Strategically situated at the tip of a peninsula jutting into the Potomac River at Potomac Creek, Marlborough Town was established under the Town Act of 1691 on the land of Giles Brent and served as the county seat of Stafford County. After its decline in the first quarter of the 18th century, it became the seat of John Mercer. A copy of the 1691 Theodoric Bland survey of the town preserved in John Mercer’s letter book is shown. Archaeological investigation undertaken by the Smithsonian Institution in 1956 identified Marlborough Town’s location. More extensive investigation of the town site should provide much information on the commercial life of a Potomac River port town in the first half of the 18th century.
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