Virginia History

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Long before Lassie became a famous film star there was another collie who was courted by movie directors. This remarkable "dog with a human brain" had his day in a Fredericksburg court room and escaped the death penalty.

The Aquia Train Robbery

This account has been compiled from the Free Lance newspaper of Fredericksburg, Virginia, October 16, 1894 through September 27, 1895, by Robert A. Hodge.

Great Lives Series: Booker T. Washington

Born a slave in Franklin County, Virginia, Booker T. (Taliaferro) Washington went on to become a nationally-known leader and educator. He shared his educational philosophy with U.S. presidents and served as the first president of Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University.

Great Lives Series: Blackbeard

Professor Carter L. Hudgins of UMW's Department of History and American Studies will give a free lecture on Blackbeard, scourge of the Chesapeake Bay and Caribbean, on Thursday, January 28, 2010, at Dodd Auditorium.  The talk is part of the university's Great Lives Lecture Series.

A Guidebook to Virginia's Historical Markers

Whether you're planning on an Old Dominion road trip or just enjoy breezing through the centuries with a guidebook in hand, check this one out to discover the sometimes surprising histories of our state's counties and cities. From the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America

Anyone interested in Virginia's earliest colonial history ought to get to know the passengers and crew of the Sea Venture. This ship was sent to relieve Jamestown's starving colonists but never made it. The survivors landed on Bermuda, known as the Devil's Isle, where their saga continued.  Their story was the inspiration for Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Historic Government Island to Become a Park

The new 17-acre park, located in northern Stafford County near Aquia Harbor, will become part of the county's own park system when it opens next year. Government Island is historically significant as the source of Aquia sandstone, used in such structures as the White House, the U.S. Capitol, Aquia Church, Gunston Hall, Kenmore, and Christ Church in Alexandria. In 2002, the House passed a resolution recognizing the historical significance of Aquia sandstone quarries on Government Island.

CRRL Presents: The Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center Enters a New Era

This interview airs beginning December 9.
In the fifth and final of a series on the expansion of the Fredericksburg Area Museum, Senior Vice President of Collections and Exhibitions Mary Helen Dellinger meets with Debby Klein to talk about the completion of this amazing project. We also take a peek at some of the new exhibit spaces.

Marlborough Point: In the Stream of History

Follow Marlborough Point Road down to the eastern tip of Stafford County, and you will pass by lots of new housing mushrooming into the forests and fields that were once favored by both the Native Americans and colonial settlers.  This section of the county is home to not just centuries of local history but millennia.