Robertson-Towson House
N 38° 26.514 W 077° 25.499
18S E 288362 N 4257632
The property in Stafford County was owned by William Robertson who operated a stone quarry on site which supplied sandstone to the construction of the U.S. Capitol.
Waymark Code: WM34FB
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 02/08/2008
Views: 23
During the late 18th century and early 19th century, William Robertson owned and operated a stone quarry, the remains of which are west of the existing stone house ruins. In 1804, Robertson entered into an agreement with Benjamin Latrobe, an architect who was in the process of designing the U.S. Capitol, to supply sandstone for the Capitol's construction.
According to an entry in Latrobe's journal, Robertson "built a little log house 24 feet by 18, two stories high, each divided into two small rooms. A log house kitchen, a …stable, smithshop, hen house, meat house, and tool house."
After Robertson’s death in 1818, his family sold the property to Thomas Towson, a Baltimore architect who designed and constructed the existing stone house around 1820. It is more than likely that he or one of his family members constructed the stone wall, which is located below the house and above the historic road originally called White Road.
During the Civil War, the Towson House and surrounding area was utilized as a Union camp site. The Towson family owned the property through the early 20th century.
Today, a stone shell remains of the Towson home and it has recently undergone some restoration to help preserve it. It sits behind a community pool at the Austin Ridge subdivision. For more info, this article
was published in the Free Lance-Star on 5/29/02.