map

161st Anniversary of the Battle of Buckland Mills

Leave a Comment / Buckland, Civil War, map, video

Thinking of driving out Route 29 to enjoy the fall color on Skyline Drive this weekend? Consider this picture instead: It’s Saturday afternoon, October 19, 1863. As you travel west from Gainesville to Warrenton on the road, known then as the Warrenton Turnpike, a frantic Union Cavalry regiment is racing toward you. Behind them Confederate Cavalry in hot pursuit is closing in, guns blazing. A couple of minutes ago, passing through the Vint Hill Road intersection, you didn’t notice a second Confederate regiment moving into position to block the Union retreat.

…

161st Anniversary of the Battle of Buckland MillsRead More »

Buckland, Civil War, map, video

History of Virginia’s Culpeper Basin

1 Comment / geology, map, software, video
The phrase “older than dirt” labels something as exceptionally old. Deep time is the term scientists use for the billions of years of Earth’s history. Both terms proved apt In researching the geography of my home in eastern Fauquier County. It is situated in the Culpeper Basin, a geological formation created about 200 million years ago by the forces that also created the Atlantic Ocean: plate tectonics. I created this short video to visualize the history of the Culpeper Basin.
…

History of Virginia’s Culpeper BasinRead More »

geology, map, software, video

In the footsteps of Beth Mitchell

Leave a Comment / biography, map, research
Nothing could be more appropriate for the lead article kicking off this site than an account of my debt to Beth Mitchell. Her body of work is the best example I could offer of mapping history and sharing it with others. The Fairfax County History Commission honors her memory with it’s Beth Mitchell Prize, which recognizes “pure research that consolidates and indexes primary source materials into a format that can be used to support further understanding and interpretation of Fairfax County history.”
…

In the footsteps of Beth MitchellRead More »

biography, map, research