History of Culpeper, VA
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History of Culpeper, Virginia

From The Museum of Culpeper History

Culpeper History

Culpeper County was cut off from Orange by an Act of the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1748, effective May 17, 1749, when the first county court convened. The original territory included what is now Culpeper, Madison (cut off from Culpeper in 1792), and Rappahannock (cut off in 1831).

Culpeper is a granddaughter of Spotsylvania County, from which Orange was formed in 1734, and great-granddaughter of Essex, from which Spotsylvania was taken in 1720. The county was named for Lord Thomas Culpeper, Colonial Governor of Virginia, 1680-83. He inherited his rights from his father, Lord John Culpeper, to whom King Charles II had given a large land grant.

Lord Thomas Culpeper's holdings, including all of the Northern Neck territory, were inherited by his daughter, Catherine, who married Lord Thomas Fairfax. Their son, the sixth Lord Fairfax, inherited the property and it was for him that the town of Culpeper, first called Fairfax, was named. Lord Fairfax's Virginia estate, comprising 5,282,000 acres, was confiscated by the colonists when the Revolutionary War began.

Lord Fairfax was the patron of young George Washington and engaged him at age 16 to survey his property in this area. In July, 1749, George Washington Gent., then 17, was commissioned by the College of William and Mary as surveyor for the new county of Culpeper. Roger Dixon was the first clerk of the court and served 23 years.

In the Culpeper Courthouse, on Oct. 21, 1765, 16 of the 20 members of the County Court of Culpeper, holding commissions as Justices of the Peace from King George III, resigned and relinquished their commissions in protest of the Stamp Act. Nine years later, the citizens of Culpeper held a mass meeting, fiercely condemned the British Parliament, and pledged themselves to defend their rights with their "lives and fortunes".

At the Virginia convention held May, 1775, in Richmond, the colony was divided into 16 districts and each district instructed to raise the discipline a battalion of men "to march at a minute's notice". Culpeper, Fauquier, and Orange, forming one district, raised a cadre of 350 men called the Culpeper Minutemen. Organized July 17, 1775, under a large oak tree in "Clayton's old field" (later known as Catalpa Farm), the Minutemen took part in the Battle of Great Bridge, the first Revolutionary battle on Virginia soil. The Culpeper Minutemen flag is inscribed with the words, "Liberty or Death" and "Don't Tread on Me".

In 1860 the Culpeper Minutemen were reorganized under the rattlesnake flag. The company's staff was organized under the same oak tree where the Minutemen of 1775 were formed. When war came the men were mustered in under Co. B, 13th Infantry. Other Culpeper companies organized for Confederate service were the Little Fork Rangers and Brandy Rifles.

A great deal of action took place in the county during the war, and several battles - notably Cedar Mountain and Brandy Station - and engagements were fought on Culpeper soil. Both armies marched through, fought, and camped in the county repeatedly during the four-year struggle. During the winter of 1863-64, Grant's Army of 100,000 men camped within its borders.

The Culpeper Minutemen were again mustered into service for the Spanish-American War but did not see active duty. In World War I the Minutemen company lost its identity as it was absorbed in the 116th Infantry, 29th Division.

The first railroad - the Orange and Alexandria - came to the county in 1852; first telephone, 1894.

In 1871, the first public school (one room) in the county was organized. School enrollment for the 1972-73 year was 4,765.

The 1970 census set the county's population at 18,218; one-third of the residents live in the Town of Culpeper. The county's population has increased by 6,000 during the past 20 years.

Situated in the rolling hills of Piedmont Virginia, Culpeper County rises from an elevation of 300 feet on the east and 600 feet on the west. It is bounded by the Rapidan River on the south and the Rappahannock on the north and is well watered by these and other rivers and streams. The temperature is moderate, with an average mean in January of 34.9 and in July of 75.9. Average annual precipitation is 40.98 inches.

Some 50 years ago, Culpeper was ranked as the second healthiest place in the United States, second only to Asheville, N.C. In 1971, the U.S. Department of the Interior designated the Culpeper-Warrenton area as one of the seven most desirable places in the nation to live.

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According to Dr. Roger Culpepper, Lyndon Johnson was campaigning for the presidency in 1964 at a whistle stop in Culpeper where he is reported to have said there about his opponent, Barry Goldwater, "What has he ever done for Culpeper?"

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Culpeper Timeline

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18 Sep 1649: King Charles II grants 5.2 million acres to seven English nobles, among them John Lord Culpeper. Within that land grant is an area which will later become Culpeper County, Virginia.

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21 Aug 1670: The first recorded exploration by Europeans into present day Culpeper is led by John Lederer, a German physician commissioned by Governor William Berkeley.

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May 1714: A band of German immigrants establish the first European settlement near Culpeper, not far from the confluence of the Rapidan and Rappahannock rivers. Their community comes to be known as Germanna.

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18 May 1749: An act of the Virginia General Assembly establishes Culpeper County.

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22 Feb 1759: An act of the General Assembly establishes the county seat, officially known as the town of "Fairfax". It is more commonly called Culpeper Court House.

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Apr 1759: Daniel Boone establishes a residence near present-day Stevensburg. He later explores Kentucky.

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20 Jul 1759: George Washington, 17 years old, arrives in Culpeper to survey the new county.

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27 Apr 1775: Culpeper Minutemen first take up arms in defiance of Governor Lord John Dunmore's seizure of the public powder magazine at Williamsburg.

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1 Jan 1795: Benjamin Shackelford becomes the county's first U.S. postmaster, presiding over a post office known as "Culpeper C.H." Mail is notoriously slow as many items are mistakenly directed to Fairfax County.

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16 May 1827: James Caldwell of Warrenton publishes the first county newspaper, the Culpeper Gazette.

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10 Mar 1832: The General Assembly licenses the state's first gold-mining company, launching a minor gold rush in Culpeper which peaks in about 1849.

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17 Apr 1861: Responding to Virginia's vote to secede from the Union, two companies of infantry form in Culpeper. A company of cavalry, known as "The Little Fork Rangers" had already formed in the summer of 1860.

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4 May 1862: The Town of Culpeper is occupied by Union troops for the first time.

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9 Aug 1862: Confederate troops under General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson repel Union troops under General John Pope in the Battle of Cedar Mountain. Thousands fall.

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17 Mar 1863: "Gallant" John Pelham, an artillery officer for J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalry, is killed in action at Kelly's Ford.

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9 Jun 1863: Union and Confederate troops clash in the Battle of Brandy Station, the largest engagement of cavalry troops in North America.

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1870: Town's name officially changed from Fairfax to Culpeper.

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1898: Culpeper Minutemen mustered for the Spanish American War

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Last Revised: 02 Jan 2015

 

 
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