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Weems–Botts Museum

Biographical museums in VirginiaHistory museums in VirginiaHouses in Prince William County, VirginiaHouses on the National Register of Historic Places in VirginiaMuseums in Prince William County, Virginia
National Register of Historic Places in Prince William County, Virginia
Weems Botts House (Dumfries, Virginia) 001
Weems Botts House (Dumfries, Virginia) 001

Weems–Botts House Museum is a small historic museum in Dumfries, Virginia, United States. The museum includes the landmark Weems–Botts House on the corner of Duke Street and Cameron Street and the Weems–Botts Museum Annex, which houses the Lee Lansing Research Library and Archive, located at 3944 Cameron Street. Both buildings are located in Merchant Park. The park's bandstand commemorates William Grayson, one of Prince William County's most respected citizens and one of Virginia's first senators. The museum tour showcases the history of Dumfries, Virginia's oldest chartered town, and people associated with the house, including Mason Locke "Parson" Weems, and attorney Benjamin Botts.The museum was restored in 1975 as part of a bicentennial U.S. restoration project. The museum is owned by the Town of Dumfries and operated by Historic Dumfries Virginia, Inc., a non-profit organization.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Weems–Botts Museum (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Weems–Botts Museum
Cameron Street,

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Latitude Longitude
N 38.568611111111 ° E -77.330277777778 °
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Cameron Street
22026
Virginia, United States
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Weems Botts House (Dumfries, Virginia) 001
Weems Botts House (Dumfries, Virginia) 001
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Batestown, Virginia

Batestown is an extinct unincorporated community in Prince William County, Virginia. The town was located along the farthest terminus of Batestown Road in what is now a western neighborhood of Dumfries along the banks of Quantico Creek. It was an enclave for freed slaves named for Mary Bates, the matriarch of the community.Batestown and Hickory Ridge both suffered the same fate. Between 1933 and 1937, the Federal Government began implementing a Resettlement Administration program to form Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area, where rural farmers were supposed to relocate for more fertile land. The RA bought 79 pieces of property in both Hickory Ridge and Batestown and condemned another 48, to form a new recreation area. However, the RA often made no effort to actually resettle the displaced residents. The area residents resisted the relocation efforts, sometimes retreating into the park boundaries to escape detection. This continued until the beginning of World War II, where the park was taken over by the Office of Strategic Services as a spy training ground. The park was surrounded by barbed wire and fences, and patrolled by dogs and armed guards. All remaining forty-four holdouts were evicted, some literally carried away screaming.At the end of the war, the displaced residents hoped their land would be restored, but to date these families have received no compensation. Instead, the property was turned over to the National Park Service and renamed Prince William Forest Park.