Washington Bottom Farm, or Ridgedale, stands above the South Branch Potomac River near Romney, West Virginia, with a history stretching from early frontier settlement to the Civil War. First settled in 1725, the tract was later surveyed by George Washington, and Fort Williams was established there in 1756 during the French and Indian War. The present Greek Revival brick house was built in 1835 for George William Washington and Sarah Wright Washington, who expanded the plantation on land she inherited. The property was tied to slavery, later linked to African-American land developer William Washington, and saw wartime use as Camp Washington and as the place where Captain Richard Ashby died in 1861.