Portal:Virginia/Did you know

This page lists all the "Did you know" fact sets that previously randomly displayed on the main page of Portal:Virginia

Guidelines

As a general goal, where possible each set of DYK selections should have a variety of hooks: they set should be from various locations (e.g. Central & Eartern Virginia, Northern Virginia, Western Virginia), various types (e.g. biography, location, historic site) and even time period (e.g. colonial vs. 20th-21st century): in sum, the whole swath of the Virginia experience.

As these DYK will be displayed for a long period of time (rather than the several hours that a normal DYK is), the chosen DYK entries should be enduring (esp. important for facts) as well as interesting; in sum, a curated selection for quality, rather than quantity (A manually-assembled list of unused DYK entries from Virginia may be found at Portal:Virginia/Did you know/Candidates).

Use this formatting for each page:

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Did you know

1

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/1

...that the Athenaeum (pictured) museum of fine arts in Alexandria, Virginia, was built in 1851 as a bank, where Robert E. Lee had an account?
... that, having first occurred in 1698, the Fredericksburg Dog Mart is the oldest dog show in the United States?
...that Mountain Lake, one of only two natural lakes in Virginia, was the filming location for the fictional Kellerman's Resort in New York's Catskill Mountains for the 1987 feature film Dirty Dancing?
...that Virginia politician Charles F. Mercer switched between five different political parties during his 22-year service in the United States Congress?

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2

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/2

... that the 1929 film The Virginian (poster pictured) featured "yup and nope" actor Gary Cooper saying "if you wanna call me that – smile"?
...that Norge, an unincorporated town in James City County, Virginia was established by Norwegian-Americans in the late 19th century?
... that Mary Lou Forbes, whose reporting on school integration in Virginia won a 1959 Pulitzer Prize, had been hired as a copy girl by the Washington Star after the accounting spot she wanted was filled?
... that the Bremo Plantation at Bremo Bluff, Virginia, provided refuge to the family of General Robert E. Lee during the American Civil War?

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3

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/3

Civil War Unknowns Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery

... that over two thousand skulls, legs, ribs and other body parts of unidentified soldiers were sorted and interred in various compartments under the Civil War Unknowns Monument (pictured) at Arlington National Cemetery?
... that Littleberry Mosby Jr, captain and brigadier general during the Revolution and War of 1812, disinherited his son, Littleberry Mosby III, for leaving Virginia?
... that the Fire Station No. 1 in Roanoke, Virginia was modeled after Philadelphia's Independence Hall?
... that Gillfield Baptist Church, Virginia, the second oldest black congregation in Petersburg, United States, resisted a consolidation with the white congregation at Market Street Church in 1829?
... that Oakley, a plantation home in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, was built in 1828 by Samuel Alsop, Jr. as a gift for his daughter?

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4

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/4

...that the Buckingham Branch Railroad (pictured) in Central Virginia was formed in 1989 and has since expanded from a 16-mile railroad to operate over 200 miles of track?
... that The Coffee Pot historic roadhouse in Roanoke features a 15-foot (4.6 m) stucco coffee pot atop its roof?
... that George Washington's step-granddaughter Elizabeth Parke Custis married Thomas Law in 1796 at Hope Park plantation in Fairfax County, Virginia?
... that Pocahontas Island, where evidence of prehistoric Native American artifacts were found, would later become the first free black settlement in the U.S. state of Virginia?

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5

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/5

Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Richmond

... that according to a diocesan official of Richmond, the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (pictured) was the world's only cathedral financed by a single family?
... that the Huckleberry Trail takes its name from the former Virginia Anthracite & Coal Railroad, nicknamed the Huckleberry, on whose abandoned railbed this rail trail was constructed?
... that the National Hockey League rejected a bid for an expansion team in Norfolk, Virginia, even after more than 5,000 season tickets were sold?
...that soon after John Gabriel Jones helped convince the Virginia General Assembly to create Kentucky County, he was killed in an ambush led by Mingo chieftain Pluggy?

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6

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/6

...that after Joel Sweeney (pictured) popularized the banjo in the United States he did the same in Europe as a member of the Virginia Minstrels?
...that Green Spring Plantation in James City County was home of Sir William Berkeley, who served three non-consecutive terms as governor of the Virginia Colony, and for whom Berkeley Plantation is named?
... that St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in the Old Town area of Alexandria, Virginia, was designed by Benjamin Latrobe, the second architect of the United States Capitol?
... that in 1915, Virginia Cavaliers halfback Eugene "Buck" Mayer became the first consensus first-team All-American from a Southern school in 1915?

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7

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/7

...that Bacon's Castle (pictured)—a stronghold in Surry County during Bacon's Rebellion in the Virginia Colony in 1676—was never occupied by leader Nathaniel Bacon?
... that the Roanoke City Market in Downtown Roanoke is the oldest continuously operating farmers' market in the Commonwealth?
... that the original Mace of the Virginia House of Delegates was sold to partners in a silversmith firm for $101?
... that during the American Civil War, an early Union steam torpedo boat, USS Spuyten Duyvil, was used to clear obstructions so President Lincoln could visit the Confederate capital of Richmond after General Lee's withdrawal?

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8

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/8

... that Virginia House in Richmond (pictured), was once a priory in Warwickshire, England, and was used to entertain Queen Elizabeth I?
... that, in spite of lobbying from New Hampshire residents, the episodes of The West Wing "Manchester Part I and Part II" were filmed in Bluemont, Virginia instead?
...the original Norfolk Southern Railway was a small regional railroad in Virginia and North Carolina for 98 years before it became the namesake of the current Norfolk Southern Railway in 1982?
... that the Tayloe family of Richmond County, Virginia, including John Tayloe I, his son, John Tayloe II, and grandson, John Tayloe III, "exemplified gentry entrepreneurship"?

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9

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/9

... that archaeological excavations at Locust Grove (pictured) in Dillwyn, home to Revolutionary War soldier Peter Francisco, revealed the grave of an infant in the kitchen garden?
...that Colonel Johnston de Peyster raised the first U.S. flag over Virginia's Capitol Building since the state's secession in 1861?
... that the Greenwood Tunnel in Albemarle County was completed without accident, even though engineer Claudius Crozet described the work as "excessively dangerous"?
... that the Virginia–Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine serves as the state-supported veterinary school for both Virginia and Maryland?

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10

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/10

...that the Dismal Swamp Canal which runs along the edge of the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia and North Carolina is the oldest continually operating man-made canal in the United States?
... that painter William D. Washington became the first faculty member of the Virginia Military Institute to die during his tenure there?
... that the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial commemorates the 1951 protests started by 16-year-old Barbara Johns which helped bring about school desegregation in Virginia?
...that the Cherry Hill Farmhouse in Falls Church, appears in the works of American poet James Whitcomb Riley?

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11

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/11

... that the Nebraska House (pictured) in Appomattox was so named because Colonel Samuel D. McDearmon's wife refused to move to Nebraska?
... that in Virginia v. West Virginia in 1911, the Supreme Court of the United States ordered the state of West Virginia to pay one-third of the state of Virginia's pre-Civil War debt?
... that John Smith, a noted 18th century London housebreaker, managed to avoid execution three times, and was eventually transported to Virginia?
... that the University of Virginia men's lacrosse game against Maryland in 2009 extended into seven overtime periods, making it the longest game in college history?

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12

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/12

... that Governor William E. Cameron (pictured) was lampooned in a comic opera after he personally led a failed expedition against illegal dredgers in the Oyster Wars?
...that the Ajacán Mission, a failed attempt by Spanish Jesuit priests to bring Christianity to the Native Americans of the Virginia Peninsula, predated the establishment of Jamestown by about 36 years?
... that Lee Corner in Alexandria, Virginia, includes the homes of U.S. Revolutionary War Officer Light Horse Harry Lee, U.S. Attorney General Charles Lee, and Confederate General Robert E. Lee?
... that upon receiving a personal letter from George Washington appointing him a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army, Virginia militiaman Angus McDonald declined the offer?

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13

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/13

The Varmint of Burkes Garden

...that the Varmint of Burke's Garden was a coyote that terrorized the community of Burke's Garden, Virginia, in 1952?
... that the U.S. Supreme Court delayed taking up the case of Virginia v. West Virginia for three years because it was deadlocked over whether it had jurisdiction over the issue?
... that Nemattanew, a renegade Powhatan captain dubbed "Jack-of-the-Feather" in 1611 for his extravagant regalia, believed he was invincible to English bullets?
...that the final streetcar to service Roanoke, Virginia went from Grandin Road Commercial Historic District to downtown on July 31, 1948?
...that Lott Cary was an African American slave who became educated, bought his freedom, became a minister and physician, and helped found the Colony of Liberia in Africa in 1822?

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14

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/14

Rapidan Camp, Shenandoah National Park

...that Rapidan Camp (pictured), the rustic mountain fishing retreat of U.S. President Herbert Hoover located near Big Meadows, was the forerunner of Camp David in Maryland?
... that dolphins are often sighted in the estuary of the Great Wicomico River?
...that the Dunmore Pineapple was a folly where pineapples were grown in Scotland from 1761 and that it was built by the 4th Earl of Dunmore, John Murray, who later became governor of Virginia Colony in North America?
... that in his lifetime, Roy Sullivan was struck by lightning seven times, but died from a gunshot?

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15

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/15

Dr. Hunter McGuire

...that Dr. Hunter McGuire (pictured) was a physician who amputated General Stonewall Jackson's arm during the American Civil War and later helped found several hospitals and a prominent medical school in Richmond, Virginia?
... that The Chimneys' roof framing utilizes techniques common in the construction of ships' hulls at the time it was built in 1771?

...that Fort Pocahontas in Virginia was constructed by African-American soldiers of the United States Colored Troops in 1864 and was used for on-location filming of the 2005 motion picture The New World?
... that historian Jack T. Kirby decried popular media depictions of Southerners that used "clichés of racists, graceful landed gentry, poverty, homespun rural values, stock-car racers and moonshiners"?

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16

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/16

The Reverend James Blair

...that the Reverend Dr. James Blair of Scotland (pictured) was a clergyman and missionary to the Virginia Colony, and is best known as the founder in 1693 of the College of William and Mary, where he served as President for 50 years?
... that millions have visited the John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame, including one who knelt in front of the flame, fell, and burned to death?
... that Confederate president Jefferson Davis had a young mulatto ward named Jim Limber?
... that Carvins Cove, Virginia, was abandoned and subsequently inundated to create Carvins Cove Reservoir in the 1940s?
...that Varina Farms, the plantation of John Rolfe and Pocahontas, was site of the first successful cultivation of export tobacco in the Virginia Colony in 1612?

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17

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/17

...that Jackson Ward is a historically African-American neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia where free African-Americans joined freed slaves and their descendants and created a thriving business community known as the "Black Wall Street of America?" (Maggie L. Walker NHS, pictured)
...that Charles Dickens composed the epitaph for the tombstone of Charles Irving Thornton despite never having met the dead child or his family?
... that Debedeavon, the Laughing King of the Accawmacke Virginia Indian tribe, and an Englishman whom he adopted named Thomas Savage, warned the settlers at Jamestown of the impending 1622 Massacre?
... that after being destroyed by the Confederate Army, the Potomac Creek Bridge was rebuilt in just nine days?
... that Harrison Howell Dodge, who served for 52 years as the resident superintendent of Mount Vernon, often slept in the house as a night guard?

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18

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/18

Reconstructed Old Appomattox Court House

... that the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park has a Court-house (pictured), Tavern, Jail, Store and Prizery, the Bocock-Isbell, McLean, Peers and Wright houses, the Sweeney and Sweeney-Conner cabins, the Jones and Woodson law offices, ruins and cemeteries?
... that the Port Royal, Virginia, Horne's restaurant is the last remaining of the former chain?...
... that William Berkeley, a colonial Governor of Virginia is buried at St Mary's, Twickenham, London, encased in lead exactly fitted to the shape of his body?

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19

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/19

... that after Arlington's Hoover Field and Washington Airport merged to create Washington-Hoover Airport in 1933, a highway bisected the conjoined airfield's main runway (pictured)?
... that in 1729, when his plantation Corotoman was destroyed, Robert "King" Carter I lamented in his diary about the total destruction of his wine cellar?
... that Abraham Lincoln called the Beefsteak Raid "the slickest piece of cattle-stealing" he ever heard of?
...that the Pamunkey Indian Tribe Museum displays a combination of artifacts and replicas in order to provide a full and authentic view of the Pamunkey people's lifestyle for the last 12,000 years?
... that authorities believe convicted fraudster Edward Porta escaped from the U.S. Penitentiary in Lee County, Virginia, apparently by walking out of its minimum security area?

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20

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/20

Excavations at Jamestown

... that Jamestown Rediscovery is an ongoing archaeological project of Preservation Virginia which discovered the long-lost remains of the first fort built in May 1607 at Jamestown in the Virginia Colony? (pictured)
... that Charles Marshall chose the location where Robert E. Lee's surrender ceremony took place near the end of the American Civil War?
... that every year a mysterious dancing light is said to appear over the spot where Grace Sherwood, "The Witch of Pungo" was tested by ducking as part of her trial for witchcraft?
... that a portion of Virginia's 71-mile (114 km) Massanutten Trail was built on orders from George Washington as a route of retreat should the Continental Army be defeated at Yorktown?

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21

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/21

Fall Hill, near Fredericksburg

... that during the Civil War, General Robert E. Lee ordered the destruction of the mansion at Fall Hill (pictured) because it blocked his view of advancing Union Army troops?

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22

Portal:Virginia/Did you know/22

Ash Lawn-Highland

...that Ash Lawn-Highland (pictured), the former home of U.S. President James Monroe, has been transformed into a 535-acre working farm, museum, and site for the performing arts?