Henry Farm: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Manassas National Battlefield, National Park Service
Elder EL and Weldon DT. 2019. Henry Farm: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Manassas National Battlefield, National Park Service. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 600190. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. National Capital Area Office / CRIS-CL
The Henry Farm cultural landscape is a component landscape of the larger Manassas National Battlefield Park cultural landscape, hereafter referenced in this document as MNBP. The study area for the Henry Farm cultural landscape is located within the boundaries of the MNBP south and east of the crossing of the Warrenton Turnpike and Sudley Road. The study boundary of the cultural landscape corresponds to modern day parcel 01-172 and is associated with lands historically owned by Judith Henry and her heirs at the time of the Battles of First and Second Manassas. The study area, which is comprised of approximately 128.80 acres, was historically associated with a larger land holding known as ‘Spring Hill’ or the ‘Henry farm. The National Park Service owns the cultural landscape in fee simple and has since the time of purchase in 1938. The Henry Farm cultural landscape is situated atop the Henry ridge. Within the cultural landscape, the ridge is highest in the south and slopes to the lower elevations towards Youngs Branch north of the cultural landscape. The hillslope is characterized by gullies and ravines carved from the flow of water over the limestone soil. Grasses cover the slope and the crest of the ridge. At the crest of the ridge, Henry House is in a prominent location affording views to the surrounding hills and Bull Run Mountains in the distance. The grass covered crest of the ridge is maintained as a field bordered by heavily forested spaces to the south and east. Monuments are scattered about the field south of the Henry House and north of the Visitor Center. Henry Farm is considered an example of a vernacular cultural landscape. While the Henry Farm cultural landscape contains designed landscape features, such as the visitor center building, the approach drive, and the commemorative monuments, the character and composition of the cultural landscape has evolved organically and in a piecemeal fashion overtime, allowing various era or layers to be legible in the cultural landscape. Henry Farm has morphed from a working Piedmont farm to a commemorative and interpretive landscape.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Elder, Elise; Weldon, Daniel
- Date of Issue
- 2019-03-29
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- MANA , NCR
- Keywords
- Agriculture, Battles of First and Second Manassas, Civil War, Conservation, Farm, First Battle of Manassas, Henry Farm, Henry Farmstead, Henry Hill, Historic Vernacular Landscape, Lower Bull Run Tract, MANA, Manassas National Battlefield Park, Military, Northern Neck Proprietary, Piedmont Agriculture, Plantation, Politics - Government, Second Battle of Manassas, Social History, Spring Hill Farm, Virginia
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Human Use | Cultural Landscapes | Cultural Landscapes