Virginia History Trivia

1. Lynchburg, Va., was named for John Lynch, who began to offer a necessary service just as the area was becoming settled, circa 1757. What service was it?

From Quiz Lynchburg, Virginia--A Stroll Through History

Answer: a ferry across the James River

The ferry opened easy commerce between Lynchburg and villages across the James River, allowing all to continue prospering. John Lynch was only 17 years old when he started the ferry, and at the age of 72, he helped build the first bridge which finally made the old ferry obsolete 55 years later, in 1812.

From Quiz History in Hampton Roads

Answer: Jamestown

Captain Christopher Newport led the three-ship flotilla that first landed English settlers in the New World in April 1607. Rather than settle on the exposed sea coast, they proceeded up the James River and settled on Jamestown Island on May 14th.

From Quiz Historic Rockbridge County, Virginia

Answer: The Natural Bridge of Virginia

The Natural Bridge is a natural limestone arch carved out of limestone strata. It is 215 ft (66 m) high with a span of 90 ft (27 m) and consists of horizontal limestone strata, a result of erosion of limestone by the flowing water of Cedar Creek. The Natural Bridge was one of the wonders of the new world that Europeans visited during the 18th and 19th centuries. U.S. Highway 11 passes over the Natural Bridge and most people have no idea they have passed over a natural wonder. The Natural Bridge is one of the premier tourist attractions on the East Coast and is truly a sight to behold.

From Quiz Richmond: A Walk Through History

Answer: Jamestown

In May 1607, three ships, 'Susan Constant', 'Godspeed' and 'Discovery', landed at what is now known as the Jamestown settlement. In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, replicas of the three ships were built and visited cities along the East Coast as floating museums. Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg are located about 45 minutes from Richmond. Scenic Route 5 stretches between Richmond and Williamsburg with several historic plantations along the way.

From Quiz Lynchburg, Virginia--A Stroll Through History

Answer: Rome was a famous city on seven hills

Rome was famously known as a great city built on seven hills, so any village hoping to grow into something great often used the claim. Richmond, Va. also claimed seven hills, but Lynchburg was following Rome. Lynchburg certainly earned the right, as steep as it is above the James River. Wikipedia even has a page, "List of Cities Claimed to be Built on Seven Hills," with dozens listed, including the two most important ones, Rome and Lynchburg. Lynchburg's hills are named: United States College Hill, Garland Hill, Daniel's Hill, Federal Hill, Diamond Hill, White Rock Hill, and Franklin Hill. Note the clue: roamin'/Roman.

From Quiz History in Hampton Roads

Answer: French

Rear Admiral F.J. Paul, Comte de Grasse, led the victorious fleet of French warships. The French fleet then proceeded to Yorktown to support American and French land forces at the siege of Yorktown, the last major battle of the American Revolution.

From Quiz Carrying Me Back to Old Virginia

Answer: George Washington inherited it

In 1674, Mount Vernon, George Washington's home, was initially given to John Washington and Nicolas Spencer by a grant from Lord Culpepper of England. One half of the five thousand acres situated on the west bank of the Potomac River was divided and was left to Lawrence Washington, who in 1743 built Mount Vernon. Lawrence Washington named his home Mount Vernon after the British Admiral, Edward Vernon. Lawrence Washington died in 1752 and his estate was bequeathed to his half brother, George Washington.

From Quiz Historic Rockbridge County, Virginia

Answer: George Washington

From 1748 to 1752 George Washington traveled with a surveying party plotting land in Virginia's western territory to include the Natural Bridge in 1750. He even carved his initials into the limestone under the bridge! Thomas Jefferson first viewed the Natural Bridge in 1767 and purchased a 157 acre parcel, which included the Natural Bridge, from King George III in 1774 for a princely sum of 20 shillings for all of it! Jefferson would travel by horse from his estate at Monticello in Albemarle County and spend time at his property at the Natural Bridge. This was before he was elected as the third President of the United States in 1801.

From Quiz Lynchburg, Virginia--A Stroll Through History

Answer: Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson kept Poplar Forest as a plantation home he could retreat to in his retirement. He began visiting there in 1809 and continued taking "vacations" lasting a few weeks several times a year, until 1823, three years before he died. In 1986, the main home was open for tours and the house continues to be a historic site offering tours, about 12 miles southwest from Lynchburg. I tried to help by naming three other men who wouldn't qualify as slave owners or Virginians.

From Quiz Historic Rockbridge County, Virginia

Answer: Battle of Lexington-Concord in Massachusetts

The Virginia Legislature created Rockbridge County in 1778 and named Lexington as its county seat. Lexington was named in for the Battle of Lexington-Concord which had occurred only three years earlier. The town was located in the center of the county where the Great Wagon Road crossed the North River at Gilbert Campbell's Ford. The original town, established in 1747, was 1300 feet long and 900 feet wide and was laid out in a grid pattern which included what is today the greater part of the city of Lexington's Central Business District.

From Quiz Lynchburg, Virginia--A Stroll Through History

Answer: a boat

Soldiers from Lynchburg in the War of 1812 were given a send-off as they left in bateaux. Tobacco from the many warehouses in Lynchburg was shipped in bateaux. The boats were popular, because the James River provided easy transportation, though they required some skill and strength, as they were poled and steered with sweeps rather than a rudder. Some lucky slaves who were both skilled at managing a bateau and trusted, were allowed to manage the boats carrying tobacco to Richmond and back, and they loved the sense of freedom, false though it was, of a few days away from home.

From Quiz Carrying Me Back to Old Virginia

Answer: Thomas Jefferson

Prior to the erection of Oak Hill, one of the country plantations of James Monroe, this fifth President of the United States lived at one time in a small farmhouse which is still located on a part of the Oak Hill estate. The plantation mansion, Oak Hill, was designed by Thomas Jefferson who had written a letter dated June 27, 1820 to James Monroe in which he detailed the outline and design of Oak Hill. Oak Hill was built between 1821-22 on an eighteen hundred acre estate. In an attempt to pay off debts said to be have incurred during his presidency (1817-1825), James Monroe tried unsuccessfully in 1825 to sell Oak Hill. Ash Lawn is another home of James Monroe. The construction of Oak Hill was supervised by James Hoban, designer and builder of the White House.

From Quiz Historic Rockbridge County, Virginia

Answer: Virginia Military Institute (VMI)

VMI was founded in 1839 on the site of the state arsenal in Lexington and graduated its first class of 16 cadets in 1842. During the Civil War, Union forces shelled and burned VMI almost to the ground as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864. The Institute rebuilt and is today a truly magnificent facility. VMI graduates have distinguished themselves in every war since 1842. Probably its most well known graduate is 5 star general George Marshall, author of the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after WWII. The college has been co-ed since 1997 and has a student population of 1,250.

From Quiz Carrying Me Back to Old Virginia

Answer: Young maidens

An invitation by the early Virginia settlers was sent to England inviting young women to aid in the settlement of the new vast country. The first 'cargo' consisting of approximately one hundred young English maidens who reputedly were of good name and character. Wooed and wed, these young maidens established homes and families promoting the settlement of the new land.

From Quiz Historic Rockbridge County, Virginia

Answer: Thomas Jonathan Jackson

"Stonewall" Jackson graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1846, fought in the Mexican-American War from 1846 to 1848, then accepted a teaching position at VMI, in Lexington, Virginia in 1851 where he became Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy and Instructor of Artillery. After a tour in Europe, Jackson lived in Lexington until 1859 when he was called to serve in the Confederacy. He never returned home. Jackson was accidentally shot by Confederate pickets at the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 2, 1863. The general survived the amputation of his arm but died of pneumonia eight days later. He is buried in Stonewall Jackson Cemetery in Lexington.

From Quiz Virginia's Route 3 - Historyland Highway

Answer: James Madison

The fourth man to become President of the United States, James Madison, was born in Port Conway, the first of twelve children of Colonel James Madison, Sr. and Eleanor Rose "Nellie" Conway who married in 1749. Madison is described as having been a "sickly child" and holds the distinction of being the smallest President at 5'4" and 100 pounds. The wealthy Madison family home was Montpelier in Virginia's Orange County. Port Conway was Nellie's hometown, but information about the house is difficult to find. Today there is a birth site marker on the south side of the river.

From Quiz Lynchburg, Virginia--A Stroll Through History

Answer: the founder's brother may have applied hard justice to Tories, maybe not the source, though

Charles Lynch, brother of Lynchburg's founder John, was a magistrate and is sometimes blamed for poor treatment of Tories in the 1780s, but etymologists don't place that very high as a probable origin. The consensus is more toward William Lynch of Pittsylvania, Virginia, who headed a vigilance committee about the same time. Early usage of the word generally meant whipping, tarring and feathering, riding out on a rail, or some similar painful, humiliating, but non-fatal punishment. Extra-legal mob hanging of a criminal, or hanging of a black man, were later meanings. There were a few older English phrases meaning the same thing but using a different name, for example: "Lydford law: is to hang men first, and indite them afterwards," 1656. Cf. "Sentence first, verdict afterwards" in "Alice in Wonderland".

From Quiz History in Hampton Roads

Answer: Confederate slaves

Since the Confederates considered slaves to be property, the U.S. took the legal position that any slave in Union territory was "contraband" that did not have to be returned to their owner. By the end of the war, the camp, known by residents as "Slabtown", numbered over 10,000. This is considered the first self-contained African-American community in the U.S., located on the site of present day Hampton, Virginia.

From Quiz Historic Rockbridge County, Virginia

Answer: George Washington

George Washington endowed Liberty Hall Academy in Lexington with $20,000 worth of stock which in 1796 was a huge amount of money. This endowment saved the academy from almost certain insolvency and in appreciation the Academy changed its name to Washington Academy and in 1813 was chartered as Washington College. After the Civil War ended in 1865, General Robert E. Lee served as its college president for 5 years until his death in 1870 and the college almost immediately changed its name to Washington and Lee University (W&L). W&L, known for its liberal arts program and law school, is the ninth oldest institution of higher education in the United States a has a student population of 7,000.

From Quiz History in Hampton Roads

Answer: William & Mary

The College of William & Mary was founded in 1693 on orders from William III and Mary II of England. Three U.S. presidents are alumni, as well as Supreme Court Justice John Marshall, Speaker Henry Clay and 16 signers of the Declaration of Independence.

From Quiz Carrying Me Back to Old Virginia

Answer: The Rappahannock River

Belle Grove, the birthplace of President James Madison, is located in King George County, Virginia, upon the north bank of the Rappahannock River. When James Madison was born there on March 16, 1791, the property was owned by his grandfather, Francis Conway. Nearby, on a bluff overlooking the Rappahannock River, is Ferry Farm, the boyhood home of George Washington.

From Quiz Historic Rockbridge County, Virginia

Answer: Washington College

After the Civil War ended, Lee turned down several lucrative offers of employment and accepted the post of college president at Washington College. Lee made great strides transforming the small college into a forward-looking institution of higher education. He established the first journalism courses, added both a business school and a law school to the college curriculum and established an Honor System. Lee died on October 12, 1870 after serving only 5 years. Almost immediately the college changed its name to Washington and Lee University (W&L). Robert E. Lee and most of his family are buried in Lee Chapel which is on the W&L campus. His famous horse Traveler is also on display there!

From Quiz Richmond: A Walk Through History

Answer: American Civil War

The Monument Avenue Historic District, designated a National Historic Landmark, runs through The Fan district. Italianate, Colonial, Georgian, Mediterranean and other types of architecture are found on the tree-lined, cobblestoned avenue (less a few trees after Hurricane Isabel in 2003). There are six statues: Robert E. Lee, unveiled in 1890, J.E.B. Stuart and Jefferson Davis in 1907, Stonewall Jackson in 1919, Matthew Fontaine Maury in 1919, and in 1996 a statue of Richmond-born tennis player Arthur Ashe was added.

From Quiz Lynchburg, Virginia--A Stroll Through History

Answer: cheered an empty train repeatedly arriving and pretended reinforcements were constantly arriving

There has been discussion about whether the trick is an urban legend. Supposedly soldiers or citizens loudly played drums and bugles also, and the whole thing sounds too good to be true. But several people who were present at the time recalled the ruse in their memoirs, and most important, Gen. Hunter wrote at the time, "During the night the trains on the different railroads were heard running without intermission, while repeated cheers and the beating of drums indicated the arrival of large bodies of troops in the town, yet up to the morning of the 18th I had no positive information as to whether General Lee had detached any considerable force for the relief of Lynchburg." Both sides were low on men and supplies, but in the end, Hunter decided not to take the chance and left Lynchburg and all its imaginary reinforcements alone.

From Quiz History in Hampton Roads

Answer: Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT) is 23 miles long, comprising 14 miles of bridge and causeway, two one-mile long tunnels, and seven miles of approach roads and artificial islands. The Channel Tunnel between Britain and France displaced the CBBT from the list of Modern Engineering Wonders of the World.

From Quiz Carrying Me Back to Old Virginia

Answer: Virginia Military Institute

Because of the amount of arms and munitions left over from the War of 1812, the General Assembly of Virginia in 1816 established an arsenal in Lexington, Virginia. Stationed at this arsenal were twenty-eight men and one captain. To keep these guards from spending their leisure time in a non-productive manner, by the Act of March 22, 1836, the arsenal was made a military school as a branch of Washington College. In 1839, the college was established with its own and separate identity, the Virginia Military Institute.

From Quiz Virginia's Route 3 - Historyland Highway

Answer: George Washington's mother

Mary Ball, called "The Belle of Epping Forest" after her father's estate, was the only child of Joseph Ball and Mary Johnson, his second wife. Mary married a widower with three children, Augustine Washington of Westmoreland County, in 1731. George was the oldest of their five children, born February 22, 1732. The family settled at the 600 acre Ferry Farm in 1738, but Augustine died in 1743 leaving Mary a widow at age 35. Possessed of an independent spirit, she managed the farm and raised her children with a firm hand, as indicated by her refusal to allow George to join the British Navy. How that might have changed history!

From Quiz History in Hampton Roads

Answer: Langley

Langley Field was established in December 1916. The adjacent NASA Langley Research Center is the oldest NASA field and was location where most of the Mercury-era space training took place.

From Quiz Carrying Me Back to Old Virginia

Answer: Richmond

Richmond, the capital of the state of Virginia, has on display in its Capitol Square a statue of George Washington mounted on his horse. This large sculpture is known as the "Virginia Washington Monument". It was the second city in the US to honor Washington with an equestrian statue. The first equestrian statue of Washington was built in 1856 and is located in Union Square, Manhattan. The Virginia Washington Monument is divided into three tiers. The top tier is George Washington on his horse. Below George Washington on the second tier are standing figures of six Revolutionary War patriots: Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, Patrick Henry, John Marshall, Andrew Lewis and Thomas Nelson. The bottom tier has allegorical female figures and inscribed facts about the Revolutionary War. The sculptor of the Virginia Washington Monument is Thomas Crawford.

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Last Updated Apr 25 2026 5:46 AM

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