Studley, Virginia

The Birthplace of Patrick Henry (1736–1799), the Founding Father and American statesman from Virginia, was a farmhouse called "Studley", located in what is now the village of Studley in Hanover County, Virginia. The house, a two-story brick structure, was built in the 1720s by John Symes, whose wife Sarah married Patrick Henry's father John after Symes died. Patrick Henry was born in the house on May 29, 1736. By 1796 the farmstead included a significant number of outbuildings. The house was destroyed by fire in 1807, and now only archaeological remnants remain.There is an interpretive plaque near the site at 9620 Studley Farms Drive. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

The Battle of Haw's Shop or Enon Church was fought on May 28, 1864, in Hanover County, Virginia, as part of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War. Grant abandoned the stalemate following the Battle of North Anna (May 23–26) by once again swinging widely around Lee's right flank, using the Pamunkey River to screen his movements to the southwest. Lee's army moved directly south and took up positions on the southern bank of Totopotomoy Creek. The Confederate general sent a cavalry force under Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton to collect intelligence about Grant's next moves. On May 28, Hampton's troopers encountered Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. David McM. Gregg. Fighting predominately dismounted and utilizing earthworks for protection, neither side achieved an advantage. Gregg was reinforced by two brigades of Brig. Gen. Alfred T.A. Torbert's division, and the brigade under Brig. Gen. George A. Custer launched a spirited attack just as Hampton was ordering his men to withdraw. The seven-hour battle was inconclusive, but it was the second significant cavalry engagement of the Overland Campaign and one of the bloodiest of the war. Both sides claimed victory. Union Cavalry Corps commander Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan bragged that his men had driven Hampton from the field and demonstrated the superiority of the Union cavalry. But Hampton had held up the Union cavalry for seven hours, prevented it from achieving its reconnaissance objectives, and had provided valuable intelligence to General Lee about disposition of Grant's army.

Williamsville is a historic home located at Studley, Hanover County, Virginia. The main house was built between 1794 and 1803, and is a two-story, five-bay, brick I-house in the Federal style. It has a rear ell. The house features a one-story wood porch surmounted by a balustrade and sophisticated trim, including the fully developed modillioned cornice and the elaborate Adamesque mantels.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Pine Slash, also known as Prospect Hill, is a historic home located at Studley, Hanover County, Virginia. The main house was built about 1750, and is a one-story dwelling of colonial vertical plank construction with a metal gable roof. In addition to the main house, the property includes a contributing second residence and a brick outbuilding, both dating from the early 19th century. Pine Slash is also significant as American Founding Father Patrick Henry's home in the 1750s.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

The Battle of Totopotomoy Creek locally , also called the Battle of Bethesda Church, Crumps Creek, Shady Grove Road, and Hanovertown, was a battle fought in Hanover County, Virginia on May 28–30, 1864, as part of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses Grant's Overland Campaign against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. As Grant continued his attempts to maneuver around Lee's right flank and lure him into a general battle in the open, Lee saw an opportunity to attack the advancing V Corps, under Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren with the Second Corps of Lt. Gen. Jubal Early. Early's divisions under Maj. Gens. Robert E. Rodes and Stephen Dodson Ramseur drove the Union troops back to Shady Grove Road, but Ramseur's advance was stopped by a fierce stand of infantry and artillery fire. Grant ordered his other corps commanders to conduct a supporting attack along the entire Confederate line, which was entrenched behind Totopotomoy Creek, but only the II Corps of Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock crossed the stream; they were quickly repulsed. After the battle, the Union army resumed its moves to the southeast and the Battle of Cold Harbor.

Wyoming is a historic home located near Studley in King William County, Virginia. It was built about 1800, and is a two-story, five-bay, Georgian style frame dwelling. It has a single-pile, central hall plan and is set on a brick foundation. The house is topped by a clipped gable roof with a standing-seam sheet metal surface and modillion cornice. It measures 55 feet long and 25 feet deep.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

The Polegreen Church, also known as the Hanover Meeting House (and locally as the "ghost church"), is the site of what may be the first non-Anglican church in Virginia. It was named after a 17th-century landowner, George Polegreen.After Rev. George Whitefield preached at Bruton Parish Church at Williamsburg during the First Great Awakening, and his sermons were published, local mason Samuel Morris built a reading room or log cabin near Mechanicsville in rural Hanover County. In 1743, Virginia's colonial assembly permitted religious dissenters four meeting houses: three in Hanover County (including this one) and one in Henrico County; they were sometimes called "Morris churches".Pennsylvania Presbyterian missionary Samuel Davies, one of the first non-Anglican ministers licensed in Virginia, evangelized in Hanover County and used this as his base from 1743 to 1759. Patrick Henry attended services here with his mother, and credited Davies for his oratorical skills. In 1755, Davies helped organize what came to be known as the Hanover Presbytery, encompassing all Presbyterian ministers in Virginia and North Carolina. He also became known for writing hymns, and for educating slaves (unlike Methodist and Baptist evangelists). During the American Civil War, battle lines formed on opposite sides of Totopotomoy creek during the 1864 Overland Campaign as the Union army advanced on Richmond. Polegreen Church stood between them. A Confederate artillery shell fired to dislodge Union sharpshooters by a man whose father had been baptized at Polegreen hit the wooden building, which burned to the ground. The congregation could not afford to rebuild it.An open-air design of steel beams painted white to show the historic structure's former dimensions has been erected at the site, along with a visitor center and signage concerning religious persecution and freedom in Western civilization. The site now hosts various lectures (including on religious freedom in Virginia), as well as weddings and other private functions. The Polegreen Church site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. It is open to the public free of charge.

Oak Forest is a historic home located near Mechanicsville, Hanover County, Virginia. It was built about 1828, and is a two-story, five-bay, frame I-house dwelling in the Federal style. The house sits on a brick foundation, has a standing seam metal gable roof, and exterior end chimneys. Also on the property is a contributing smokehouse.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

Laurel Meadow is a historic home located near Mechanicsville, Hanover County, Virginia. It was built about 1820, and is a 1+1⁄2-story, hall-parlor-plan house in the Federal style. The house sits on a brick foundation, has a gable roof with dormers, and exterior end chimneys. Also on the property are a contributing one-room schoolhouse and a barn.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

The Edmund Ruffin Plantation, also known as Marlbourne, is a U.S. National Historic Landmark in Hanover County, Virginia, 11 miles (18 km) northeast of Richmond.

The Tavern at Old Church is a historic 19th-century tavern complex at 3350-3360 Old Church Road east of Mechanicsville, Virginia in the hamlet of Old Church. The property includes a Federal-era tavern building built in two stages, a wood-frame structure built about 1820, and an attached brick structure built by 1830. Also included on the property are a suite of period outbuildings, a particular rarity for surviving rural 19th-century taverns in Virginia.The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

Totomoi is an historic plantation in Hanover County, Virginia. The 544-acre (220 ha) property is located at 8055 Rural Point Road, near Studley. The property was, according to long-held family tradition, believed to belong to the family as early as the 17th century, but the discovery in the 21st century of family records place its purchase to 1800. The main plantation house is a brick two story building constructed in 1800 by Thomas Tinsley, one of six generations of that name. The main block is three bays wide, with a broad hall across the front and two rooms behind. Additions in 1820 and 1840 added single story ells to the east side of the house. The property includes a cluster of early 20th century farm outbuildings, and probably contains archaeological remnants of its 19th-century structures. The property, was, as of 2012, still owned by Tinsley's descendants.Totomoi was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.