The Federal-style farmhouse known as Liberia, now within the Manassas city limits, was used as a headquarters by both Confederate and Union forces during the Civil War. Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard occupied it in 1861 during the first battle of Manassas. A year later, when Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell set up Union headquarters at Liberia, President Abraham Lincoln along with Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton held council with McDowell here on June 19, 1862. The house was built in 1825 for William Weir, whose wife, Harriet Bladen Mitchell, inherited the property from her Carter ancestors. During the late-19th-century, Liberia was owned by Robert Portner, an inventor and businessman. The house preserves most of its handsome original woodwork. Surrounded by modern development, Liberia is a reminder of Manassas’s role in the Civil War. The property is owned by the city of Manassas and is part of the Manassas museum system.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
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DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia
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