Cultural Landscape Report for Chatham, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP
Beagan C and Foulds H. 2019. Cultural Landscape Report for Chatham, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP. FRSP 326 149584. Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation. Boston, Massachusetts
The 88.65-acre unit of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park is a small portion of a once vast estate amassed by the Fitzhugh family beginning in the early eighteenth century. The Georgian style brick manor house overlooking the Rappahannock River was completed in 1771 by William Fitzhugh (1741–1809) at the core of a large plantation supported by slave labor. During the Civil War, Chatham served as a Union headquarters and field hospital. The property was host to many noteworthy visitors before, during, and after the war. In the 150 years since the end of the war, Chatham has been owned by many individuals and entities who have both repaired extensive war-time damage and imposed their own tastes upon the buildings and grounds. Upon the death of its last private owner, John Lee Pratt, in 1975, the house and surrounding acreage were donated to the National Park Service. The house and grounds are open to the public. A cultural landscape report is the primary document used by the National Park Service for management of its historically significant landscapes. This report, focused on the Chatham landscape, is organized into four chapters beginning with a detailed site history tracing the physical evolution of the landscape, followed by up-to-date documentation of the existing conditions, an analysis and evaluation of the significance and integrity of the Chatham landscape based on existing National Register of Historic Places documentation, and treatment recommendations providing guidance for long-term management. Additional detailed information is included in appendices, including a core area tree inventory and vegetation inventory for the Walled Garden.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Beagan, Christopher; Foulds, H. Eliot
- Date of Issue
- 2019
- Publisher
- Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation
- Units
- FRSP , NER
- Keywords
- Chatham Manor, CLR, cultural landscape, Cultural landscapes, Fredericksburg, Historic buildings, Historic gardens, Local history, National Military Park, OCLP, Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Plantation owners, Slavery, Stafford County, Virginia
- Subjects
- CRIS-CL: 300178: Chatham Manor , CRIS-CL: 300149: Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP Landscape