Lancaster Virginia Historical Society

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Lancaster Virginia Historical Society

History and Genealogy Center for Lancaster and Northern Neck VA with Museum and Research Library. MAILING ADDRESS: PO BOX 97, LANCASTER VA 22503.

Founded in 1958, our nonprofit, volunteer-based historical organization was originally named in honor of Mary Ball Washington who was born in Lancaster County and became the mother of George Washington. We now operate as the Lancaster Virginia Historical Society. Our museum complex has changing exhibits on local topics and includes the 1797 Clerk of Court Office, 1820s Old Jail, and c. 1830 Lancas

ter House, surrounding the original courthouse green from when the county seat was established here in 1742. (Note: Mary Ball did not live at this site! The research library contains about 10,000 books, periodicals, and files with information on county court records, birth/death/marriage records, family genealogies, regional history subjects, and more. Visit www.LancasterVaHistory.org to search the library card catalog, buy gift shop/bookstore items, and find educational events and virtual programs.

09/02/2026

250 Years Ago This Week: Sept 6, 1776. The Virginia Gazette printed George Washington's Aug 17 proclamation urging the evacuation of women, children, and infirm persons from New York City ahead of an anticipated attack by the British, for their own safety and so the army would not be distracted by concern for them.

08/30/2026

250 Years Ago Today (Aug 30, 1776) in the Virginia Gazette -- no more marital bliss for James and Anne Cosby of York County!

08/26/2026

250 Years Ago This Week: August 30, 1776. Advertisers in the Virginia Gazette sought workers and apprentices in skilled trades like weaving, spinning, sailcloth-making, tailoring, gunsmithing and blacksmithing, which likely had growing needs to serve the war.

08/20/2026

Don't miss a good time for a good cause at our annual OYSTER ROAST November 14th. Tickets go on sale September 18th!

08/19/2026

250 Years Ago This Week: August 23, 1776. Published in the Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg) was this unsent letter, dropped or lost by its author, British officer William Falconer, who was writing to his brother in Scotland about the miserable conditions of his camp posting in South Carolina.

08/12/2026

250 Years Ago This Week: August 16, 1776 in the Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg). News of armed encounters and successful actions against the British by patriot privateers in Massachusetts. Privateers were privately-owned vessels authorized by the Continental Congress, via a Letter of Marque, to attack and capture British ships in return for a share of the seized goods. The thousands of privateers operating during the Revolution were vital to disrupting Britain’s naval and commercial shipping fleets and supplementing the small Continental Navy.

08/05/2026

250 Years Ago This Week: Aug 9, 1776 in the Virginia Gazette. This notice shows South Carolina’s concern for recruiting and retaining soldiers. Like other colonies, South Carolina issued its own local currency, which was in units of pounds (l), shillings (s), and pence (d), but not equal to British sterling money. The dollar was the new currency issued by the Continental Congress.

07/29/2026

250 Years Ago This Week: Aug 2, 1776 in the Virginia Gazette. Hunter's Iron Works, also known as Rappahannock Forge, was founded in Stafford County in the 1750s and became the largest iron and gun manufacturer in colonial North America, supplying the Continental Army and Navy with fi****ms, hardware, and camp equipment during the Revolution. According to Discover Stafford, "The complex contained a blast furnace and forge; slitting, hammer, merchant, wire, plating, grist, saw, and steel mills; naileries and tanyards; carpenter, cooper, smith, and wheelwright shops; coal houses; stables; storage buildings; and quarters." Read more at https://discoverstafford.org/artifact/the-american-revolution/hunters-iron-works/hunters-iron-works-2/

07/24/2026

250 Years Ago This Week: July 26, 1776 in the Virginia Gazette. Through newspaper printings and public proclamations, news of the Declaration of Independence reached Virginians. In Williamsburg, the Declaration was solemnly proclaimed at the Capitol, the Courthouse, and the Palace amidst the acclamations of the people accompanied by firing of cannon and musketry and a parade of troops.

07/22/2026

250 Years Ago This Week: July 19, 1776 in the Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg). Newspaper notice about military deserters from the American Congress sloop-of-war near the Yeocomico River. Physical descriptions were given to aid in apprehension for a reward of 20 shillings (about 2 to 5 days' wages for a laborer). The converted merchant vessel was the flagship of the Potomac Flotilla, a small naval fleet authorized by the Virginia Committee of Safety in early 1776 to defend local waterways against British attacks. It was armed with 14 cannons and carried a crew of 96 seamen and marines.

Address

8346 Mary Ball Road
Lancaster, VA
22503

Telephone

+18044627280

Website

http://www.LancasterVaHistory.org/

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