Chatham Manor

Discover the history of Chatham Manor, which is over 200 years old.

Completed in 1771 by a farmer and statesman named William Fitzhugh, Chatham Manor took three years to build. It features Georgian-style architecture and is located on the Rappahannock River in Stafford County, Virginia. The house was used as a headquarters and hospital for the Union Army during the Battle of Fredericksburg. It was ransacked during the Civil War but was restored in the 20th-century and remained a private home until 1975 when it was then given to the National Park Service. The house features a formal garden and is located on the bluffs overlooking the Rappahannock River and the city of Fredericksburg.

Today, Chatham is part of Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park. The buildings and grounds are open daily from 9 am to 4:30 pm. Visitors are welcome to explore this historic manor and they can see exhibits in five of the ten rooms. The rest of the building and outbuildings serve as park offices. You will see several ornamental cast concrete pineapples as you walk the grounds. These are a colonial decoration that served as a symbol of hospitality. Many notable people including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Robert E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln, Clara Barton, Walt Whitman, Washington Irving, and George Marshall once visited Chatham Manor. If you love American history, be sure to see this historic building in Fredericksburg, Virginia.