Overview.
Rippon Lodge Historic Site occupies 47 acres between Neabsco Creek and the historic Kings Highway (today's U.S. Rte. 1). The site overlooks the alluvial plain of the Potomac River, which flows east of it. The natural advantages of the site and its surrounding environs first attracted Native Americans and, later, European settlers. Captain John Smith is believed to have visited the site while it was still a seat of the Doeg Indians. The earliest English land patents in Northern Virginia were surveyed in the area, along the Potomac River.
Rippon Lodge is located about five miles north of the port town of Dumfries, first settled circa 1651. The development of tobacco plantations in the area at the time made Dumfries a successful harbor town for the exportation of this vital colonial commodity. Richard Blackburn, the builder of Rippon Lodge, was one of the local plantation owners who relied on Dumfries as a port.
Today Rippon Lodge Historic Site is owned and operated by the Prince William County Department of Public Works, Historic Preservation Division. With original portions of the house dating back to 1747, Rippon Lodge is the oldest known house existing in Prince William County.
Rippon Lodge Historic Site occupies 47 acres between Neabsco Creek and the historic Kings Highway (today's U.S. Rte. 1). The site overlooks the alluvial plain of the Potomac River, which flows east of it. The natural advantages of the site and its surrounding environs first attracted Native Americans and, later, European settlers. Captain John Smith is believed to have visited the site while it was still a seat of the Doeg Indians. The earliest English land patents in Northern Virginia were surveyed in the area, along the Potomac River.
Rippon Lodge is located about five miles north of the port town of Dumfries, first settled circa 1651. The development of tobacco plantations in the area at the time made Dumfries a successful harbor town for the exportation of this vital colonial commodity. Richard Blackburn, the builder of Rippon Lodge, was one of the local plantation owners who relied on Dumfries as a port.
Today Rippon Lodge Historic Site is owned and operated by the Prince William County Department of Public Works, Historic Preservation Division. With original portions of the house dating back to 1747, Rippon Lodge is the oldest known house existing in Prince William County.
Map by Dominic Bascone, DHR