth Lord Fairfax, who, in 1734, persuaded his cousin, Col. William Fairfax, to come to Virginia and oversee the family's holdings.
In 1741, Col. Fairfax built his home on 2,000 acres of what is now much of the South Post peninsula. The mansion sat on a high bluff overlooking the Potomac. Col. Fairfax named the estate Belvoir, which is French for "beautiful to see."
One of Col. Fairfax's sons, George William, befriended young George Washington, who at age 16, came to live with his elder half-brother Lawrence at nearby Mount Vernon. The Fairfax family made Belvoir a center of culture and aristocratic elegance in the Virginia wilderness, and the family frequently entertained members of colonial Virginia society. Washington was a frequent guest at Belvoir.
Col. Fairfax died in 1757, and he and his second wife, Deborah, are buried on the estate grounds. George William Fairfax and his wife, Sally, returned to England in 1773, and the Fairfax family rented out the land and home until 1783, when it was mostly destroyed by fire. The mansion was further damaged by British cannons when U.S. Naval forces on the peninsula engaged British ships leaving Alexandria after the burning of Washington on their way to Fort McHenry in September 1814.
In the spring of 1894, writer W. H. Snowden visited the Belvoir ruins and family cemetery and described the site in "Some Old Historic Landmarks of Virginia and Maryland: A Handbook for the Tourist over the Washington, Alexandria and Mount Vernon Railway" (Third edition, 1902): In the wood near adjoining, rows of sunken mounds indicated the family burial place. A score of graves may still be counted, without stone or vestige of enclosure. The marble slabs which had marked the last resting places of William Fairfax and Deborah, his wife, the first master and mistress, and which had remained intact until a few years before the war, had been sacrilegiously broken up and carried away.
The tablet over the grave of the proprietor and master of the homestead who died in 1757 disappeared long before that of the mistress. Some portions of the old enclosure were still lying around the burial place and with these the writer improvised a rude cross over the remains of the two ... and gathering some wild flowers blooming nearby, strewed them about with kindly regard to light up for the hour at least, the utter loneliness of the spot.
In 1741, Col. Fairfax built his home on 2,000 acres of what is now much of the South Post peninsula. The mansion sat on a high bluff overlooking the Potomac. Col. Fairfax named the estate Belvoir, which is French for "beautiful to see."
One of Col. Fairfax's sons, George William, befriended young George Washington, who at age 16, came to live with his elder half-brother Lawrence at nearby Mount Vernon. The Fairfax family made Belvoir a center of culture and aristocratic elegance in the Virginia wilderness, and the family frequently entertained members of colonial Virginia society. Washington was a frequent guest at Belvoir.
Col. Fairfax died in 1757, and he and his second wife, Deborah, are buried on the estate grounds. George William Fairfax and his wife, Sally, returned to England in 1773, and the Fairfax family rented out the land and home until 1783, when it was mostly destroyed by fire. The mansion was further damaged by British cannons when U.S. Naval forces on the peninsula engaged British ships leaving Alexandria after the burning of Washington on their way to Fort McHenry in September 1814.
In the spring of 1894, writer W. H. Snowden visited the Belvoir ruins and family cemetery and described the site in "Some Old Historic Landmarks of Virginia and Maryland: A Handbook for the Tourist over the Washington, Alexandria and Mount Vernon Railway" (Third edition, 1902): In the wood near adjoining, rows of sunken mounds indicated the family burial place. A score of graves may still be counted, without stone or vestige of enclosure. The marble slabs which had marked the last resting places of William Fairfax and Deborah, his wife, the first master and mistress, and which had remained intact until a few years before the war, had been sacrilegiously broken up and carried away.
The tablet over the grave of the proprietor and master of the homestead who died in 1757 disappeared long before that of the mistress. Some portions of the old enclosure were still lying around the burial place and with these the writer improvised a rude cross over the remains of the two ... and gathering some wild flowers blooming nearby, strewed them about with kindly regard to light up for the hour at least, the utter loneliness of the spot.
Fort Belvoir's history is interwoven with the founding of Fairfax County, the settling of Virginia and the birth of our nation. The 8,656-acre tract along the Potomac River that is now Fort Belvoir was once part of a grant from a 17th century English king. Control of the land known as the Northern Neck was handed down through the Culpeper family to Thomas, the sixth Lord Fairfax, who, in 1734, persuaded his cousin, Col. William Fairfax, to come to Virginia and oversee the family's holdings.
In 1741, Col. Fairfax built his home on 2,000 acres of what is now much of the South Post peninsula. The mansion sat on a high bluff overlooking the Potomac. Col. Fairfax named the estate Belvoir, which is French for "beautiful to see."
One of Col. Fairfax's sons, George William, befriended young George Washington, who at age 16, came to live with his elder half-brother Lawrence at nearby Mount Vernon. The Fairfax family made Belvoir a center of culture and aristocratic elegance in the Virginia wilderness, and the family frequently entertained members of colonial Virginia society. Washington was a frequent guest at Belvoir.
Col. Fairfax died in 1757, and he and his second wife, Deborah, are buried on the estate grounds. George William Fairfax and his wife, Sally, returned to England in 1773, and the Fairfax family rented out the land and home until 1783, when it was mostly destroyed by fire. The mansion was further damaged by British cannons when U.S. Naval forces on the peninsula engaged British ships leaving Alexandria after the burning of Washington on their way to Fort McHenry in September 1814.
In the spring of 1894, writer W. H. Snowden visited the Belvoir ruins and family cemetery and described the site in "Some Old Historic Landmarks of Virginia and Maryland: A Handbook for the Tourist over the Washington, Alexandria and Mount Vernon Railway" (Third edition, 1902): In the wood near adjoining, rows of sunken mounds indicated the family burial place. A score of graves may still be counted, without stone or vestige of enclosure. The marble slabs which had marked the last resting places of William Fairfax and Deborah, his wife, the first master and mistress, and which had remained intact until a few years before the war, had been sacrilegiously broken up and carried away.
The tablet over the grave of the proprietor and master of the homestead who died in 1757 disappeared long before that of the mistress. Some portions of the old enclosure were still lying around the burial place and with these the writer improvised a rude cross over the remains of the two ... and gathering some wild flowers blooming nearby, strewed them about with kindly regard to light up for the hour at least, the utter loneliness of the spot.
In 1741, Col. Fairfax built his home on 2,000 acres of what is now much of the South Post peninsula. The mansion sat on a high bluff overlooking the Potomac. Col. Fairfax named the estate Belvoir, which is French for "beautiful to see."
One of Col. Fairfax's sons, George William, befriended young George Washington, who at age 16, came to live with his elder half-brother Lawrence at nearby Mount Vernon. The Fairfax family made Belvoir a center of culture and aristocratic elegance in the Virginia wilderness, and the family frequently entertained members of colonial Virginia society. Washington was a frequent guest at Belvoir.
Col. Fairfax died in 1757, and he and his second wife, Deborah, are buried on the estate grounds. George William Fairfax and his wife, Sally, returned to England in 1773, and the Fairfax family rented out the land and home until 1783, when it was mostly destroyed by fire. The mansion was further damaged by British cannons when U.S. Naval forces on the peninsula engaged British ships leaving Alexandria after the burning of Washington on their way to Fort McHenry in September 1814.
In the spring of 1894, writer W. H. Snowden visited the Belvoir ruins and family cemetery and described the site in "Some Old Historic Landmarks of Virginia and Maryland: A Handbook for the Tourist over the Washington, Alexandria and Mount Vernon Railway" (Third edition, 1902): In the wood near adjoining, rows of sunken mounds indicated the family burial place. A score of graves may still be counted, without stone or vestige of enclosure. The marble slabs which had marked the last resting places of William Fairfax and Deborah, his wife, the first master and mistress, and which had remained intact until a few years before the war, had been sacrilegiously broken up and carried away.
The tablet over the grave of the proprietor and master of the homestead who died in 1757 disappeared long before that of the mistress. Some portions of the old enclosure were still lying around the burial place and with these the writer improvised a rude cross over the remains of the two ... and gathering some wild flowers blooming nearby, strewed them about with kindly regard to light up for the hour at least, the utter loneliness of the spot.
Family Members
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
