Scotchtown (plantation)

Infobox_nrhp | name =Scotchtown (Patrick Henry House)
nrhp_type = nhl


caption = Scotchtown Plantation
nearest_city= Ashland, Virginia
locmapin = Virginia
area = 41 acres
built =1698
architect=
architecture= Georgian/first period colonial
designated= December 21, 1965cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=637&ResourceType=Building
title=Scotchtown (Patrick Henry House) |accessdate=2008-04-11|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = October 15, 1966cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
governing_body = Private
refnum=66000835

Scotchtown, also known as Patrick Henry House, is a plantation located in Hanover County, Virginia that was once owned and used as a residence by Patrick Henry. It was also the childhood home of Dolley Madison.

The house, at 93 by 35 feet, was one of the largest in the Americas. It was built in 1698.cite web|url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=pphhdatapage&fileName=va/va0400/va0496/data/hhdatapage.db&recNum=1&itemLink=r?pp/hh:@FIELD(DOCID+@BAND(@lit(VA0496)))
title=Scotchtown, Hanover County, Virginia |accessdate=2008-04-11|work=Historic American Buildings Survey report|publisher=National Park Service]

The property was bought by Charles Chiswell in 1717. Dolly Payne, who eventually married James Madison and became first lady of the U.S., grew up there and wrote of it in her autobiography.

It was sold to Patrick Henry in 1771. While there is little known about Patrick Henry's time at Scotchtown, historians believe he lived at the home between approximately 1771 and 1778. During this time, he was elected to serve Virginia (as a governor in the House of Burgesses ???) and he relocated to Williamsburg, Virginia.

Patrick Henry's wife Sarah died at the site in 1775.

It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965.citation|title=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/66000835.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Scotchtown / Patrick Henry Home (Scotchtown)] |32 KB|date=February 12, 1975 |author=Stephen Lissandrello |publisher=National Park Service (includes a map of the property)]

It is located in Beaverdam, Virginia, 10 miles northwest of Ashland, Virginia on VA 685. The house is owned and managed by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.

References

External links

* [http://www.apva.org/scotchtown/house/ Official site]
* [http://www.redhill.org/timeline.html Patrick Henry timeline]
* [http://www.co.hanover.va.us/pio/historic/031209f.htm Scotchtown - A Place Of Celebration, Grief]
* [http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Counties/Hanover/Scotchtown_photo.htm Scotchtown, Hanover County, single photo at Virginia DHR]
* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.va0496 Scotchtown, State Route 685 vicinity, Beaverdam, Hanover County, VA: 12 photos, 11 drawings, 6 data pages and supplemental material] , at Historic American Building Survey