Matildaville, Virginia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Matildaville, Virginia
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Former town
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Country | United States |
State | Virginia |
County | Fairfax |
Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
Matildaville is a ghost town located along the Patowmack Canal near present day Great Falls, Virginia, United States. It was named for the wife of Light Horse Harry Lee, on 40 acres of land owned at the time by Bryan Fairfax, 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, and served as headquarters for the Patowmack Company from 1785 until 1799. Now, all that remains of the town are a series of ruins on the grounds of Great Falls Park.
History
The town, chartered by the Virginia General Assembly in 1790, began as a staging and headquarters area for construction of the canal. At its height the town boasted the Patowmack Canal Company superintendent's house, a market, grist mill, sawmill, foundry, inn, ice house, workers' barracks, boarding houses, and a number of residences. Boaters stopped there to wait their turn through the locks.
Tourists who came to view Great Falls frequently dined and lodged at one of the town's taverns. Dickey's Tavern, constructed circa 1797, was a popular destination for both tourists and sport fishermen. It was the last remaining building in Matildaville before it was destroyed by fire in 1950.
The town declined after the Patowmack Canal closed in 1828. An attempt to reinvent the town as a textile manufacturing center, modeled after the town of Lowell, Massachusetts, was made in 1839 by the Great Falls Manufacturing Company. The Company purchased the Patowmack Canal land at Great Falls along with several town lots. The town was re-chartered as South Lowell.
Currently all that remains of the town are a series of ruins on the grounds of Great Falls Park.