The exhibit and sign is the latest collaboration between the county’s Office of Historic Preservation and Preserve Prince William, a nonprofit aimed at raising funds for preservation programs.
The tall “LOVE” sign is outside the front of Dumfries’ Williams Ordinary along Route 1. Historic Communities Coordinator Lauren Maloy said this was strategic.
“[The sign] serves as an initial point of interest that will draw people to a historic site. Williams Ordinary, where the LOVE sign is located, is an 18th-century tavern that holds centuries of history and stories,” Maloy said. “The visual draw of the LOVE sign helps draw awareness to this historic site in the heart of Dumfries.”
Earnie Porta, Ph. D., president of the Prince William Historic Preservation Foundation, also hopes visitors will appreciate the county and its residents’ role in the nation’s founding.
“We hope that visitors will get a better understanding of the … interesting things that happened in Prince William, like the Prince William Resolves, the presence of captured Hessian soldiers and [George] Washington and Rochambeau’s route through the county on the way to the important victory at Yorktown,” Porta noted.
And he said these won’t be the only unique stories the county will tell.
“It will [also] cover various other little-known stories from our area, all put in the context of what was happening more broadly in the world and the country during the American Revolution,” he said.
Maloy also said the county wanted to focus on its own role in the Revolutionary War. She said that while no battles were fought in Prince William County, county residents were still involved.
“This conflict profoundly impacted the lives of county residents. In turn, notable county residents, along with entire regiments such as the 3rd Virginia — which included many soldiers from the county — were involved in major battles that influenced the course of the American Revolutionary War,” she noted.
Porta noted that the vision for the exhibit and sign is broad.
“Our vision for the exhibit space and cultural center at Williams Ordinary [is] not to be one solely related to the American Revolution, but rather a vision that encourages people to think about Prince William County’s history more broadly, and in particular our various historic sites, especially as we hope ultimately to raise funds to turn the Rippon Lodge Site into a more comprehensive museum and environmental education center,” Porta said.
Though Virginia is home to many of the nation’s Founding Fathers, Maloy acknowledged that Prince William County is often associated with the Civil War.
“The hope is that visitors to Resolve & Revolution (the name of the exhibit) will walk away with the understanding that there is more depth to Prince William County’s history than the Civil War,” she noted.
Residents can enjoy the Revolutionary War History Trail, which has 12 sites across the county and Manassas that detail campaigns and lesser-known sites from the war. Sites and marker locations include Belmont Bay/Colchester Ferry, Wolf Run Shoals, Neabsco Creek Boardwalk and Dumfries Courthouse, to name a few.
Historic Preservation has also published a Revolutionary War roster of the war’s veterans and their personal connections to Prince William County. The Office provided a map of the known burial locations of about 1/3 of the veterans.
Maloy said the county already has a few events on the calendar in honor of the nation’s birthday; the first of which begins on Sept. 5 and runs through Oct. 22.
“The Prince William County Office of Historic Preservation is co-hosting ‘Give Me Liberty: Virginia & The Forging of a Nation’ at the Manassas Museum,” Maloy said. “[It’s] the signature exhibition of the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission. It was organized in partnership with the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.”
Historic Rippon Lodge will be bringing visitors back to a day of colonial living with its Oct. 25 event, “Road to Victory at Rippon Lodge.” There will also be an interactive “museum on wheels” at Rippon Lodge during this time.
