Morattico

The watermen’s community of Morattico, 3.5 miles west on Route 622, is named for the Moraughtacund Indians who met Capt. John Smith nearby in 1608. By 1698 the area had become part of Morattico Plantation, established by Joseph Ball I, father of Mary Ball Washington. Completion of a major wharf on the Rappahannock River in 1892 led to the rapid development of the village of Morattico, known for a time as Whealton. The community, a stop on the Baltimore-to-Fredericksburg steamship route until the 1930s, thrived as a center for oystering, crabbing, fishing, and large-scale seafood processing and distribution. The Morattico Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.