Aquia Creek Explained

Aquia Creek
Mouth Location:Potomac River
Subdivision Type1:Country
Subdivision Type2:Location
Subdivision Name2:Fauquier and Stafford counties, Virginia, U.S.
Length:27.6miles
Mouth Elevation:0feet

Aquia Creek is a 27.6adj=midNaNadj=mid[1] tributary of the tidal segment of the Potomac River and is located in Northern Virginia. The creek's headwaters lie in southeastern Fauquier County, and it empties into the Potomac at Brent Point in Stafford County, south of Washington, D.C.

The White House was built largely using sandstone quarried from Aquia Creek from 1792 to 1799.[2]

History

The Public Quarry at Government Island in the creek served as the source for Aquia Creek sandstone. This sandstone was used in numerous public buildings; the National Capitol Columns were quarried in the early 1800s, and transported to Washington on a barge.[3] The White House, which began its construction in 1799, was built largely from sandstone material that was quarried from the banks of Aquia Creek from the previous seven years (1792-1799).

In an early American Civil War skirmish, the Battle of Aquia Creek, three Union gunships fired on a battery garrison during the Union campaign to blockade Chesapeake Bay between May and June 1861. There were an estimated ten casualties.[4]

See also

Notes and References

  1. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed August 15, 2011
  2. Web site: A Capitol Idea. Official website. The United States National Arboretum. 1 May 2011. 1 April 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20110511093537/http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/collections/columns.html. 11 May 2011. dead.
  3. Web site: A Capitol Idea. Official website. The United States National Arboretum. 1 May 2011. 1 April 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20110511093537/http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/collections/columns.html. 11 May 2011. dead.
  4. http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp/battles/va002.htm Battles