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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
Two Eastern Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta picta) were basking on a log in a pond located in Leesylvania State Park. They looked as if they were practicing for a chorus line in slow motion.
Leesylvania State Park is on land where a lot of history has happened. The property was called Freestone Point by the locals as it was the source of sandstone for the early settlers in the area. It originally belonged to Henry Lee II who lived there from 1747 until his death in 1787. His wife died five years later and both were buried in the family gravesite, which is still on the property. Their mansion burned soon after Mrs. Lee died. Eight children were born at Leesylvania, including Henry Lee III (Light Horse Harry Lee), a cavalry colonel in the American Revolution, governor of Virginia (1791-1794) and father of Robert E. Lee (the famous Civil War Confederate General). In 1825 the property was sold to Henry Fairfax. His son John Fairfax, later an aide to Civil War Confederate General James Longstreet, inherited the property in 1847. The Fairfax house burned in 1910, shortly after John's death, but many remnants, including a large chimney that has been restored, remain on the site. In addition, Freestone Point was the site of a Confederate force and gun emplacement during the Civil War, which still can be seen. |
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