You can hike through the bedrock of Colonial America in a Stafford County park that opened in November.
Government Island is the 17-acre quarry where slaves and free blacks extracted stone for the U.S. Capitol and the White House.
George Washington and George Mason grew up in Stafford, and Washington used "Aquia stone" — the quarry borders Aquia Creek — on his Mount Vernon farm. He naturally thought of that freestone, or sandstone, when the federal buildings were being planned during his administration.
Most of the stone came from here for the nation's first major public structures, including the Cape Henry Lighthouse at Virginia's entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. Many 18th-century builders other than George Washington prized freestone for its strength as well as its qualities of being easily cut and formed.
"This was America's most important quarry more than 200 years ago," said Jane Hollenbeck Conner of Stafford, who wrote a book about the island, "Birthstone of the White House and Capitol." "There is no other location in the United States that helped create two of the world's most famous buildings."
Located a 20-minute drive north of Fredericksburg and about an hour's drive from Richmond, Government Island offers an easy hike just off Interstate 95. Like many of Virginia's outdoor sites, the park appeals to history lovers as well as to those interested in nature.
Listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places, the park is one of several Stafford County historical attractions. Nearby, you can visit Ferry Farm, the boyhood home of George Washington; the Trail to Freedom, where 10,000 slaves escaped in 1862; and Belmont, the home and studio of internationally known artist Gari Melchers.
Beginning the hike
Access Government Island via the county's new Scenic Heritage Park and Trail linked to the 830-mile Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail (Aquia Creek flows into the Potomac River). Begin your hike on the paved walkway leading from the parking lot to a boardwalk over tidal creeks, followed by a natural trail around the island, a 1.5-mile loop; only the first quarter of the trail is wheelchair-accessible.
Once on the island, see the pick-ax marks left by the black men who labored continuously from 1791-1800 extracting stone. Take time to study interpretive markers, one of which shows an image of a partial Clovis point, unearthed by archaeologists, dating to 8000 B.C. A Clovis point, Conner explained, is a projectile point associated with early American Indians.
The same marker shows a map, created by Captain John Smith when he visited the area in 1608, that includes Aquia Island. Smith, Conner writes, used the name "Quiyough" (later corrupted to Aquia), which means "gulls" in Algonquin.
Also note foundations of presumed living quarters for laborers; a mysterious, stone-lined pit; visible, submerged wharf remnants; and a road used by oxen-pulled sleds transporting the 120-pound stones to the wharf for loading onto Washington-bound boats.
Laborers tackled the task of getting 35-foot stone shafts, used as columns at the Capitol's east entrance, from the quarry in the same manner. (You'll have to visit the National Arboretum in Washington to see the columns now. They were replaced during the Eisenhower administration when the Capitol was extended.)
Keep a lookout for herons, osprey and bald eagles. Even if it's not the best birding day, enjoy the hardwood forest and the aquatic plants.
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