The hilltop Fall Hill plantation, sited next to the falls of the Rappahannock River and now within the city limits of Fredericksburg, originally was included in the 8,000 acres of Spotsylvania County patented ca. 1720 by Francis Thornton I. Francis Thornton III (1711-1749) maintained a summer residence at Fall Hill. A 2013 dendrochronology study determined that the current house at Fall Hill was constructed in 1779, likely by Francis Thornton IV (1737-1794), for his son Francis Thornton V (1760-1836). Francis Thornton V later served as Spotsylvania County justice of the peace. The house was extensively remodeled in the 1840s by Francis Thornton V’s granddaughter and her husband, John Roberts Taylor, who closed up several windows and replaced the woodwork. During the Fredericksburg campaign in the Civil War, Gen. Robert E. Lee established a breastworks at the foot of the hill to guard the river crossing. The Fall Hill property, with its ancient trees, scattering of outbuildings, and panoramic view of downtown Fredericksburg, remained under the ownership of Thornton descendants into the early 21st century.