Dumfries

Weems–Botts House Museum is a small, professionally directed museum in Dumfries, Virginia, USA. The museum includes the historic... Weems–Botts House on the corner of Duke Street and Cameron Street and the Weems–Botts Museum Annex on 3944 Cameron Street. The museum features the history of Dumfries, Virginia's oldest chartered town, and two people who lived in the house: the Reverend Mason Locke Weems, and attorney Benjamin Botts. The house originally served as the vestry for the Quantico Church. In terms of architecture, the part of the building built initially shows an example of a true 1 ⁄2-story building. The museum was restored by Historic Dumfries, Inc. in 1975 as part of a bicentennial U.S. restoration project. A gazebo was also built during the bicentennial to commemorate William Grayson, one of Prince William's most respected citizens. Mason Lock Weems, a native Marylander, was a clergyman who became an author and book store owner. Why he started his business in Dumfries is unknown.
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Virginia , officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state located in the South Atlantic region of the United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, which provide habitat for much of its flora and fauna. The capital of the Commonwealth... is Richmond; Virginia Beach is the most populous city and Fairfax County the most populous political subdivision. The Commonwealth's population is over eight million. The area's history begins with several indigenous groups, including the Powhatan. In 1607 the London Company established the Colony of Virginia as the first permanent New World English colony. Slave labor and the land acquired from displaced Native American tribes each played a significant role in the colony's early politics and plantation economy.
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