Greenway Court, Virginia

Greenway Court

Early-19th-century engraving
of the main house at Greenway Court
Location 1 mi. S of White Post on VA 658, White Post, Virginia
Coordinates 39°2′46″N 78°7′9″W / 39.04611°N 78.11917°W / 39.04611; -78.11917Coordinates: 39°2′46″N 78°7′9″W / 39.04611°N 78.11917°W / 39.04611; -78.11917
Area 5 acres (2.0 ha)
Built 1748
NRHP Reference # 66000829
VLR # 021-0028
Significant dates
Added to NRHP October 15, 1966[1]
Designated NHL October 9, 1960[2]
Designated VLR September 9, 1969[3]

Greenway Court is a historic country estate near White Post in rural Clarke County, Virginia. The property is the site of the seat of the vast 18th-century land empire of Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1693-1781), the only ennobled British colonial proprietor to live in one of the North American colonies. The surviving remnants of his complex — a later replacement brick house and Fairfax’s stone land office — were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960.[2][4]

Description

Greenway Court is located down a long private drive on the west side of Virginia State Route 658 (White Post Road) south of the village of White Post. The property now consists of about 5 acres (2.0 ha), although it was in the 18th century at the center of landholdings in excess of 5 million acres (20,000 km2). Its principal feature today is a brick farmhouse built in 1828, the original plantation house having been demolished c. 1834. The main historic structure surviving from the period of the Fairfax residency is the Land Office, a c. 1762 single-story gable-roofed limestone structure, and there is also a timber smokehouse dating to the 18th century.[4]

History

The Greenway Court Estate Office

Greenway Court was the center of the "Northern Neck Proprietary" or "Fairfax Grant", which passed to Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron from his mother's family, the Culpepers, who had taken proprietorship of the land in 1673. Fairfax laid out the Greenway Court estate in 1747, intending it to be a much larger establishment than it became. The main house was a 1-1/2 story timber structure with long sloping roofs and corbelled brick chimneys. It was originally intended to house the land steward, but it was occupied by Fairfax with his nephew, Thomas Bryan Martin, until his death in 1781. Fairfax employed a young George Washington as a surveyor on his extensive land holdings.[4]

A visit to this estate is the subject of "A Night at Greenway Court," an 1896 short story by Willa Cather.

Unincorporated community

Greenway Court is used as a name to describe an unincorporated community in which the former estate is located.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "Greenway Court". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  3. ↑ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 Stephen Lissandrello (March 15, 1975). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Greenway Court" (pdf). National Park Service.
  5. ↑ "Greenway Court, Virginia". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
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