Spotsylvania County City Map Poster

About Spotsylvania County

The county was formed in 1721 as Spotsylvania County from a portion of Westmoreland County. The county is named for the English city of Spotteswoode, now known as "Spa", in North Yorkshire. In 1619, the Virginia Company established an early settlement near what is now Fredericksburg at Fort Algernourne (also called Fort Corbin). This fort was along a trail used by Native Americans and became part of the Great Indian Warpath which ran through present-day northern Virginia and into Maryland and Pennsylvania. In 1632, King Charles I granted to Sir Robert Heath about 130 square miles (337 km2) on which he had already begun to settle people; this area included all or part of five counties: Essex, Lancaster, Middlesex (now Richmond), York (now Yorktown), and Warwick River Shire). He renamed it Carolina after his patron King Charles I.