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Valentine’s Day History

Valentine’s Day History

The History of Valentine’s Day Near the end of the 18th century, new printing techniques followed by lower postage rates finally made Valentines cards affordable. These changes allowed commercially-made cards to emerge in addition to handwritten letters....
Genius of the Garden

Genius of the Garden

Charles F. Gillette and Landscape Architecture in Virginia George C. Longest From the 1920s through the 1960s, the name Charles F. Gillette was synonymous with the best in landscape design in Virginia as well as the upper South. The peak years of Gillette’s career as...
Inside the Museum: Did you Know?

Inside the Museum: Did you Know?

Did you know that the portrait painted by Charles Wilson Peale of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, tells a story in symbols? 1. In the background is the royal palace of Whitehall, from a window of this hall Charles I passed in 1649 to the scaffold erected in the...
Genius of the Garden

Virginia Presidents’ Garden

With financial assistance from the Virginia General Assembly, the Westmoreland Garden Club established the Presidents’ Garden in 1941 to honor native Virginians who have served our Nation as President. The names of eight Virginia-born presidents are inscribed...
Robert Carter

Robert Carter

Robert Carter the Councillor was born in February 1728, son of Robert and Priscilla (Churchill) Carter and grandson of Robert (“King”) Carter (q.v.)  He attended the College of William and Mary, spent 1749-51 in England, and on his return married on...
Charles II

Charles II

James I (1566-1625) was King of England at the time of America’s first English settlement.  Jamestown was named for him.  It was also he who authorized the translation of the Bible into English in 1611. Charles I (1600-1649) son of James I became King...