Island Ownership

In 1647, Giles Brent established the first English settlement in this area along Aquia Creek. Nearly 50 years later, George Brent, Giles Brent’s nephew, became the island’s first documented owner when he purchased it in 1694 as “a small tongue or neck or Island of Land with small point of marsh.” The property remained in the Brent family for almost 100 years and was used as a private quarry. In 1791, the federal government purchased the property, buying all but one acre. That one-acre parcel had been sold earlier, in 1786, to Robert Steuart, a stone mason from Baltimore, Maryland. Steuart marked his parcel with four stone boundary markers, and the largest still survives with his initials, “R.S.” A large pit lined with cut stone, measuring about 50 feet by 150 feet, lies nearby; its purpose is unknown, but its proximity to the quarry suggests it was likely connected to quarrying operations.

Aquia Harbour, Virginia · United States