This is the field side of Belle Grove Plantation, birthplace of James Madison. This property was established in 1670 as a 1,000 acre farm. As of 2020, it is 694 acres and is open to the public for tours, bed and breakfast and events. The barns are no longer there, but the terra cotta silo is. The house was restored between 1997 and 2003. The outbuildings just to the right of the main house were built in 1720 to 1750 and three of the 300 historic outbuildings and slave quarters left from this time period in Virginia. The house was originally built in 1790, expanded in 1796 and 1839. This property and home are on the Virginia Landmark Register and the National Register of Historic Homes.

This is Belle Grove or “Bell’s Grove,” according to some old maps. It is emphatically NOT the birthplace of Madison, as he was born in a shack that no longer exists and may or may not have stood on this property.

More interesting is the fact that this area is adjacent to the site of the long-defunct fishing village called Port Conway, where John Wilkes Booth crossed the Rappahannock on a ferry scow in his flight after killing President Lincoln.