Historic Fredericksburg - The Story of an Old Town

This history goes back as far as 1526, in which year six hundred Spaniards came up the James River and founded the town of Miguel (near where Jamestown afterwards was established). Captain John Smith reached the spot in 1608, according to the diary of a member of his party. It is almost certain that the town was settled in 1621, but this cannot be definitely proven. The town takes as its birthdate 1671, in which year the site was legally recognized by a grant from the Colonial Governor to the founders of community life at the spot now occupied by Fredericksburg. From there the book follows the history of the "home town" of George Washington through the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and into the 20th century.