Va Historical Hwy Markers - Stafford County - Marlborough

Virginia Historical Highway Markers

Stafford County

E 75

Marlborough

This marker is on Route 1 just north of the intersection of Route 1 with the Centrepoint Parkway, on the right side of the road heading north. Next to this marker is another marker about the kidnapping of Pocahontas at Marlborough Point. My father and I built a couple of houses near Marlborough Point at Marlborough Cliffs back in the 1990's. The original residents of the Marlborough Point area were the Patawomeck Indians. There were at least 10 villages, each consisting of 2 to 100 long houses. It was here that Pocahontas was kidnapped and taken to Jamestown.

This marker replaced a marker with the same number and title erected in the late 1920s or early 1930s south of here (about 4 miles north of Fredericksburg). It read, "At Potomac Neck, four miles east, land was laid off in 1691 for a port and the town of Stafford County, called Marlborough. Houses were built and the county court was held there for some years. The town did not grow, and in 1747, John Mercer bought the county's rights in it."

The sign reads:

Strategically situated at the tip of a peninsula jutting into the Potomac River at Potomac Creek, Marlborough was established under the Town Act of 1691 as a river port town. It served as the county seat of Stafford County from 1691 until about 1718. Marlborough never fully developed. In 1726, noted lawyer John Mercer (1705-1768) moved there and built Marlborough plantation and attempted to revive the town. Mercer had one of the largest private libraries in Virginia, in which the young George Mason received much of his education. Mercer's attempt to revive the town was unsuccessful and it ceased to exist by the end of the 18th century.