The Story
Dumfries is the oldest continuously chartered town in Virginia. Let's go into its history!
In 1690, Richard Gibson erected a gristmill on Quantico Creek. The Town of Dumfries was formally established around John Graham's Quantico Creek harbor. He named the town after his birthplace, Dumfriesshire, Scotland.
Virginia's General Assembly established Dumfries as the first of seven townships in Prince William County in 1749.
Virginia’s economy ran on labor-intensive tobacco farming. While indentured servants continued to work in Virginia, by the turn of the 16th century, farmers developed a dependence on slave labor.
Dumfries was the second leading port in Colonial America receiving tobacco from the upland. Its size and importance peaked in 1763.
Declining tobacco farming hurt Dumfries. Decreasing prices and the crop tending to exhaust farming fields compelled Virginia farmers to diversify their crops. In addition, in Dumfries products had to be shipped to Quantico Creek, whereas other cities had their merchants and docks concentrated in one place.