Spring Hill is a well-preserved example of a typical, center-hall-plan, Tidewater farmhouse. While initially thought to have been built about 1782, more recent architectural analysis estimates the construction date to be ca. 1818. Spring Hill, built by Richard C. Graves, retains its original Flemish-bond, double-shouldered end chimneys, weatherboards, and trim. The interior is equally well preserved with original flooring, woodwork, paneling, and plaster walls. An early frame smokehouse sits in the yard. This New Kent County property was previously known as Indian Fields (until it was changed to Spring Hill sometime between 1835 and 1840). Col. Richard C. Graves (1772-1835) was a descendant of Thomas Graves, who arrived in Virginia on the Mary and Margaret in 1608. Col. Graves and his wife, the former Elizabeth Valentine, were the proprietors of a racetrack, stables, and a hotel on the property, and Graves served in the Virginia General Assembly in 1822. The property passed out of Graves family ownership in 1863.
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