Magruder, Virginia

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Magruder was a small unincorporated town in Virginia near Williamsburg in York County. Now extinct, it once had its own church, post office, cemetery, lodge, and homes. Magruder is considered one of the many lost towns of Virginia. The land on which it stood is now part of the US military reservation known as Camp Peary.

Contents 1 History 2 See also 3 Sources 3.1 Publications 3.2 Websites 4 External links

[edit] History

Magruder had been named for American Civil War Confederate General John B. "Prince John" Magruder. During the Civil War, and especially during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862, "Prince John" Magruder was known for his deceptive and successful tactics in carefully orchestrated demonstrations of illusion which fooled Union leaders into thinking his troops were far greater in number than they really were.

After the Civil War and Emancipation, the area became settled by African American families, mostly composed of former slaves (freedmen). The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) built through the area in 1881 to reach the coal piers and the new city of Newport News on the ice-free harbor of Hampton Roads. The C&O later built a spur line which extended to Magruder Station.

During World War II, in 1942-43, the U.S. Navy took over a large area in the north western portion of York County to train Seabees and hold special German prisoners-of-war which became known as Camp Peary. All residents of the entire towns of Magruder and Bigler's Mill were removed. Many of the black residents of Magruder and at least one church were relocated to the community of Grove in nearby James City County. Grove had been sparsely populated until another large influx of displaced families had moved there during World War I, when their land was taken to create a military reservation which became the Naval Weapons Station Yorktown.

After World War II, the area was turned over by the Navy to the Commonwealth of Virginia and was used as a state game preserve. Then, in 1951, the Navy reclaimed the land and closed the base to the public. Despite efforts at secrecy, Camp Peary eventually became well-known as "The Farm," a training facility for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Although the roads and structures are still there and occupied, access to the base is still restricted.

[edit] See also

• Bigler's Mill, Virginia
• Penniman, Virginia
• Lost counties, cities and towns of Virginia

[edit] Sources

[edit] Publications

• McCartney, Martha W. (1977) James City County: Keystone of the Commonwealth; James City County, Virginia; Donning and Company; ISBN 0-8986599-9-X

[edit] Websites

• "Cast Down Your Buckets Where You Are" An Ethnohistorical Study of the African-American Community on the Lands of the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station 1865-1918

[edit] External links

• Geographical coordinates: 37°19′20″N, 76°40′31″W (click for maps and satellite photos of Magruder, Virginia)