Rapidan Historic District

Rapidan is a small unincorporated community in the Virginia counties of Culpeper and Orange, approximately 5 miles (8 km) northeast of the Town of Orange. The community, located on both sides of the Rapidan River, was established in the late eighteenth century around the Waugh's Ford mill. The Orange and Alexandria Railroad built a line through the town in 1854, a post office was built at the river crossing, and its name was changed to Rapid Ann Station. Milling remained a major industry in the area up through the mid-twentieth century. Its strategic location along both a railroad and a river brought about several destructive raids during the Civil War. Willis’s mill (ca. 1772), which stood in the location of the current mill, was burned along with several homes and other structures, although the miller's house remained. The village of Rapid Ann Station resumed its prominence as a regional shipping point after the railroad was rebuilt following the Civil War, particularly for lumber and wood products. Its name was changed once again in 1886 to the present-day Rapidan.In 1987, the Rapidan Historic District, encompassing 35 contributing buildings and 3 noncontributing buildings within 182 acres (74 ha), was designated a National Historic District, added to both the Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR) and the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Contributing buildings include the Waddell Memorial Presbyterian Church, listed separately on the VLR and NRHP. Although not within the Rapidan Historic District, the community of Rapidan is also home to an eighteenth-century middle-class farmhouse known as Locust Grove (also known as Goodwin Farm), which was listed on the VLR and NRHP in 1985.The community and surrounding counties are served by the Rapidan Volunteer Fire Department, officially formed in 1978.

The Rapidan Passenger Depot is located at the junction of VA 614, VA 615, and VA 673 in Rapidan, Virginia, United States.

Waddell Memorial Presbyterian Church is a historic Presbyterian church located near Rapidan, Orange County, Virginia. It was built in 1874, and is a Carpenter Gothic frame building covered with board-and-batten siding. It features a three-stage tower at the gable end with a ground level with an equilateral-arched doorway, a middle level with a rose window, and a belfry with double pointed windows.It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. It is located in the Rapidan Historic District.

Locust Grove, also known as the Goodwin Farm, is a historic home located at Rapidan, Culpeper County, Virginia. The original section was built about 1730, and expanded in at least four major building campaigns over the next half-century. It had its present configuration by 1840. The house is a 1+1⁄2-story, four-bay, log and frame structure featuring a central chimney, two-room plan main block flanked by early gable-end lean-tos and rear additions. It has a steep gable roof with modern dormers. It was renovated in the 1970s. Also on the property is a contributing mid-19th century smokehouse.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Hare Forest Farm is a historic home and farm complex located near Orange, Orange County, Virginia, United States. The main house was built in three sections starting about 1815. It consists of a two-story, four-bay, brick center block in the Federal style, a two-story brick dining room wing which dates from the early 20th century, and a mid-20th-century brick kitchen wing. Also on the property are the contributing stone garage, a 19th-century frame smokehouse with attached barn, an early-20th-century frame barn, a vacant early-20th-century tenant house, a stone tower, an early-20th-century frame tenant house, an abandoned storage house, as well as the stone foundations of three dwellings of undetermined date. The land was once owned by William Strother, maternal grandfather of Zachary Taylor, and it has often been claimed that the future president was born on the property.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

The Robinson River is a 34.2-mile-long (55.0 km) tributary of the Rapidan River in Madison County, Virginia, in the United States. It flows southeast through White Oak Canyon and Berry Hollow, under Routes 231, 29 and 15. From its start in Shenandoah National Park as Cedar Run and Tims River, it has confluences with the Rose River, Quaker Run, Shotwell Run, Leathers Run, Mulatto Run, White Oak Run, Deep Run, Dark Run, Beaverdam Run and Great Run before its confluence with the Rapidan River. A 19-mile (31 km) section of the Robinson River from Syria to Locust Dale is Class II whitewater, with an average gradient of 15 feet per mile (2.8 m/km). In the Syria area, both the Rose River and Robinson River are stocked with Rainbow trout and Brook trout by the state of Virginia.

Hartland Institute, officially Hartland Institute of Health and Education, is a self-supporting Seventh-day Adventist educational organization operated by members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is located in Rapidan, Virginia in the United States. The institution was established in 1983. It consists of Hartland College (a Christian missionary college), a lifestyle center, a K–9 school, and a bookstore. Its lifestyle center offers natural healing techniques and hydrotherapy. Its educational training program is centered on the Bible and the counsels of Ellen White. It is also the home of the traveling singing group The Three Angels' Chorale, its touring choir. They have trimonthly convocations which include sermons and songs. Hartland Institute's first president was Dr. Colin D. Standish (1983–2011). Key figures in its history include Colin Standish and Hal Mayer. In March 2011, Norbert Restrepo, Jr. (born 1969) assumed the role of second President of Hartland Institute. He was elected in May 2010 by the Hartland Institute Board's unanimous vote. When selected, he had been Director of Las Delicias Institute located in Armenia, Colombia, South America, for 14 years (1996–2010). Hartland Institute also owns and operates a radio station, 89.1 FM WRLP, which is licensed to Orange, Virginia and is an affiliate of Radio 74 Internationale.

Brampton, also known as Buena Vista Farm, is a historic home located near Orange, in Madison County, Virginia. It was built about 1846, as a two-bay, side passage plan with a flat roof, two-story portico, and a small wing. It is a temple-form Greek Revival-style residence. A rear addition was built about 1900, and the front portico was redesigned with a pedimented form. Also on the property are the contributing brick kitchen, smokehouse, and dairy.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Mount Sharon is an historic estate house and plantation remnant in rural Orange County, Virginia. Located off Route 600 about 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of the city of Orange, the Mount Sharon estate house is a two-story Georgian Revival house built of concrete and faced in brick. It was designed in 1937 by Louis Bancel LaFarge for Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth Augustus, on a plantation they purchased in 1935 from the Taliaferro family, which had owned it since the early 18th century. The Augustuses demolished the deteriorating Victorian-era plantation house on the site to build the house, which has restrained exterior styling, and high quality interior woodwork designed by LaFarge.The property, consisting of the estate house, several outbuildings from the 1930s, and 77.5 acres (31.4 ha) of surrounding land (reduced from the more than 1,000 that made up the original plantation), was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

The Residence, also known as Woodberry, is a historic home located on the grounds of Woodberry Forest School at Woodberry Forest, Madison County, Virginia. It was built in 1793, reputedly after the plans of Thomas Jefferson. In 1884, the house was extensively enlarged and altered. It is a 1+1⁄2-story, wood frame, Federal-style residence. The front facade features a pedimented Tuscan order portico. The house is covered with weatherboarding and is topped by its original hipped roof. Also on the property is the contributing smokehouse. The house was built for William Madison, brother of President James Madison.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Grelen is a historic home located near Orange, Orange County, Virginia. The main house was built in 1935–1936, and consists of a 2+1⁄2-story, five-bay, brick Georgian Revival style main block flanked by 1+1⁄2-story brick wings. The house is topped by a slate hipped roof and has a recessed centrally located six-panel front door surrounded by fluted pilasters. It features two massive interior brick chimneys with corbeled caps that rise above the roof of the main block of the house.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.