Spotswood Spring - Orange County VA
N 38° 22.805 W 077° 47.040
18S E 256817 N 4251657
The remains of a early 18th-century fountain that belonged to Alexander Spotswood who established the first German colonies in Virginia still stands near the old Germanna site.
Waymark Code: WMDCDK
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 12/24/2011
Views: 12
Not far from the
Germanna site
where Gov. Alexander Spotswood built a fort, his home (the Enchanted Castle), and established the first German colonies of Virginia in the early 18th century, there stands the old Spotswood Spring.
The spring which is now overgrown and hidden in the woods "once had a fountain spouting out of it" according to an entry in the 1732 diary of William Byrd who visited Spotswood in Germanna¹ and was made of marble.
In 1932, the Colonial Dames Of America restored the spring and built a pedestrian bridge so travelers on the old Germanna Hwy. between Fredericksburg and Culpeper could stop and refresh themselves. In those days, there was not the proliferation of stores and restaurants that exist today. They erected a plaque at the spring that read:
FOUNTAIN SPRING
OF
ALEXANDER SPOTSWOOD
GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA 1710-1722
ON OLD GERMANNA TRACT
RESTORED BY THE SOCIETY OF
COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA
IN THE STATE OF VIRGINIA
UNDER THE AUSPICES OF
FREDERICKSBURG COMMITTEE
The spring, no longer a marble fountain, had a circular stone wall built around it with millstones as steps leading to it.
Today, an overgrown road trace leads to the fountain. The stone pedestrian bridge still stands at a stream crossing. The sign is rusted and no longer legible and water lies stagnant in the bottom of the spring. Only one millstone step is still visible.
Interestingly, there is a horseshoe at the top of the sign; perhaps a reference to Spotswood's Knights of the Golden Horseshoe who accompanied him in his westward exploration across the Blue Ridge Mountains (Swift Run Gap at Shenandoah NP).
Today, Rt. 3 is a 4-lane highway and there is no safe place to pull off and park. What was once a leisurely walk for thirsty travelers now requires bushwhacking. It is recommended you park and check in at the Germanna Foundation Visitor Center directly across the street.
¹ 
Germanna’s Treasure Trove of History: A Journey of Discovery
Reference: