Our Blue Ridge Mountains, named for their dark blue color, form the backdrop for many farms along the Piedmont ("foot of the mountain") in the counties of Culpeper, Rappahannock & Fauquier.

The quality of life here draws horse people from the congestion and bustle of past lives to the quaintness of Old Town Warrenton, the lovely shops in Middleburg, Culpeper - one of America's "Top 10 City" award winners - and "Little" Washington's 5 Star restaurant, The Inn at Little Washington, in Rappahannock Co.

"With 4 well-defined seasons"

Virginia Garden Club house & garden tours in Spring . . . flowers not to be believed. Winter snows that come in January and grace us with their beauty & give our horses something to gallop and snort in for a few brief days before melting. Summers that start easy and move into a humid August, but with evening schooling shows for green horses and riders all summer. Crisp Autumn days as leaves upon the mountains start turning at the crests of the ridges and work down the sides of the mountains to the Piedmont. Cub hunting, fall steeplechase racing & combined training events start up in September and there is a new stirring in the blood of man & beast.

Fauquier County History

Fauquier was formed in 1759 and named for Lt. Gov. Fauquier. By 1775 Fauquier County had a population of about 14,000 and by 1790 Richard Henry Lee donated 71 acres for the county seat.....later incorporated as Warrenton.

At the time of the Civil War, Warrenton was known as the richest town for its size of 604 people in the whole South! General Lee had one of his headquarters on what we know today as Lee's Ridge Rd. and during one point of the Civil War the Union Troops occupied Warrenton and its newspaper. Chief Justice Marshall began his law practice here in Warrenton, and after the Civil War, Warrenton became known for its abundance of brilliant lawyers and as a mecca for horse lovers. The Warrenton Hunt was established in 1883 and still meets three days a week.

Culpeper County History

Culpeper was formed in 1749 by an act of the House of Burgesses to cut it off from Orange County. The new county was surveyed by Lord Fairfax's protegee, young George Washington. During the Revolutionary War the Culpeper Minute Men carried a flag inscribed, "Liberty or Death" & "Don't Tread on Me". In the Civil War the Minute Men formed again under the same oak tree as the 1775 troop on what is today known as Catalpa Farm. Other Civil War companies organized in Culpeper Co. were the Little Fork Rangers and Brandy Rifles. Culpeper bore the brunt of several battles and the ravaging effect of both armies subsisting off its soil. Today the rich soils and many streams & rivers have helped the farmers return the land to its productiveness. Many large dairy, grain & beef cattle farms rub shoulders with horse breeding & training facilities.

Rappahannock County History

In 1607 when the English first arrived in Virginia, the area now occupied by Rappahannock was an uncleared wooded territory inhabited by Indians. At the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Manahoacs and Iroquois Indians hunted and fished. As more and more settlers moved into Virginia they pushed the Indians west.

Men from Rappahannock were active participants in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. Although during the Civil War many small skirmishes were scattered throughout the County, the closest major battle occurred in Front Royal, north of Flint Hill.

Taking its name from the river which has its source in the small streams in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Rappahannock became a separate County from Culpeper in 1833. The five villages, Amissville, Chester Gap, Flint Hill, Sperryville, Woodville and the Town of Washington hold significant historical value. Washington is the County Seat. Fondly called "the first Washington," it was surveyed and plotted by George Washington in 1749 and was established as a town in 1796. The villages of Rappahannock were frontier posts or crossroads. Today, these small residential clusters represent a focal point for County residents providing retail services, meeting places, post offices, and church activities. As it was in the 1700's, Rappahannock's economy is still agriculturally based with the surrounding villages providing basic services for the farms.