Taking a home tour down old Route 3

Zann Miner
Published: December 7, 2008

As promised, we are leaving Georgetown, Va. traveling east on a most familiar road, Route 3.

If I was traveling alone, even on foot, I could make it to Stevensburg in a little less than two hours. Since all of you are also on the trip, it will take much longer. Making good use of the slower pace, a tour of significant sites along the way is just the ticket.

I can’t say for sure that today’s roadway is the exact same trail used during the 18th and 19th centuries but it is very close, at least between Georgetown and Stevensburg. Note Mt. Pony to the south just off your right shoulder. Mt. Pony Baptist Church (circa 1777) held services at the base of the mountain until moving into the town of Culpeper in 1833. Perhaps it was here that the villagers of Georgetown worshipped?

Peppered along our sojourn to Stevensburg are several historically significant homes. Better than any fiction are the stories that can be gleaned from a visit to these structures. The size of the house, materials and methods used for construction, types of rooms and paint versus wallpaper are all clues to the status and lifestyle of the owners. Who was born, lived and died here? What was their story?
The column is too short to tell all, but maybe enough will be told to whet the whistle of your curiosity. The homes are all privately owned and most are well maintained.

Along the North side
of the road
Note: With indicated exceptions, much of the land between Georgetown and Stevensburg was originally purchased about 1771 by James Duncanson who operated a store in Stevensburg in 1764.

1. The Old Massie Place: A 1 1/2 story frame house with gabled roof and five dormers was believed to be built about 1820. The original owners of the property were none other than the Haywoods of Georgetown.

2. Ashland: As early as 1764, it is believed that French Strother, an 18th century legislator and St. Mark’s Parish vestryman, lived at Ashland. However, the Beckham family is attributed with building the present house after purchasing the property in the 1830s. Was the present house built at a new location, on an existing foundation or was the original house enlarged? The Beckhams were also prominent citizens of Culpeper.

3. Dr. Lindsay Place aka “Adhumbla’s Pad” (cow’s home) and Andora Farm: A house at this location was mentioned in deed records as early as 1821. The present appearance is believed to have been the result of a post Civil War remodel. (Originally part of the Duncanson Tract)
News Flash! The owner has found a brick in one of the fireplaces dated 1758.

4. Clover Hill: The architect is unknown but the style is very distinct. Sporting steeply pitched gabled roofs with false dormers and arched windows, the architecture utilized tongue and groove siding instead of the more common clapboard. The house is said to have been built in 1775 and owned by the Beckhams and the Barbours. Possibly the most notorious claim to fame was its use as Custer’s headquarters and his honeymoon during the winter of 1864. (Originally part of the Duncanson Tract)

Along the South side of the road beginning back near Georgetown
5. Mount Castle aka “Signal Hill”: Nestled at the very foot of Mt. Pony is a large brick house with numerous outbuildings built about 1900 by John R. Duncan and thought to be typical of the Virginia family farm.

6. Between Ashland and Clover Hill on the opposite side of the road is a vast open field centered by a small grove of trees. Many years ago, in the midst of the grove was discovered the remains of an old frame house. There is little known about the house. Hopefully one of you can provide information.

7. Alvere: The pre-Civil War home actually fronts Route 3 before one reaches the stone quarry, but is now accessed from a nearby secondary road. Another property owned by the Barbour family and originally part of the Duncanson Tract.

8. La Grange aka “Old Feaganes Place”: This two-story pre-Civil War frame house was owned by Jacob Stout, a founding member of the Stevensburg Baptist Church in 1833. The Stout family had other holdings in the Stevensburg area and was active in the community for generations.

We have now arrived at the outskirts of Stevensburg and must stop for now. Reflecting on the prominent families that populated the land between Stevensburg and Culpeper questions come to mind. Were they land speculators or simply seeking good farm land? Maybe they were hedging their bets on whether Stevensburg or Culpeper would become the next “Center of the Universe?”

Until next week, be well.

Zann Miner, former director of the Museum of Culpeper History, can be reached at or send her mail at the Star-Exponent, 471 James Madison Highway, Culpeper Va., 22701.