Transcription
Dumfries is mere shadow
of former bustling port
By Cynthia Kuhn
The town of Dumfries,
located in the southeastern
corner of Prince William
County, is a shadow of its
former self according to
historical writings.
The quiet, mile-long, half-
mile-wide town is choked
with history from the
Quantico Creek to the
Stagecoach Inn.
The little town was a
commercial hub in colonial
days, serving as an important
port and trading center.
Established in 1749, it was the
oldest of seven towns
established in the county's
first century. Dumfries was a
major tobacco port and
[storage] city with business
flourishing in the town's early
days. Scottish merchants
cruised their ships from the
Potomac River up the now
trickling Quantico Creek to
acquire homes and stores or
to trade and take a drink in
one of many local taverns.
In 1769, Dumfries became
the county seat in Prince
William, drawing merchants
and attorneys to set up
businesses. The courthouse
stood on the corner of Main
Street and Duke Street when
an empty lot is today.
Everything seemed to be
going well as The Stagecoach
Inn, located on the end of
what is now southbound U.S.
1 in town, was constructed
about 1760 and the Weems-
Botts House went up
sometime before 1798.
The Stagecoach Inn, also
known as "Love's Tavern"
and later as "William's
Ordinary," provided lodging
and food for travelers at a
nominal fee. The structure is
reportedly the only surviving
building in the state featuring
all header-bond brick work
(the bricks are placed side to
side rather than end to end)
and is the last Georgian style
building in the town.
One of Dumfries' most
famed citizens, Alexander
Henderson, lived in a stately
house on the corner of Duke
and Fairfax streets. In approximately
1788, Alexander
was a colonial tobacco
merchant in the town and
was the father of Archibald
Henderson, who became the
first commandant of the
Marine Corps. Although the
Henderson House, now occupied
by the Shumate
family, still stands in town. it
has not been formally
recognized as a historical
landmark.
The Weems-Botts house,
located on the corner of
Cameron and Duke streets
just west of U.S. 1, is
reportedly the oldest frame
house in the town. Parson
Mason Locke Weems, a
biographer of George
Washington, bought the house
in 1798 from town trustees
and used it as a bookstore and
study.
Benjamin Botts, the noted
local attorney who defended
Aaron Burr in his treason
trial purchased the building
in 1802. The building passed
to John Minor Botts in 1811.
Currently it houses a
museum and is owned and
managed by Historic
Dumfries, Inc.
Business was zipping right
along in the late 1790's when
the creek began to present
problems to the town folk.
Still a problem in the town
today, the creek began to clog
with silt, preventing the
lucrative shipping and
trading business from pulling
into port.
By 1789, the town was so
established, it included one of
Virginia's first superior
courts, serving Prince
William, Fairfax, Fauquier
and Loudoun counties.
Then, as now, the town
people began efforts to
dredge the creek to protect
their homes and keep their
livelihoods flourishing. The
citizens in 1796 organized a
stock company at $50 per
share to open the creek and
improve navigation but
siltation problems persisted.
Despite struggling
residents who continued to
work toward cleaning out the
creek, by the 1820's, Scottish
merchants had taken their
lucrative trade to more accessible
ports. Dumfries was
left unprepared to pick up the
economic slack. The town's
pace slowed and the
prosperous business community.
was transformed into
a quiet residential community.
During the Civil War,
Dumfries was the base of the
only successful confederate
blockade of Washington,
Historic Dumfries President
Anne Flory said. It was an
Army land-based blockade
held in 1861 with strategically
positioned guns.
Some town residents still
remember a major fire which
destroyed much of Main
Street in 1927. Mrs. Warfield
Brawner said the fire was
first discovered when her
infant daughter Jane (now
Mrs. Fraley) awoke crying at
1:10 a.m. that January
morning from an explosion in
nearby Town Hall.
The family came on to their
porch and called for help
before evacuating. The fire
consumed six buildings on
Main Street, including the
grocery store the Brawners
ran, town hall and the
Brawners home.
Although thought to have
the oldest charter of any town
in the state, the town was
formally not organized until
1961. At that time, the election
of a mayor and council
began and the town government
commenced operating
as it does today. The officers
are elected every other year
and meet at 7 p.m. the first
Tuesday of each month.Transcriber
Adam KitchenLanguage
English