Bayville’s broad, level fields, on a peninsula framed by Pleasure House Creek and Bayville Creek, remain one of the last open spaces in the northern part of what was formerly Princess Anne County, some of the earliest agricultural lands in the country. The Federal plantation house was begun in 1826 as a side-passage dwelling built for John Singleton by the contractor Jacob Hunter. Sold two years later to pay debts, the house was given its present five-bay form by its next owner, James Garrison. Bayville’s brick ends are an architectural feature characteristic of many houses in the Chesapeake region. Preserved on the property is a series of undisturbed prehistoric and historic archaeological sites. Subsequent to its listing on the registers, the farmland was developed into a golf course, in a manner sensitive to the historic integrity of the landscape and to the preservation of archaeological features.
The house on Bayville Farm was hit by lightning and destroyed by fire in August of 2007. The property was delisted from the Virginia and National registers in 2008.
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