Hope Park
Encyclopedia
Hope Park was an 18th and 19th-century plantation
in Fairfax County
in the U.S. state of Virginia
. Hope Park was the residence of Dr. David Stuart
(1753–1814), an old friend and associate correspondent of George Washington
, and second husband of Washington's former stepdaughter-in-law, Eleanor Calvert Custis (1758–1811). Hope Park Plantation was located approximately 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Fairfax Court House
(now known as the independent city of Fairfax
).
of the Fairfax County Court from 1764 to 1785 and builder of Payne's Church which was completed in 1778. Payne served with George Washington and George Mason on the Truro parish vestry and the then, Mr. Washington, lodged with the Paynes at Hope Park from time to time. Payne is also credited with constructing a small grist mill, probably on Piney Branch which was on the Hope Park property. A mill would have been an important adjunct to the plantation.
purchased Hope Park plantation in 1785. Stuart was an Alexandria
physician
who was appointed on January 22, 1791, by then President Washington, as the member representing Virginia on the first board of Commissioners of the Federal City and he served for almost four years. In 1789, Stuart served as a justice for the Fairfax County Court. Stuart was also later named a trustee by the Virginia General Assembly
for the towns of Centreville
in 1792 and Providence (later known as Fairfax Court House, and then Fairfax) in 1805.
Stuart married Eleanor Calvert Custis
, widow of John Parke Custis
and daughter-in-law of Martha Washington
and stepdaughter-in-law of George Washington
, in 1783. Until relocating to Hope Park sometime between 1791 and 1793, the couple resided first at Custis's Abingdon
plantation overlooking the Potomac River. Estates along major waterways found transport and communication easier than those in the interior of Fairfax County such as Hope Park. The Stuarts regularly received George and Martha Washington as guests at Abingdon and at Hope Park plantation and were frequent guests at Mount Vernon. Because of the close relationship between the Stuart and Washington families, Hope Park is mentioned frequently in Washington's correspondences and diaries.
Stuart's stepdaughters and George Washington's step-granddaughters Martha Parke Custis
and Elizabeth Parke Custis
were both married at Hope Park. Martha Custis married Thomas Peter on January 6, 1795, and Elizabeth Custis married Thomas Law on March 20, 1796. When the Stuart's moved to Hope Park, these elder Custis daughters moved with them and lived there with their mother and stepfather. Peters was the son of a successful Georgetown merchant and Law was the son of Edmund Law
, Bishop of Carlisle
, and the younger brother of Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough
, George Henry Law
, later Bishop of Bath and Wells
, and John Law
, a Church of Ireland
bishop. The Custis/Law union was a short one and ended in divorce in 1806. While the two younger Custis siblings, Eleanor Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis, lived at Mount Vernon, Philadelphia, and New York with George and Martha Washington, they also visited their mother at Hope Park.
Most likely under Stuart's ownership and before the Stuart family relocated to Ossian Hall in 1804, a second mill and was constructed on the west bank of Piney Branch. An adjacent miller
's house was also built. The precise dates of construction of this mill and the miller's house are unknown, but the mill was mentioned as being "in complete repair" in an 1815 sale notice following Stuart's 1814 death. A study of the mill undertaken in 1972 by preservationist
Russell Wright placed the mill's construction at c. 1800. Then known as "Hope Park Mill," it later gained importance as a neighborhood mill, serving the needs of adjacent plantations in central Fairfax County.
The late Barnes Sr.'s wife, Sarah Barnes, received the main Hope Park dwelling house with 194 acres which was referred to as the "Mansion House Tract." The Barnes' eldest son Jack Barnes (i.e., John H. Barnes, Jr.) had been trained as a miller and he and his wife, Mary Fox Barnes, were given property including the mill and miller's house which they occupied and called "Huntley." Barnes Sr.'s other six children received other Hope Park plantation parcels.
As Hope Park plantation grew in prosperity under the Barnes family, so did its slave population. In the 1840s, the Barnes family owned four slaves, seven in 1850, and 12 in 1860. Due to the outlay and high cost of slaves, the number of slaves owned by the Barnes family was relatively low in comparison to the slave workforces at neighboring plantations in Fairfax County. Barnes, Sr. had the aid of his sons in working the plantation, which was also a factor in lessening the family's dependence upon slave labor.
in June 1861, John Barnes's three sons, including Jack (then 29 years of age), traveled from Hope Park to Fairfax Court House to enlist in the 17th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment
, known as the "Fairfax Rifles." Two months later, Jack Barnes was captured and sent to the Old Capitol Prison
in Washington, D.C.
(the first of Barnes' three Federal incarcerations).
The remaining Barnes family members (widow Sarah and her four daughters and Jack Barnes' wife, Mary, and their children) and slaves were temporarily forced to evacuate Hope Park and Huntley. Upon their return a short time later following the Confederate victory at the First Battle of Bull Run
, the family found its residences at Hope Park and Huntley still standing, however, they had been vandalized by Union soldiers.
During the winter of 1861/1862, Hope Park Mill was used by Confederate States Army forces
as Post No. 3. Shortly after the Confederate States Army forces vacated Hope Park Mill in March 1862, Union Army forces
advanced into western Fairfax County to conduct foraging
and resupply operations against civilians. Union soldiers confiscated everything they could carry, including vegetables and pigs. One of the confiscated pigs belonged to ten-year-old Nettie (Jack and Mary Barnes' daughter), who according to the Barnes family story, recovered her pig from the Union raiding party. The following is an excerpt from the Barnes family's account of the story in Charles V. Mauro's The Civil War in Fairfax County: Civilians and Soldiers:
under the ownership of Frank Robey. Robey's death in 1916 brought an end to Hope Park Mill's commercial production.
, spring house
, and cabin
, are preserved. Hope Park's mill and adjacent ancillary buildings were listed as "Hope Park Mill and Miller's House" on the Virginia Landmarks Register
on November 16, 1976, and on the National Register of Historic Places
on August 15, 1977. Hope Park Mill and Miller's House are located at 12124 Pope's Head Road, Fairfax, Virginia. At the time of the complex's listings in 1976 and 1977, the property was owned by Sally and David McGrath who also lived in the miller's house.
The Hope Park mansion house (and the mill) were included in the Historic American Building Survey (HABS) conducted in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration
(WPA). Multiple photographs were taken and detailed measured drawings were made of the mansion house and the mill and can be viewed on the Library of Congress website. A plaque from the Interior Department commemorating this activity sits in the mansion house.
As of the time of this article's composition and subsequent to the Barnes' tenure, ownership of the Hope Park mansion house (and its fluctuating acreages due to sales or inheritances) has been held by, the Newmans, Zimmerman, the Mattinglys, the Flints, and the Warhursts. The Hope Park mansion house, as it has evolved over the years, remains in use as a private residence and graciously shares a seven-acre lot with a grand modern home about a mile from the mill and miller's house. Until 1976 when the remaining 82-acre Hope Park "Mansion House Tract" was subdivided, the address of the mansion house was 11809 Pope's Head Road. It obtained a new address then when the old farm lane from Popes Head Road to the mansion house was named to accommodate the development.
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
in Fairfax County
Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
in the U.S. state of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. Hope Park was the residence of Dr. David Stuart
David Stuart (Virginia)
David Stuart was an associate and correspondent of George Washington. When Washington became President of the United States, he appointed Stuart to be one of the three commissioners that were in charge of siting and designing the nation's new capital city.-Private life:Born in Scotland, Stuart...
(1753–1814), an old friend and associate correspondent of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, and second husband of Washington's former stepdaughter-in-law, Eleanor Calvert Custis (1758–1811). Hope Park Plantation was located approximately 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Fairfax Court House
Fairfax, Virginia
The City of Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City is nevertheless the county seat....
(now known as the independent city of Fairfax
Fairfax, Virginia
The City of Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City is nevertheless the county seat....
).
Payne Family
The plantation at Hope Park was founded in the 1750s by Edward Payne, a justiceJustice
Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
of the Fairfax County Court from 1764 to 1785 and builder of Payne's Church which was completed in 1778. Payne served with George Washington and George Mason on the Truro parish vestry and the then, Mr. Washington, lodged with the Paynes at Hope Park from time to time. Payne is also credited with constructing a small grist mill, probably on Piney Branch which was on the Hope Park property. A mill would have been an important adjunct to the plantation.
Stuart Family
Dr. David StuartDavid Stuart (Virginia)
David Stuart was an associate and correspondent of George Washington. When Washington became President of the United States, he appointed Stuart to be one of the three commissioners that were in charge of siting and designing the nation's new capital city.-Private life:Born in Scotland, Stuart...
purchased Hope Park plantation in 1785. Stuart was an Alexandria
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
who was appointed on January 22, 1791, by then President Washington, as the member representing Virginia on the first board of Commissioners of the Federal City and he served for almost four years. In 1789, Stuart served as a justice for the Fairfax County Court. Stuart was also later named a trustee by the Virginia General Assembly
Virginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members,...
for the towns of Centreville
Centreville, Virginia
Centreville is an unincorporated community in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as a Census Designated Place , the community population was 71,135 as of the 2010 census and is approximately west of Washington, DC.-Colonial Period:Beginning in the 1760s,...
in 1792 and Providence (later known as Fairfax Court House, and then Fairfax) in 1805.
Stuart married Eleanor Calvert Custis
Eleanor Calvert
Eleanor Calvert Custis Stuart was a prominent member of the Calvert family of Maryland. Upon her marriage to John Parke Custis, she became the daughter-in-law of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington and the stepdaughter-in-law of George Washington...
, widow of John Parke Custis
John Parke Custis
John Parke Custis was a Virginia planter, the son of Martha Washington and stepson of George Washington.-Childhood:...
and daughter-in-law of Martha Washington
Martha Washington
Martha Dandridge Custis Washington was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States...
and stepdaughter-in-law of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, in 1783. Until relocating to Hope Park sometime between 1791 and 1793, the couple resided first at Custis's Abingdon
Abingdon (plantation)
Abingdon was an 18th- and 19th-century plantation that the prominent Alexander, Custis, Stuart, and Hunter families owned. The plantation's site is now located in Arlington County in the U.S...
plantation overlooking the Potomac River. Estates along major waterways found transport and communication easier than those in the interior of Fairfax County such as Hope Park. The Stuarts regularly received George and Martha Washington as guests at Abingdon and at Hope Park plantation and were frequent guests at Mount Vernon. Because of the close relationship between the Stuart and Washington families, Hope Park is mentioned frequently in Washington's correspondences and diaries.
Stuart's stepdaughters and George Washington's step-granddaughters Martha Parke Custis
Martha Parke Custis Peter
Martha Parke Custis Peter was a granddaughter of Martha Dandridge Washington and the step-granddaughter of George Washington.-Early life:Martha Parke Custis was born on 31 December 1777 in the Blue Room at Mount Vernon...
and Elizabeth Parke Custis
Elizabeth Parke Custis Law
Elizabeth Parke Custis Law was a granddaughter of Martha Dandridge Washington and the step-granddaughter of George Washington. She was a social leader of the District of Columbia and a preserver of the Washington family heritage.-Early life:Elizabeth Parke Custis was born on 21 August 1776...
were both married at Hope Park. Martha Custis married Thomas Peter on January 6, 1795, and Elizabeth Custis married Thomas Law on March 20, 1796. When the Stuart's moved to Hope Park, these elder Custis daughters moved with them and lived there with their mother and stepfather. Peters was the son of a successful Georgetown merchant and Law was the son of Edmund Law
Edmund Law
Edmund Law was a priest in the Church of England. He served as Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, as Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy in the University of Cambridge from 1764 to 1769, and as bishop of Carlisle from 1768 to 1787....
, Bishop of Carlisle
Bishop of Carlisle
The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York.The diocese covers the County of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District...
, and the younger brother of Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough
Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough
Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough PC KC was an English judge. After serving as a Member of Parliament and Attorney General, he became Lord Chief Justice.-Early life:...
, George Henry Law
George Henry Law
George Henry Law was the Bishop of Chester and then, from 1824, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He was the son of Edmund Law, Bishop of Carlisle....
, later Bishop of Bath and Wells
Bishop of Bath and Wells
The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England.The present diocese covers the vast majority of the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew in...
, and John Law
John Law (bishop)
John Law DD was an English mathematician and clergyman who began his career as a Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge, and went on to become chaplain to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and Church of Ireland bishop of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh , Killala and Achonry , and finally of Elphin .He was a...
, a Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
bishop. The Custis/Law union was a short one and ended in divorce in 1806. While the two younger Custis siblings, Eleanor Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis, lived at Mount Vernon, Philadelphia, and New York with George and Martha Washington, they also visited their mother at Hope Park.
Most likely under Stuart's ownership and before the Stuart family relocated to Ossian Hall in 1804, a second mill and was constructed on the west bank of Piney Branch. An adjacent miller
Miller
A miller usually refers to a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a cereal crop to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents in other languages around the world...
's house was also built. The precise dates of construction of this mill and the miller's house are unknown, but the mill was mentioned as being "in complete repair" in an 1815 sale notice following Stuart's 1814 death. A study of the mill undertaken in 1972 by preservationist
Preservationist
Preservationist is generally understood to mean historic preservationist: one who advocates to preserve architecturally or historically significant buildings, structures, objects or sites from demolition or degradation...
Russell Wright placed the mill's construction at c. 1800. Then known as "Hope Park Mill," it later gained importance as a neighborhood mill, serving the needs of adjacent plantations in central Fairfax County.
Barnes Family
The bulk of the Hope Park plantation property remained in Dr. Stuart's estate until December 1837 when John H. Barnes, Sr. purchased a 1,000-acre tract which included the mill and miller's house but not the main Hope Park dwelling. Barnes purchased the remainder of Hope Park plantation including the main dwelling house in February 1838. The Barnes, Sr. family is the first known to have occupied the miller's house. They subsequently moved into the main house and Barnes Sr. was the last to own Hope Park plantation as a consolidated entity. After Barnes Sr.'s death, Hope Park plantation was broken into eight inheritance properties when his estate was settled in 1853.The late Barnes Sr.'s wife, Sarah Barnes, received the main Hope Park dwelling house with 194 acres which was referred to as the "Mansion House Tract." The Barnes' eldest son Jack Barnes (i.e., John H. Barnes, Jr.) had been trained as a miller and he and his wife, Mary Fox Barnes, were given property including the mill and miller's house which they occupied and called "Huntley." Barnes Sr.'s other six children received other Hope Park plantation parcels.
As Hope Park plantation grew in prosperity under the Barnes family, so did its slave population. In the 1840s, the Barnes family owned four slaves, seven in 1850, and 12 in 1860. Due to the outlay and high cost of slaves, the number of slaves owned by the Barnes family was relatively low in comparison to the slave workforces at neighboring plantations in Fairfax County. Barnes, Sr. had the aid of his sons in working the plantation, which was also a factor in lessening the family's dependence upon slave labor.
American Civil War
Following the onset of the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
in June 1861, John Barnes's three sons, including Jack (then 29 years of age), traveled from Hope Park to Fairfax Court House to enlist in the 17th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment
17th Virginia Infantry
The 17th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia....
, known as the "Fairfax Rifles." Two months later, Jack Barnes was captured and sent to the Old Capitol Prison
Old Capitol Prison
The Old Brick Capitol in Washington, D.C., served as temporary Capitol of the United States from 1815 to 1825, and became the Old Capitol Prison during the American Civil War. Razed in 1929, its site is now occupied by the U.S...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
(the first of Barnes' three Federal incarcerations).
The remaining Barnes family members (widow Sarah and her four daughters and Jack Barnes' wife, Mary, and their children) and slaves were temporarily forced to evacuate Hope Park and Huntley. Upon their return a short time later following the Confederate victory at the First Battle of Bull Run
First Battle of Bull Run
First Battle of Bull Run, also known as First Manassas , was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, near the City of Manassas...
, the family found its residences at Hope Park and Huntley still standing, however, they had been vandalized by Union soldiers.
During the winter of 1861/1862, Hope Park Mill was used by Confederate States Army forces
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
as Post No. 3. Shortly after the Confederate States Army forces vacated Hope Park Mill in March 1862, Union Army forces
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
advanced into western Fairfax County to conduct foraging
Foraging
- Definitions and significance of foraging behavior :Foraging is the act of searching for and exploiting food resources. It affects an animal's fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce...
and resupply operations against civilians. Union soldiers confiscated everything they could carry, including vegetables and pigs. One of the confiscated pigs belonged to ten-year-old Nettie (Jack and Mary Barnes' daughter), who according to the Barnes family story, recovered her pig from the Union raiding party. The following is an excerpt from the Barnes family's account of the story in Charles V. Mauro's The Civil War in Fairfax County: Civilians and Soldiers:
Robey Family
The mill at Hope Park prospered again around the turn of the centuryTurn of the century
Turn of the century, in its broadest sense, refers to the transition from one century to another. The term is most often used to indicate a non-specific time period either before or after the beginning of a century....
under the ownership of Frank Robey. Robey's death in 1916 brought an end to Hope Park Mill's commercial production.
Current status
Hope Park mill and miller's house (sometimes known collectively as "Robey's Mill" or "Piney Branch Mill"), along with a log smokehouseSmokehouse
A smokehouse is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more.-History:...
, spring house
Spring house
A spring house, or springhouse, is a small building used for refrigeration once commonly found in rural areas before the advent of electric refrigeration. It is usually a one-room building constructed over the source of a spring. The water of the spring maintains a constant cool temperature...
, and cabin
Log cabin
A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...
, are preserved. Hope Park's mill and adjacent ancillary buildings were listed as "Hope Park Mill and Miller's House" on the Virginia Landmarks Register
Virginia Landmarks Register
The Virginia Landmarks Register is a list of historic properties in the state of Virginia. The state's official list of important historic sites, it was created in 1966. The Register serves the same purpose as the National Register of Historic Places...
on November 16, 1976, and on the National Register of Historic Places
National 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...
on August 15, 1977. Hope Park Mill and Miller's House are located at 12124 Pope's Head Road, Fairfax, Virginia. At the time of the complex's listings in 1976 and 1977, the property was owned by Sally and David McGrath who also lived in the miller's house.
The Hope Park mansion house (and the mill) were included in the Historic American Building Survey (HABS) conducted in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
(WPA). Multiple photographs were taken and detailed measured drawings were made of the mansion house and the mill and can be viewed on the Library of Congress website. A plaque from the Interior Department commemorating this activity sits in the mansion house.
As of the time of this article's composition and subsequent to the Barnes' tenure, ownership of the Hope Park mansion house (and its fluctuating acreages due to sales or inheritances) has been held by, the Newmans, Zimmerman, the Mattinglys, the Flints, and the Warhursts. The Hope Park mansion house, as it has evolved over the years, remains in use as a private residence and graciously shares a seven-acre lot with a grand modern home about a mile from the mill and miller's house. Until 1976 when the remaining 82-acre Hope Park "Mansion House Tract" was subdivided, the address of the mansion house was 11809 Pope's Head Road. It obtained a new address then when the old farm lane from Popes Head Road to the mansion house was named to accommodate the development.