Falmouth

Stafford County, Virginia

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Falmouth is a census‑designated place in Stafford County. It's mailing zip codes are Fredericksburg, 22403, 22405 or 22406.

Neighborhoods

Falmouth as Described in 1969 [1]

Falmouth was laid off in 1727 on fifty acres along the Rappahannock River belonging to William Todd. The government of the town was entrusted to seven trustees appointed by the House of Burgesses. It should be noted that the first seven trustees were gentlemen of the first rank, being Robert Carter, president, Nicholas Smith, John Fitzhugh, Charles Carter, Henry Fitzhugh, John Warner and William Thornton. The town prospered and soon rivaled its sister city of Fredericksburg. By 1773 its charter was amended so the trustees could be elected and the president be allowed to serve as mayor. In 1845 Falmouth was visited by a traveler who described it as containing "1 free church, 6 or 7 mercantile stores, 2 extensive flouring mills, and 1 large cotton factory, and a population of about 500." The town was on the wane by this time, but it should be remembered that during the eighteenth century and during the first part of the nineteenth it was one of the important mercantile centers of Virginia. Much of its original character remains, although time has not dealt gently with some of its elements.

Pierced by U. S. Route 1 (Cambridge Street) and especially hurt by the new commercial buildings at the intersection of Route 1 and Route 17 (Prince Street) Falmouth nonetheless is a significant collection of eighteenth and nineteenth-century structures, enough of which remain to illustrate the extent and character of the old port and trading center. Most of the buildings, whether of frame, brick, or stone, are extremely simple, with few sophisticated decorative features used even on the larger homes. What gives Falmouth a specific identity is its site, which varies from the low riverside rows of homes along King and Washington Streets to the surrounding hills with the three houses overlooking the town.

  1. Staff, Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission, Falmouth Historic District, Stafford County, VA, nomination document, 1969, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.

Nearby Towns: Fredericksburg City • Stafford •


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