Hot Water/Centerville

V-47

Royal Governor William Berkeley, owner of nearby Green Spring plantation, purchased the land here by 1652, then known as Hot Water. After Berkeley's death, the Hot Water tract passed to the Ludwell and Lee families. William Ludwell Lee inherited the property in 1796 and died in 1803. Lee's will specified that his slaves be freed when they reached the age of 18. They were allowed to live on the property for ten years at no charge and "comfortable houses" were to be built upon the tract for them. Lee's philanthropy gave rise to one of Virginia's early free black settlements located at Centerville

Department of Historic Resources, 2004

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

John T. Kneebone, J. Jefferson Looney, Brent Tarter, and Sandra Gioia Treadway, eds., Dictionary of Virginia Biography (2 vols.; Richmond, Va., The Library of Virginia, 1998- ), 1:450-451, 455-458; Alain Outlaw, “Centreville: A Free Black Community Near Williamsburg, Virginia, c. 1850-1870,” 14 June 1977; Martha W. McCartney, “An African American Heritage Trails Project: The Free Black Community at Centerville, James City County, Virginia,” 2000; Martha W. McCartney, James City County: Keystone of the Commonwealth (Virginia Beach, Va.: Donning Company Publishers, 1997); Martha W. McCartney, Jamestown Archaeological Assessment: Documentary History of Jamestown Island (3 Vols.) (Williamsburg, Virginia, 2000), 2:333, 3:39-40.