Belle Isle State Park on the Rappahannock River occupies a peninsula of marsh, shoreline, and former plantation land in Virginia’s Northern Neck. First patented in 1652 as Powell’s Quarter, the property grew into a 924-acre plantation under John Bertrand and his descendants, who developed a store and port and relied on indentured labor and enslaved Africans. Named Belle Isle in 1761, it later passed through the Griffin, Wormeley, and Downman families before shifting in the 20th century from plantation use to preservation. Since the creation of the state park in 1993, the site has combined historic landscapes, protected wildlife habitat, outdoor recreation, and dark-sky stargazing.