Grassdale Farm, located in the southwest Henry County community of Spencer, is notable for its many surviving 19th- and early-20th-century structures. They include the stylish plantation house and numerous dependencies, especially a log slave dwelling and early detached kitchen, as well as agricultural and commercial buildings. The farm began as a tobacco plantation owned by David Harrison Spencer (1814-1896), and later became the center of a large-scale plug tobacco manufacturing operation from about 1860 through the end of the 19th century. Spencer, who also owned the local store, post office, mill, and blacksmith shop, built the two-story frame main house of Greek Revival and Italianate character during the late antebellum period. Later improvements to the house on Grassdale Farm are also evident.
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