VLR Listing Date 06/15/2017
NRHP Listing Date 08/21/2017
NPS property number SG100001494
Established alongside a main road connecting the springs resorts of Bath County with the Shenandoah Valley, The Wilderness is a large estate in the county’s northeastern mountains. Farmer and politician Samuel Blackburn developed The Wilderness during the early 19th century. At the center of the property is a two-story Georgian-style brick residence probably built about 1816. The house is distinguished by its pedimented front pavilion, pilaster corners, and original interior finishes including mantels of unusual form and detail. Behind the house is a contemporaneous brick carriage house—no doubt a rare refinement in early Bath County—and nearby is the stone foundation of a detached kitchen. Blackburn, the author of anti-dueling legislation and a noted orator, figured in period descriptions of the farm. The estate was later owned by the Frazier family, the proprietors of important springs resorts including Bath Alum Springs and Rockbridge Alum Springs. For much of the 19th and 20th centuries The Wilderness operated as a stock farm concentrating on large herds of sheep and cattle.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated October 22, 2018
