Historic Spotsylvania County, Virginia

In 1721, a vast new county, historic Spotsylvania, was formed in the young colony of Virginia. Extending far beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains, this frontier outpost was named for Alexander Spotswood, Colonial Governor of Virginia. Much of Spotsylvania County’s early development is attributed to Spotswood’s ironworks founded in the early 1700’s. Spotswood’s “Iron Mines Company”, a mining and smelting operation, was founded in 1725 at Germanna. This was the first fully equipped iron furnace in the colonies and Spotsylvania County’s first industry. Iron was hauled to the Rappahannock River for shipping. A wharf was built at the mouth of Massaponax Creek where ships docked to load wares for colonial ports. Wares from the Iron Mines Company included firebacks, pots, pans and kettles. A blast furnace, also founded by Spotswood, was operated in this area from 1730 through 1785. Remnants of the ironworks are still found in the County.

Under Spotswood’s resourceful leadership, a road network for transporting the iron was laid out, and skilled laborers were imported from Germany. At his death in 1740, Spotswood left behind a nearly self-sufficient iron empire that set in motion the rise of America’s iron and steel industry. Spotswood’s furnace was acquired in 1842 by the United States Government, which set up a forge and foundries. Here, the government made hundreds of cannons to supply the Mexican War. At that time, it was one of the most important cannon works in the country.

Four major Civil War battles were fought on historic Spotsylvania, Virginia soils, including one of the bloodiest of the war, the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in May 1864. Here the armies of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee saw one of the most intense clashes in American history: the Union attack on the Confederate-held “Bloody Angle”. This battle marked the beginning of the fall of the Confederacy. Also, it was in Spotsylvania County, at the Battle of Chancellorsville, that Stonewall Jackson fell to the mistaken fire of his own men.

The National Park Service maintains more than 4,400 acres of the Civil War battlefields in various locations throughout Spotsylvania County.