Located on the Northern Neck of Virginia, Stratford Hall Plantation was the home to four generations of the Lee family. The property was purchased in 1717 by Colonel Thomas Lee, though the construction of the main house wasn't begun until the late 1730s. The plantation at its height encompassed thousands of acres and included many dependencies including slave quarters, a wharf on the Potomac River, and a mill. Among Thomas Lee's sons were two signers of the Declaration of Independence, Virginia Supreme Court justices, diplomats, and members of the Continental Congress. One of his great-grandsons, Robert Edward Lee—who was born at Stratford Hall— would rise to fame as the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War.
