Matildaville is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

located along the Patowmack Canal near present day Great Falls,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, United States. It was named for the wife of

Light Horse Harry Lee Henry Lee III (January 29, 1756 – March 25, 1818) was an early American Patriot and politician who served as the ninth Governor of Virginia and as the Virginia Representative to the United States Congress. Lee's service during the American ...

, on 40 acres of land owned at the time by

Bryan Fairfax, 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron Bryan Fairfax, 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (August 11, 1736 – August 7, 1802) was an American planter and clergyman. He was a lifelong friend of George Washington and became the first member of the British peerage to be born in North America ...

, and served as headquarters for the Patowmack Company from 1785 until 1799. Now, all that remains of the town are a series of ruins on the grounds of

Great Falls Park Great Falls Park is a small National Park Service (NPS) site in Virginia, United States. Situated on along the banks of the Potomac River in northern Fairfax County, the park is a disconnected but integral part of the George Washington Memoria ...

History

Although both the Maryland and Virginia legislatures issued charters for the Patowmack Company in 1785, and

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

became its first president (as well as owner of 50 shares of stock), the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

did not issue a charter for this town until 1790. Its first trustees were: George Gilpin, Albert Russell, Josiah Clapham,

Richard Bland Lee Richard Bland Lee (January 20, 1761March 12, 1827) was an American planter, jurist, and politician from Fairfax County, Virginia. He was the son of Henry Lee II (1730–1787) of "Leesylvania" and Lucy Grymes (1734–1792) and the younger brothe ...

Leven Powell Leven Powell (1737August 23, 1810) was a Virginia planter, merchant, Continental Army officer and Federalist politician who served several terms in the Virginia House of Delegates as well as in the Virginia Ratification Convention representin ...

and Samuel Love. It began as a staging and headquarters area for construction of the canal. At its height the town included the residence of the Patowmack Canal Company superintendent, a market, grist mill, sawmill, foundry, inn, ice house, workers' barracks, boarding houses, and other homes. Boatman and passengers stopped to wait their turn through the locks. Although the canal which ultimately opened up the

Ohio River Valley The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its mouth on the Mississippi River in Cairo, ...

for development was a lifelong dream of George Washington, the President died two years before completion of this first section. In 1802, the Patowmack Company finished a series of five canals and locks (including the Patowmack Canal) which enabled flat-bottomed boats poled like gondolas to skirt the falls of the Potomac River, and in 1807 it collected $15,000 in tolls. However, its construction costs greatly exceeded estimates and it never became a financial success. In 1821 a joint committee appointed by the Virginia and Maryland legislatures recommended that its charter be revoked, though instead it merged into the newly organized Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company in 1828. An attempt to reinvent the town as a textile manufacturing center, modeled after the town of

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...

, was made in 1839 by the Great Falls Manufacturing Company. The Company purchased the Patowmack Canal land at Great Falls, along with several town lots. In 1839, the town was re-chartered as South Lowell. However, in 1853, Congress granted the U.S. government power to condemn land in order to construct an aqueduct. In 1858, the government filed a lawsuit to shut the mills, which shareholders and the State of Virginia contested for four decades, by which time the Civil War had ended and the manufacturing enterprise long closed. Tourists and local fisherman at Great Falls frequently dined and lodged at one of the town's taverns. Dickey's Tavern, constructed , claimed to have hosted every U.S. President from George Washington to

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

and was the last remaining building in Matildaville before a fire destroyed it in 1950.

References

{{Fairfax County, Virginia Archaeological sites in Virginia Geography of Fairfax County, Virginia Former municipalities in Virginia Ghost towns in Virginia 1790 establishments in Virginia