The Oakland Farm sites include three significant and distinct archaeological sites within a tract of land in northern Newport News developed as the Oakland Industrial Park. Surviving intact are the archaeological remains of prehistoric occupation dating to the Early to Middle Woodland periods. Historic sites are the Queen Hith plantation complex, occupied by the Harwood family from the 1630s until after the Revolutionary War, and a Confederate earthwork, the eastern terminus of a band of fortifications constructed by Maj. Gen. John Bankhead Magruder prior to the 1862 Peninsula Campaign. The fortification is a massive square earthen redoubt measuring 220 by 220 feet. Thomas Harwood, who patented the property in 1632, named it Queen Hith; hith is an Old English word for river landing. The sites are preserved by the city of Newport News.
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
Nomination Form
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