Historic Structure Report: The Shelton House at Rural Plains

Yocum, Barbara

The Richmond National Battlefield Park commemorates 13 American Civil War sites around Richmond, Virginia, which served as the capital of the Confederate States of America for most of the war. The park connects certain features within the city with defensive fortifications and battle sites around it. This historic structure report on the historic Shelton House at Rural Plains provides a chronology of its historical and physical evolution, describes its architectural elements, identifies character-defining features, evaluates the integrity of the house for the 1864 period of significance, and provides general treatment options. The Shelton House is a brick, 1-½ story house that was constructed circa 1725, according to the findings of a dendrochronlogy (tree-ring) study undertaken in 2006-07. Physical investigation for this report found that except for its structural components, little remains from that time. The house today is an assemblage of materials dating from many episodes of repair, remodeling, and updating. These were identified as circa 1785, 1835, 1864, 1915, 1948, 1965, and 1980. Nevertheless, the house retains a good degree of historic integrity for the year 1864, thanks to the devoted stewardship of the Shelton family. The Shelton House is the only surviving structure of a larger plantation, which was known as “Rural Plains” by the mid-19th century. The property remained in the Shelton family for almost 300 years, until the death of William R. Shelton, Jr., in 2006. Among the family members associated with Rural Plains was John Shelton, whose daughter Sarah married Patrick Henry in 1754. Research for this report found documentation suggesting that the Shelton family was living elsewhere in Hanover County at that time, making it unlikely that the marriage took place in the parlor at Rural Plains. The Shelton House served as the headquarters for Union troops during the Battle of Totopotomoy Creek in May 1864. During that engagement, Union General Winfield Hancock’s Second Army Corps entrenched near the Shelton House, facing General Robert E. Lee’s forces on the opposite banks of the creek. Union infantry launched repeated assaults in a failed attempt to carry the Confederate lines. Two signal officers posted on the roof of the house counted 51 artillery strikes by Confederate troops, the damage from which can still be seen in the attic today. William R. Shelton, Jr., and his wife Hollie B. Shelton conveyed the property to the Totopotomoy Battlefield at Rural Plains Foundation, subject to their life interest, in 2000. Rural Plains became part of Richmond National Battlefield Park in 2006.

Historic Structure Report: The Shelton House at Rural Plains

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