Green Springs National Historic Landmark District
Encyclopedia
Green Springs National Historic Landmark District is a national historic district
in Louisa County, Virginia
noted for its concentration of fine rural manor
houses and related buildings in an intact agricultural landscape. The district comprises 14000 acres (5,665.6 ha) of fertile land, contrasting with the more typical poor soil and scrub pinelands surrounding it.
from exit No. 136, "Zion Crossroads." The district is roughly bounded by U.S. Route 15
and Virginia Routes 22 and 613. The area is named for an natural spring noted by Thomas Jefferson
as possessing "some medicinal virtue." The district features a mixture of wooded and farmed lands. Its distinguishing geological feature is the presence of a heavy clay soil that retains plant nutrients and moisture, creating an open landscape suitable for farming. The area is noted for its park-like views, particularly from U.S. Route 15
.
The strip mine happened anyway (Google Earth maps of the area clearly show the destruction caused by the mine) but not on the scale that was intended originally and a great many significant houses and lands continue to be preserved and saved from the predatory development that is quickly ruining the areas around the district.
include:
The district also includes the village of Poindexter at the intersection of Virginia Routes 613 and 640.
. On December 12, 1977, the United States Secretary of the Interior
agreed to accept preservation
easement
s for nearly half of the 14004 acres (57 km²) in the district. These allow the NPS to own development rights to the land, and to ensure its continuing rural and agricultural nature. The district is an affiliated area of Shenandoah National Park
. The National Park Service does not provide any facilities in the district.
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
in Louisa County, Virginia
Louisa County, Virginia
Louisa County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 33,153. The county seat is Louisa.- History :...
noted for its concentration of fine rural manor
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
houses and related buildings in an intact agricultural landscape. The district comprises 14000 acres (5,665.6 ha) of fertile land, contrasting with the more typical poor soil and scrub pinelands surrounding it.
Description
The district is located 1.5 miles (2 km) north of Interstate 64Interstate 64
Interstate 64 is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. 40, and U.S. 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchange with I-264 and I-664 at Bowers Hill in Chesapeake, Virginia. As I-64 is concurrent with...
from exit No. 136, "Zion Crossroads." The district is roughly bounded by U.S. Route 15
U.S. Route 15
U.S. Route 15 is a -long United States highway, designated along South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The route is signed north–south, from U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Walterboro, South Carolina to Interstate 86 and NY 17 in Painted Post, New York.US...
and Virginia Routes 22 and 613. The area is named for an natural spring noted by Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
as possessing "some medicinal virtue." The district features a mixture of wooded and farmed lands. Its distinguishing geological feature is the presence of a heavy clay soil that retains plant nutrients and moisture, creating an open landscape suitable for farming. The area is noted for its park-like views, particularly from U.S. Route 15
U.S. Route 15
U.S. Route 15 is a -long United States highway, designated along South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The route is signed north–south, from U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Walterboro, South Carolina to Interstate 86 and NY 17 in Painted Post, New York.US...
.
Preservation
The district was preserved following attempts by the state of Virginia to build a prison there, and after a strip mine was proposed in the area to mine clay for cat litter.The strip mine happened anyway (Google Earth maps of the area clearly show the destruction caused by the mine) but not on the scale that was intended originally and a great many significant houses and lands continue to be preserved and saved from the predatory development that is quickly ruining the areas around the district.
National Register properties
Significant places listed individually on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
include:
- Boswell's TavernBoswell's TavernBoswell's Tavern is an excellent example of a complete 18th century tavern in Virginia. Located near Gordonsville, Virginia, the tavern is located at the intersection of present-day U.S. Route 15 and Virginia State Route 22, the centerpiece of a village named after the tavern. The tavern was built...
, an important meeting place during the American RevolutionAmerican RevolutionThe American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
and a well-preserved example of a Colonial-era tavern. - GrassdaleGrassdale (Trevilians, Virginia)Grassdale is an Italianate-style villa in Louisa County, Virginia, notable for its size and style in a stable, rural region. The house was built in 1861 by James Maury Morris, Jr., a member of the prominent Morris family of Louisa County...
, an Italianate villa built in 1961 by the Morris family, later home of Rear Admiral David W. TaylorDavid W. TaylorRear Admiral David Watson Taylor, USN was a naval architect and engineer of the United States Navy. He served during World War I as Chief Constructor of the Navy, and Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair...
and his wife Imogene Morris Taylor. - Green SpringsGreen Springs (Trevilians, Virginia)Green Springs was built in the late 18th century on lands in Louisa County, Virginia assembled by Sylvanus Morris. His son Richard developed near the mineral springs that gave the property its name and built the two-story frame house. The property stands in an unusually fertile region of central...
, a late 18th century house built by the Morris family near the springs that lent their name to the district. - HawkwoodHawkwood (Gordonsville, Virginia)Hawkwood is an Italianate-villa style country house near Gordonsville, Virginia. The house was designed by architect Alexander Jackson Davis of New York in 1851 for Richard Overton Morris of the locally prominent Morris family, and was completed in 1855...
, an Italianate villa designed by prominent New York architect Alexander Jackson DavisAlexander Jackson DavisAlexander Jackson Davis, or A. J. Davis , was one of the most successful and influential American architects of his generation, in particular his association with the Gothic Revival style....
for Richard Overton Morris, completed in 1855, gutted by fire in 1982. - IoniaIonia (Trevilians, Virginia)Ionia is a frame house near Trevilians, Virginia, that was the centerpiece of a large plantation in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Built around 1775, Ionia was the home of the Watson family...
, a late 18th century 1-1/2 story frame house, original seat of the Watson family - WestendWestend (Trevilians, Virginia)Westend is a temple-fronted house near Trevilians, Virginia. Built in 1849, the house's design refers to the Classical Revival style, representing an extension of the Jeffersonian ideal of classical architecture. The house was built for Mrs. James Morris on a property that she had inherited from...
, a temple-fronted plantation house with extant dependencies, built by the Morris family.
Major historic properties
Major historic properties in the district include:- Barton House is an early 19th century 1-1/2-story frame house built by the Barton family.
- Belle Monte is a FederalFederal architectureFederal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the United States between c. 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815. This style shares its name with its era, the Federal Period. The name Federal style is also used in association with furniture design...
style two-story house built in the early 18th** century and enlarged in both the 19th and 20th century. (**The Historic American Buildings Survey listed the house built in the 19th century but pulled that data from a National Historic Register Nomination Form filled out in error) There are multiple historic references to the original builder of the house and family being born at the residence prior to the 1790's as well as land transfers predating the 1780's and a reference to Belle Monte in a letter from Thomas Jefferson. Lafayette stayed at and used the house as a recuperative hospital for his soldiers. There is definite precedence that places the original structure in the early to mid 1700s. Belle Monte is in close proximity to Boswell's Tavern and built in the same era. - Bera Baptist Churchis an 1857 Gothic Revival church.
- Bracketts is a two-story frame house built about 1800.
- Corduroy is a circa 1850 two-story frame house with a hipped roof and a single-story entrance porticoPorticoA portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
. - East View is a two-story frame house with a hipped roof and Moorish-style porches, built in 1856.
- Galway is a two-story frame house with a hipped roof and a balustraded TuscanTuscan orderAmong canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...
porch. Its eaves feature a scalloped cornice. - Kenmuir is a 2-1/2-story frame house built about 1855. The house shows Gothic Revival influence with its lancet windows in the gables.
- Oakleigh is a two-story late 19th century frame house with a bracketed cornice and a full-width veranda on the front featuring sawn detailing.
- Prospect Hill is an 18th-century house that was progressively enlarged in the 19th and 20th centuries. The two-story frame house features a two-level porch on two sides, along with dependent structures.
- Quaker Hill is a small one-story frame house dating to circa 1820.
- St. John's Chapel
- Sylvania was built in 1746 by the Morris family. The two-story frame house has a hipped roof with a cross gable, with wings to either side and an ell to the rear. Sylvania was extensively damaged by a tornado on October 13, 2011, which blew the roof off the house.
- Westlands is an Italianate two-story brick house, built around 1856.
Other properties
Other historic properties include:- Ashleigh is a 1900 frame house of two stories with a large veranda.
- Aspen Hill is a two-story late-19th century frame house with a lancet gable window.
- Fair Oaks is a two-story frame house built about 1900 with an IonicIonic orderThe Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
Classical Revival veranda. - Green "K" Acres (Oakleigh) is a late-19th century two-story frame house with a veranda.
- Hard Bargain is a Stick Style two-story frame house with an irregular plan and a veranda.
- Hill House is a 1918 two-story frame house.
- Midloch is a circa 1900 two-story frame house with paneled chimneys and a large veranda.
- Mill View is a 1-1/2-story frame house dating to the late 18th century, with a two-story addition.
- Peers House is an 1857 two-story frame house with a hipped roof and a cross gable. A second Peers House was built in the late 19th century with sawn ornament on its two-story porch.
- Sunny Banks is a circa 1900 two-story frame house.
- Sunny View was built about 1900. It is a two-story frame house with a large veranda.
The district also includes the village of Poindexter at the intersection of Virginia Routes 613 and 640.
Status
On May 30, 1974 the district was declared a National Historic LandmarkNational Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
. On December 12, 1977, the United States Secretary of the Interior
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
agreed to accept preservation
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
easement
Easement
An easement is a certain right to use the real property of another without possessing it.Easements are helpful for providing pathways across two or more pieces of property or allowing an individual to fish in a privately owned pond...
s for nearly half of the 14004 acres (57 km²) in the district. These allow the NPS to own development rights to the land, and to ensure its continuing rural and agricultural nature. The district is an affiliated area of Shenandoah National Park
Shenandoah National Park
Shenandoah National Park encompasses part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the U.S. state of Virginia. This national park is long and narrow, with the broad Shenandoah River and valley on the west side, and the rolling hills of the Virginia Piedmont on the east...
. The National Park Service does not provide any facilities in the district.
External links
- Official NPS website: Green Springs
- Green Springs Historic District NHL information
- Barton House, Near Route 15, Boswells Tavern vicinity, Louisa, VA at the Historic American Buildings SurveyHistoric American Buildings SurveyThe Historic American Buildings Survey , Historic American Engineering Record , and Historic American Landscapes Survey are programs of the National Park Service established for the purpose of documenting historic places. Records consists of measured drawings, archival photographs, and written...
(HABS) - Ashleigh (Main House), Route 22 vicinity, Gordonsville vicinity, Louisa, VA at HABS
- Belle Monte (Main House), Route 22 vicinity, Gordonsville vicinity, Louisa, VA at HABS
- Bracketts Farm (Main House), Routes 638 & 640 vicinity, Trevilians vicinity, Louisa, VA at HABS
- East View, Near Route 613, Trevilians vicinity, Louisa, VA at HABS
- Green "K" Acres, Route 617, Gordonsville vicinity, Louisa, VA at HABS
- Hard Bargain (Main House), Near Routes 695, 636 & 613 vicinity, Trevilians vicinity, Louisa, VA at HABS
- Kenmuir (Main House), Route 613, Trevilians vicinity, Louisa, VA at HABS
- Mill View (Main House), Near Route 613, Trevilians vicinity, Louisa, VA at HABS
- Prospect Hill (Main House), Near Routes 613 & 607 Intersection, Trevilians vicinity, Louisa, VA at HABS
- Quaker Hill (Main House), Route 613, Trevilians vicinity, Louisa, VA at HABS
- Sunny Banks (Main House), Near Route 640, Trevilians vicinity, Louisa, VA at HABS