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18 Weird and Wacky Facts About Culpeper, VA

Street view of a small town on a sunny day featuring a large mural of a historical figure on the side of a building. The street has signs for East King Street, colorful banners, lamp posts, and a parked car. Other buildings and trees line the background, adding charm to this picturesque scene.
The Surveyor” Mural
  • George Washington’s first job as a surveyor was in Culpeper.  He came here in 1749 as a 17 year old and lived in a house on Main Street (Coleman Street).  The house survived until the 1980s when it was torn down to put up a parking lot.
  • Stonewall Jackson’s arm was amputated at Chancellorsville after he was shot.  It was buried at Elwood Plantation and remains there today.
  • Ellen Lewis Herndon was born in Culpeper in 1837 in a house on Main Street, which still stands, owned and built by her uncle, Brodie Strachan Herndon.  She would marry Chester A. Arthur, the 21st President of the United States.  She never served as First Lady as she died prior to his inauguration.
  • Following Thomas Jefferson’s route to The White House in 1801, President William Jefferson Clinton and Vice President Albert Gore, Jr. came to Culpeper in January 1993.  They were following as closely as possible the same route.  They attended church at Culpeper Baptist Church that Sunday morning.
  • On May 27, 1995, Christopher Reeve was injured in an equestrian accident at Commonwealth Park in Culpeper.  He died in 2004 having been paralyzed from the shoulders down and was wheelchair bound for the duration of his life.
  • Culpeper was the home to two baseball Hall of Fame stars.  John Preston “Pete” Hill was born in Culpeper in the early 1880s.  Eppa Rixey was born in Culpeper in 1891 in a house that still stands on East Street.
  • The Culpeper Minute Men were organized on July 17, 1775 under a large oak tree in “Clayton’s old field” (later known as Catalpa Farm), the Minute Men took part in the Battle of Great Bridge, the first Revolutionary battle on Virginia soil.  The Culpeper Minute Men flag is inscribed with the words, “Liberty or Death” and “Don’t Tread on Me.”
  • Culpeper is the only incorporated town in the County of Culpeper.
  • There were four major battle in Culpeper County during the Civil War.  The Battle of Cedar Mountain in August 1862, the Battle of Kelly’s Ford in March 1863, the Battle of Brandy Station in June 1863, and the Battle of Culpeper Court House in September 1863.
  • The Battle of Brandy Station was the largest cavalry battle ever fought in the western hemisphere.  On June 9, 1863, a total of 18,456 horsemen became involved in the fighting.
  • Belmont Distillery in Culpeper County, started in 1988, was the first Craft Whiskey Distillery in the United States.
  • On November 13, 1953, Culpeper was the first town south of the Mason-Dixon Line to have fluorescent lights.  At the celebration was the world’s longest supper table – going from the depot to the corner of Main Street and Davis Street.  Guests were served Brunswick Stew that was cooked for 36 hours. It was also to celebrate 50 years of electricity in Culpeper.
  • George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party, died on August 25, 1967.  On August 27, an NSWPP spokesman reported that federal officials had approved a military burial at Culpeper National Cemetery, Rockwell being an honorably discharged veteran. The cemetery specified that no Nazi insignia could be displayed, and when the 50 mourners violated these conditions, the entrance to the cemetery was blocked in a five-hour standoff, during which the hearse, which had been stopped on railroad tracks near the cemetery, was nearly struck by an approaching train. The next day, Rockwell's body was secretly cremated.
  • Culpeper County saw more action during the Civil War than any other county in the country because of the railroad and the fact that the town sits almost exactly half way between Richmond and Washington, D.C. – the two capitals.
  • Old House Vineyard, established in 1998, in Culpeper County is the first winery, brewery, and distillery in Virginia.
  • The Burgandine House on Main Street, built in the 1700s, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
  • Clover Hill, a home in Culpeper County, was the headquarters for General George Armstrong Custer.  Custer and his wife, Libbie, honeymooned at Clover Hill in the winter of 1864.  The house still stands.
  • During the Civil War, a unit housed in Culpeper contained Lieutenant John Vernou Bouvier, great-grandfather to First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy.

Contributed by: Karen Quaintance