Germanna Site - Orange County VA
N 38° 22.910 W 077° 46.819
18S E 257144 N 4251841
The land was the location of a frontier fort, the first German colonies in Virginia, and the Enchanted Castle, Alexander Spotswood's home.
Waymark Code: WMDBNR
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 12/20/2011
Views: 4
In 1710, Alexander Spotswood was appointed Lieutenant Governor of the colony of Virginia. In 1714, Spotswood established the first colony of German settlers in Virginia. Located on the banks of the Rapidan River, it was known as Germanna. A fort was erected for their protection from the native Indians and the Germanna settlers helped to guard the frontier while establishing small farms.
According to the diary of John Fontaine (who visited Germanna twice):
"...the town which was palisaded with stakes stuck in the ground and laid close to one another. The size would have withstood musket shot. There were, according to Fontaine, but nine families and they have nine houses built all in a line. Before every house, about 20 feet away, they had small sheds for their hogs and hens. As a result the houses and sties made a street. The palisades made a pentagon, very regularly laid out, and in the very centre there was a blockhouse with five sides to answer the sides of pales.¹
A second German colony was established in 1717.
Spotswood was displaced as governor in 1722 and he returned to Germanna two years later as a private citizen where he built a large home which William Byrd called the Enchanted Castle.² The Enchanted Castle burned sometime in the early 1740s.
It was not until the 1960s that the Germanna site was discovered and test excavations were made. Enough evidence was found to nominate the site to the NHRP in 1978. Subsequent archaeological excavations revealed the location of the Enchanted Castle, parts of Fort Germanna, and evidence of Civil War activity. (This was near the site of the Germanna Crossing
during the War in 1864.)
By 1995, the archaeological research had stopped due to budget cutbacks. Only about an estimated 10% - 20% of the grounds has been excavated. Today, the site remains dormant. A Virginia National Landmark plaque
that was once tacked to a tree has been removed, although a brick pedestal with a plaque still remains. The inscription reads:
THE "ENCHANTED CASTLE" AT GERMANNA,
CIRCA 1720-1750
HOME OF COLONIAL GOVERNOR ALEXANDER SPOTSWOOD
AND FORMERLY THE SITE OF
FORT GERMANNA, 1714
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION BY
MARY WASHINGTON COLLEGE.
CENTER FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION
PRESENTED BY
NECOSTIN CHAPTER, VIRGINIA SOCIETY
NATIONAL SOCIETY COLONIAL DAMES XVII CENTURY
SEPTEMBER 26,1992
Excavations in progress are covered with tarps and plastic and are overgrown. Stakes mark different locations at the site. There are two old wooden structures -- one which served as a tool shed and research storage facility, the other appears to have been a field cabin. An old millstone serves as a step to the front porch.
The site is owned by VA and administered by the University of Mary Washington, although the Germanna Foundation
is currently negotiating to acquire the title.³
The Germanna site is currently not open to the general public. A private drive through a subdivision leads to a dirt road to the location, or the more adventuresome can bushwhack to the site which will take you past Civil War earthworks, grassy mounds which may indicate old homes of the colonists, and the Spotswood spring. But before attempting to visit Germanna, check in first at the Germanna Foundation Visitor Center.
¹ GERMANNA History Notes Page #001, Nr. 10
² Excerpts from the Diary of William Bryd II, September 27, 1732
³ 
Orange County Review: Germanna descendants visit Enchanted Castle site
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