History of the Area

Colonial Days

By Arnold Chase

Lake Of The Woods Steeped In History

The area in and around Lake of the Woods is steeped in history. It is an area of frontier adventure and hardship, of iron mining and smelting by the early settlers, of gold mining, and of one of the fiercest battles of the Civil War.

Plank Road

Those who have traveled to Lake of the Woods undoubtedly have noticed signs along Virginia Route 3 indicating that it is called "Germanna Highway." Originally an old Indian trail improved by the early white settlers through installation of planks, or rough-hewn logs, it became known as Plank Road, a name which it retains even today among many of the older local residents. The section from Route 20 to Germanna Ford (the present bridge over the Rapidan River) and running directly in front of Lake of the Woods was called Germanna Plank Road. The plank section was only wide enough for one wagon, and those inbound toward Fredericksburg, which were unusually heavily loaded with tobacco or other plantation products, had the right of way over outbound wagons generally with light loads, especially when the road was muddy.

The Germanna Colony

The official designation of Route 3 as Germanna Highway stems from the name given to the first white settlement in what is now Orange County. The colony was located on a peninsula formed by a very large horseshoe-shaped loop in the Rapidan River on either side of Route 3 some three and a half miles west of Lake of the woods main gate toward Culpeper. The settlers were brought to this area under an indenture agreement in 1714 by Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood to work his iron mines, operate his iron furnace, and act as rangers for protection from Indians who frequently harassed settlements further down the Rappahannock River. The name "Germanna" was given to this settlement by Governor Spotswood in joint recognition of the Nassau-Siegen Principality of Germany from whence the original settlers came, and of Queen Anne, England's reigning monarch at that time.

It was from Germanna that the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe launched their expedition to cross the Blue Ridge Mountains in 1716 near what is now known as Swift Run Gap, marking the first time that a body of white men had set foot on the other side.

In order to augment his iron mine and furnace work force, Spotswood rescued a second colony of Germans from Alsace who had been left stranded in Virginia in 1717. They were of a different religious faith from that of the first colony and had little intercourse with them at Germanna. As soon as they completed their indenture, they moved on to Madison county.

By 1719, the original Germanna colonists had moved on to Germantown in what is now Fauquier County, Virginia. In the meantime, Spotswood had secured another indentured German colony in 1719 and an English colony in 1724, both of which settled around Germanna. The settlement grew, and was even designated the County Seat of Spotsylvania County where Court was held until 1732 when the Court was removed to Fredericksburg shortly before Orange County was formed from Spotsylvania County in 1734.

Incidentally, Orange County was named after William, Prince of Orange, one of the more enlightened of England's kings, rather than for the color of much of the soil in this area, as some people surmise. The Rapidan River, then considered a branch of the Rappahannock, was named Rapid Anne by Spotswood in honor of his Queen and because of the swiftness of its currents. This river subsequently achieved some prominence as the site of a Presidential retreat during the Herbert Hoover Administration.

The Iron Mines

Spotswood's iron mines and furnace were located some 12 to 13 miles below Germanna in what is now Spotsylvania County, on Mott's Creek (Pipe Dam Run) near where it flows into the Rappahannock. He had to cart the finished iron products about 15 miles to Massaponax, his plantation on the Rappahannock, where they could be shipped by water. Nevertheless, because of the advanced design of his blast furnace and the skills of his German workers, the enterprise was highly successful for many years.

Spotswood "Enchanted Castle"

After his displacement as Governor in 1722 and his marriage and return to Virginia from England as a private citizen in 1724, Spotswood built his "enchanted castle", a palatial home, at Germanna on the bank of the river about opposite the present entrance to Germanna Community College. Many guests were entertained lavishly there in the years that followed. Thus, the Germanna colony, which was located nearby to the present site of Lake of the Woods, became the center of much activity before it began to decline and eventually disappear. Only crumbled chimneys and traces of the terraces between Spotswood's palace and the river exist today. The furnace, several miles downstream, likewise has virtually disappeared, except for some of the stone work and slag piles. The Germanna area came back into prominence briefly during the Civil War, and trenches used in that conflict can still be seen, but little else remains as evidence of the historical significance of the area.

In view of the key role that Governor Alexander Spotswood played in the early history of this area, it is most fitting that one of our Lake of the Woods parks should be named for him, the one on Lakeview Parkway near the main gate. However, the dwelling of which one can still see some remains in the park was not occupied by the Governor but is believed to have been "Orange Grove", the home of his grandson, John R. Spotswood. A portrait of the Governor which formerly hung in the great hall of our clubhouse disappeared mysteriously prior to acquisition of the clubhouse by our Association.

Gold!

Although Virginia was one of the spawning grounds for the American Revolution, action in that war skirted the Lake of the Woods area. It is said, however, that Lafayette passed here with his small army and probably crossed the river at Germanna Ford. While population and development pushed westward toward here both before and after that conflict, nothing else of major historical interest occurred in this area until about 1825, when some children returning home from Sunday school found a piece of gold on the ground.

People immediately flocked into the area and began placer mining operations. One Judge Coalter (elsewhere spelled Coulter) was reported to have made a profit of $10,000 in ten months, working only eight hands at his mine. Although the exact location of the find is not known, it probably was on a tract which later became the site of the Partridge (Woodville) mine. The area from the Rapidan southwestward between Wilderness Run and Flat Run soon became known as the heart of the golf Mining District of Virginia.

Most of the mines in the immediate vicinity were located between Route 3 and the Rapidan. However, the District extended along the Orange Turnpike (route 20) to Mine Run, and prospecting was done westward to near Indian Town on Russell Run. Of most interest to property owners at Lake of the Woods is that one mine shaft, the Orange Grove, was sunk to a depth of about 60 feet near Flat Run in front of what is now the spillway for our main lake. It had to be plugged with concrete when the dam was constructed, in order to avoid the chance of seepage under the dam.

The Vaucluse and the Partridge (Woodville) mines were the most important and best known in this area. The Vaucluse mine was opened in 1832 and is reported to have provided a large part of the State's gold production for many years. The lodes were worked through two open cuts, each about 60 feet deep, 75 feet wide, and 120 feet long. Eventually, six shafts also were dug. As early as 1847, this mine had an elaborate plant, including heavy steam engines and ore crushing machinery. The mine was later purchased by Henry Ford to obtain the old mining machinery for his museum at Dearborn, Michigan. In 1934, he resold the property.

Vestiges of many of the mines in this area, and especially the Vaucluse mine, can be seen today. The latter can be reached from secondary road 667 off Route 3 about opposite the dam of our fishing lake. The road ends after a short distance, and only a trail leads to the mine site. Beyond this to the northeast was another mine of some importance, the Melville. The Partridge (Woodville) mine was northwest of the Vaucluse near a trail leading back toward the Rapidan from the present site of the Pilgrim Baptist Church. The gold mines in this area were reported to have, at one time, employed about 5,000 people -- mostly negro slaves.

Gold mining near here continued actively until 1849, when the discovery of gold in California diverted most of the attention of speculators there. Operations were virtually suspended during the Civil War, and resumed only intermittently thereafter until the end of 1938, when they were abandoned altogether.

The ores in the Virginia Gold Mining District were reported to have yielded from $5 to $32 worth of gold per ton. Reports of the Philadelphia mint show that nearly $3,100,000 of Virginia gold was coined there between 1829 and 1860. In addition, the Charlotte mint coined considerable quantities of Virginia gold. There, of course, are no records of the amounts that went into the trade, the arts, exports, etc., so that it is not possible to account for the total output of Virginia gold, much of which came from this area. However, it is safe to say that it reached several million dollars.

Virginia mining stock was quoted regularly on the New York Stock Exchange. Many thousands of shares were issued and some of them rose ten-fold in value. In fact, there are indications that speculators made more money on Virginia gold mine stocks than ever was realized by the sale of gold from Virginia mines.