Stafford 1896

The vast majority of late nineteenth Stafford residents were hardworking farmers, producing goods for sale and their own consumption.

Home life has changed dramatically for Stafford County residents over the past 130 years.

Receiving news and communicating with friends and family improved with the expansion of telegraph services and newspapers in the late nineteenth century.

Stafford County roads in the 1800’s were notoriously poor and difficult to navigate.

The epicenters of daily life in Stafford, Virginia in the late 1800’s were the County’s numerous ports and landings where travelers and goods arrived and departed daily.

By the 1890’s, railroads provided new connections between Stafford County residents and merchants and markets along the East Coast.

Stafford residents produced cash crops for sale to northern markets while making or trading for nearly everything required by their own families.

Since the county’s earliest human inhabitation, the waters surrounding Stafford, Virginia have yielded plentiful bounties.

The sale of timber products to northern markets was big business in late nineteenth century Stafford County.

Stone was quarried from Stafford County as early as 1660 and used in some of the most significant buildings in Washington, D.C. and beyond.

Today we think of hunting as a pastime. In nineteenth century Stafford, Virginia, it was a way of life.

General stores were local gathering places for Stafford residents to get news, sell crops, and buy goods they didn’t make on their own.

Mills performed vital functions for Stafford residents including milling grains into grist and producing sawn lumber for buildings and furniture.

Services provided by the government in nineteenth century Stafford County were limited.

Entering the workforce at a young age was prioritized over education for most nineteenth century Stafford County, Virginia youth.