Arlington Plantation is a special site of one of the most historic
Properties in our nation, yet its significance is little known.
Early in the 1670’s John Custis built a three-story mansion
on the south bank of Old Plantation Creek.
The foundation measured 54 feet by 43 1/2 feet.
(You can see the wood markers for the foundation in the field)
The house had brick floors and vaulted ceilings, with at least three chimneys. There were two cellars that had plastered walls.
The house was topped off with garrets.
He named the house Arlington, probably after the Custis family’s
ancestral village in Gloucestershire.
1759 Martha Dandridge Custis and the heir to Arlington Planation,
married Army Colonel George Washington, 26 years old.
As was the custom of the times, Washington managed the affairs
of his wife’s property, Arlington Plantation.
The Arlington mansion was abandoned sometime during the early
part of the 18th century. Its ruins were pillaged and what was left
eventually became buried in the farm fields at this site.
Martha’s grandson built a fine house on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., which he named Arlington House after the Eastern Shore site.
Today, it is the site of Arlington National Cemetery.
GC742F7– Turn Here – Custis’s Tomb
GC742FA– Curtis Tomb & Arlington Cross Here
GC742FC– Custis Tomb & Arlington Plantation Site