FREDERICKBURG'S ORIGINS
and a History of Its Neighborhoods

By Paula S. Felder

This Series was originally Published in The Free Lance-Star
of Fredericksburg, Virginia, Town and County Magazine,
March 15-June 7, 2003.  Gwen Woolf, Magazine Editor. 
Reprinted with Permission

Introduction to the Series

Fredericksburg, Virginia is a gateway to the Northern Neck of Virginia, and the two areas share a rich colonial history.  Fredericksburg is located between Washington D.C. and Richmond, Virginia.  From Fredericksburg, the traveler can take historic Highway 3 into the Northern Neck. 

Fredericksburg began on fifty acres in March 1728, created by an act of the Virginia Assembly. It was to be a colonial port for the settlers in the new county of Spotsylvania, who had come here to grow tobacco, a crop so valuable it could be used as money.

For its first half-century, Fredericksburg was part of an English colony - with English institutions, English money, English laws and customs, and an official religion.

With independence, Fredericksburg not only experienced the new freedoms of America.  It also underwent a dramatic change in town life. Immediately following the great victory at Yorktown, in the Fall of 1781, it was made a self-governing town by the new state Assembly.

Crafting a local ship of state was a rocky venture, for the town was in a ruinous condition, which was very likely the reason for the hasty legislation. The very first item on the agenda of the first Council elected in February 1782 was the repair of the jail. There was not even a public space in which the Council could meet.  The town's ordinances had to be drafted one by one as needs and problems arose, and new positions had to be created to enforce the new regulations. The twice weekly market required detailed supervision - from the allowable speed of the horse drawn wagons to the accuracy of the scales to the quality of the meat and produce.  The Council also had to finance the welfare of the needy, which before had been the responsibility of the church. And an inadequate tax base to support town services was a problem from the first.

But released from being a captive market for England and Scotland, Fredericksburg's citizens embraced free enterprise. By the turn of the 19th century, there were vigorous new institutions - public elections, schools, a newspaper that revolutionized communications, and private development ringing the city that would become part of its 19th century history.

Today, the church and courthouse still stand on their original sites.  The market square has been preserved. And the Rappahannock River still provides a distinguishing boundary. The streets of the old town of Fredericksburg are still laid out to the surveyor's specifications and still bear the names of the members of the House of Hanover. Today, Fredericksburg and its neighborhoods reflect and present all three centuries of its history.

This series will tell the story of how Fredericksburg grew to become the town we know today. 
Go to Part 1 of the Series.