About

Brief History/Background

In 1728, Caroline County was formed from the adjacent counties of Essex, King and Queen, and King William and became the 29th county in Virginia. Our county was formed during the first year of George II reign. The county was named after his wife, Queen Caroline of Ansbach, who was born in 1683. Currently the county consists of approximately 350,000 aces with 76,000 acres being Fort A. P. Hill.

The county has many people, places, and events of historical significance that have contributed not only to Virginia’s past but our nation’s humble beginnings.

In 1968, a group of local concerned citizens gathered to form the Caroline Historical Society, Inc. (CHS), as a non-profit organization, for the purpose of educating and preserving the history of Caroline County. Since that initial meeting, CHS’s membership has grown to include well over a hundred members and we have accumulated thousands of documents and artifacts related to Caroline County’s history. Those items are now preserved by CHS and displayed, at various times, for the general public’s education and enjoyment.

CHS is currently located at 121 N Main Street in the Sidney E. King Arts Center, Bowling Green, Virginia 22427. In cooperation with the Sidney E. King Arts Center, historical and art displays are available for viewing Thursday thru Fridays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. as well as on special events days such as Memorial Day and the annual Harvest Festival in October.  Our quarterly newsletter is sent to members in January, April, July, and October, prior to regular membership meetings. Social media, in the form of Facebook, is also used to promote CHS through periodic updates, schedules, recent donations of items, photos of recent events, etc.

Listed below are a few notable contributions to our local history:

  • Caroline County was the first Virginia county to sever ties with Great Britain.
  • The third most populous and affluent county in the commonwealth during the Revolutionary War period.
  • Captain John Smith was the first white man to explore the area now known as Caroline County.
  • Considered by many as the cradle of American horse racing.
  • Caroline’s history highlights include many Native American tribes that include the Pamunkey, Mattaponi, Youngtamunds, Dogues, Secobecs, Rappahannocks, Nantangtacunds, and Manohocs.
  • Birthplace of John Penn, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
  • Confederate General Thomas J. (“Stonewall”) Jackson died on May 10, 1863, at Fairfield Plantation, Guinea Station, Caroline County, after being wounded during the Battle of Chancellorsville.
  • John Wilkes Booth, President Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, was captured and killed just west of Port Royal, Virginia, at the Garrett Farm.
  • Home of one of the oldest Masonic Lodges in the U.S., Kilwinning Crosse 2-237 was founded in 1755.
  • Loving vs Virginia – Richard and Mildred Loving, Caroline County residents in 1967 a landmark civil rights decision of the United States Supreme Court, which invalidated all laws prohibiting interracial marriage.

The Caroline Historical Society was incorporated in July 1968.
The first Board of Directors were:
E. Winston Woolfolk
Florence W. Lucy
Frances S. England
Marion W. Hunter
Floyd H. Borkey
Herbert Ridgeway Collins