Germanna staff archaeologist Dr. Eric Larsen began a new site topographic mapping survey project at Fort Germanna in October. The original site grid was established some 30 years ago and focused on the architectural footprint of Alexander Spotswood’s Enchanted Castle. Today, thanks to the generosity of Dr. Michael D. Frost and his wife Ginger, who […]
Germanna Foundation Supports Rapidan River Clean-up
For the past few months, the Germanna Foundation facilitated the clean-up efforts of another area non-profit group called StreamSweepers. StreamSweepers is a youth job corps program focusing on river restoration. Each summer about a dozen area young adults are trained and paid a stipend to go out on our area rivers to perform ecological assessments and […]
Germanna Archaeology Site in the News
Many of our 2015 reunion attendees had the opportunity to visit the Fort Germanna/ Enchanted Castle archaeological site during an open house with staff archaeologist Dr. Eric Larsen and special guest Dr. Bernard Means from Virginia Commonwealth University’s Virtual Curation Lab. Orange County Review reporter Amber Galaviz covered the event. Read her “Digging Germanna” article […]
Groundbreaking at Ferry Farm
On April 25, 2015, Germanna Foundation Trustee Dr. Michael Frost was an honored groundbreaker for the George Washington Foundation’s first phase of construction for the Washington House at Ferry Farm, George Washington’s boyhood home overlooking Fredericksburg, Virginia. (Michael is the second from the right in the photograph). The Ferry Farm venture’s first phase will build […]
German ARD Video: 300 Jahre Siegerlander in Virginia
German media attended last year’s reunion and conference and produced a video. You can watch it at this link. 300 Jahre Siegerländer in Virginia: Aktuelle Stunde vom 30.08.2014 Die ersten Deutschen, die in den USA siedelten, kamen aus dem Siegerland. 1714 holte der damalige Gouverneur von Virginia einige hundert Siegener und Wittgensteiner nach Amerika und […]
Fort Germanna – Enchanted Castle Site Nominated for Inclusion on World Monuments Fund 2016 Watch List
The Fort Germanna/Enchanted Castle archaeological site has been nominated for inclusion on the World Monuments Fund 2016 Watch List. The Watch List, published every two years, calls international attention to cultural heritage sites around the globe that are at risk from the forces of nature or the impact of social, political, and economic change, and […]
Orange supervisors approve Germanna museum proposal
(Free Lance-Star)The Germanna Memorial Foundation will be allowed to construct and operate a library and museum next to its present visitors’ center on State Route 3 in eastern Orange County. Following a public hearing Tuesday with no speakers, supervisors approved a special use permit for a 40-by-85 foot, two-story building. The proposed site is on […]
County planners endorse Germanna Foundation museum, library
The Orange County Planning Commission is supporting a plan to build a museum and library behind the Germanna Memorial Foundation’s existing visitors center on State Route 3. The commissioners voted 4–0 Thursday to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve a special-use permit to allow the building on agriculturally zoned land. Commissioner Jason Capelle was […]
Germanna Foundation recognized for preservation of Salubria
(Culpeper Star-Exponent) The Germanna Foundation’s ongoing efforts to preserve the historic mansion Salubria in Culpeper County was recognized Saturday morning with the dedication of a bronze plaque atop a brick historic marker by the House of Burgesses Chapter of the Colonial Dames XVII Century. “(The) House of Burgesses Chapter honors the Germanna Foundation for the preservation […]
Germanna colony celebrates 300th anniversary
From the Orange County Review: Three centuries ago, 42 people—men, women and children from nine family units —left their homes in the Siegerland area of southern Germany in hopes of making a fresh start in the frontier wilds of what is now Orange County. J. Marc Wheat, president of the Memorial Foundation of the Germanna […]
