Chatham

Chatham has stood over Fredericksburg for almost 250 years as an imposing 180-foot-long brick manor house once visible from much of town. It witnessed major events and hosted George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Clara Barton, and Walt Whitman. For some residents it was a home, for others a place of toil, and for soldiers during the war it served as a headquarters or a hospital. In this one place appears the broad sweep of Southern history: its rise on the foundation of slavery, its ruin during the turbulent years of the Civil War, and its rebirth in the 1900s. Chatham is not only the story of a Southern house but also of American culture, sometimes cruel and unjust, sometimes noble and refined, but always interesting.

Chatham Heights, Virginia · United States