Audio
Chatham Audio Walking Tour, # 1, Chatham Entrance
Transcript
Welcome to Chatham. This audio walking tour includes eight stops and covers less than half a mile of ground . To begin the tour, start at the brick patio at the end of the parking lot, marked by four large signs. Beyond the brick wall in front of you is a two-story, brick house known as Chatham. Since its completion in 1771, Chatham’s landscape has evolved over time. The landscape that exists today does not reflect each period of Chatham’s history equally. As you walk the grounds today, think deeply about the features that surround you. What steps should we take to uncover the hidden stories related to Chatham’s past?
Chatham is situated atop a bluff known as Stafford Heights overlooking the Rappahannock River and bordering a geographic boundary known as the Fall Line. The Fall Line marks a change in elevation. To the west, the ground rises gradually, and rivers become rockier and shallower. The land along the Fall Line was first home to Indigenous tribes who lived here for thousands of years. By 1600, the Fall Line marked the boundary between two Indigenous language groups. Algonquian-speaking tribes lived to the east of the Fall Line, while Siouan-speaking tribes lived to the west.
The Rappahannock, an Algonquian-speaking tribe, lived here in the vicinity of Chatham. The tribe’s name referenced the river on which they lived. Translated from Algonquian, Rappahannock means “where the water rises and falls.” This tidal river was a central part of life for the Rappahannock people. When English colonists arrived in present-day Virginia during the early 1600s, the lives of Indigenous people like the Rappahannock were forever changed. As colonists moved west into Virginia, disease and warfare decimated Indigenous populations.
By the 1700s, colonists began settling further west of the Fall Line. Due to increased trade of tobacco and other commodities up and down the Rappahannock River, a port town formed here at the Fall Line. The colonial government chartered the town in 1727, naming it Fredericksburg after Prince Frederick, the oldest son of King George II. Colonists built Fredericksburg on a foundation of enslaved labor. In 1619, British colonists transported the first enslaved Africans to Virginia. Port towns like Fredericksburg became centers of the domestic slave trade.
As Fredericksburg grew, the region also became a key site for agricultural production. In 1742, William Fitzhugh, a wealthy Virginian from nearby King George County, inherited part of his father’s land here along the Rappahannock River. Through his inheritance and marriage to Ann Randolph, another wealthy Virginian, Fitzhugh lived at the top of the social and economic hierarchy of Virginia society. During the 1760s, William Fitzhugh embarked on the construction of a new plantation here opposite the town of Fredericksburg.
The next stop on the tour is the main house. Continue down the brick path, turning right at the first fork in the path. The path will bring you through the garden to a slate patio in front of the house.
Description
First established during the 1760s, Chatham Plantation is often recognized for both its history and its scenic landscape. This tour explores the history of Chatham Plantation from its initial development as a slave plantation through its preservation by the National Park Service. Here beside the parking lot, learn about the people who first inhabited this land and the ways that colonial settlement led to Chatham’s creation.
Credit
NPS
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