Quest End in Gloucester County possesses a rare combination of historically significant archaeological and architectural resources with exceptional integrity and tremendous local significance. Its seven acres along Wilson Creek contain the site of a large early 18th-century brick house, with artifacts suggesting European occupation as early as the late 17th century; an 18th-century dwelling for slaves; and the circa-1900 standing house known as Quest End, built by the Collier family, and its outbuildings. Few, if any, sites within this region of Virginia share the potential of Quest End to address important historical, archaeological, and architectural issues related to the evolution and structural organization of 17th-century frontier settlements, the emergence of colonial plantations and the construction of brick manor homes as status symbols, and the re-emergence of successful rural communities at the turn of the 20th century Quest End’s resources can also yield information about the transitions within Virginia’s agriculturally-based communities, the lives of enslaved Africans and African Americans, and the move over time both toward and away from a slave-based plantation economy.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia