Nomination Form
This simple, worn earthwork of Fort Cricket Hill in Mathews County is the tangible remnant of the event that marked the end of the last vestige of British rule in the Virginia colony. In July 1776, Virginia troops commanded by Gen. Andrew Lewis took up position here to keep in check the camp set up by Lord Dunmore, Virginia’s last royal governor, across Milford Haven inlet on Gwynn’s Island. Lewis’s batteries opened fire on the British on July 8, forcing Dunmore to abandon his position and sail with his fleet for England. Only a small section of the original Cricket Hill fortification remains, preserved in front of a yacht-storage facility, and included within the Gwynn’s Island Historic District.
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
Programs
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
