The Brick House

The Brick House, built in the mid-1600s, stood 1.5 miles east of here on the York River. Late in 1676, as Bacon’s Rebellion crumbled, rebel leaders William Drummond and Richard Lawrence used it as a fort. When they fled, Gov. William Berkeley’s forces caught and executed Drummond, while Lawrence disappeared. In 1680 the Virginia General Assembly established a port town at the Brick House. Tobacco was collected there for export, and imported goods and enslaved Africans were brought ashore. With its two ferries, the site was an important link in the colony’s transportation network. In 1716, Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood crossed the river there early in his expedition to the Shenandoah Valley.

Department of Historic Resources, 2024