Like many road names throughout Prince William County, Sudley Road and Sudley Manor Road find their beginnings with the influential Carter Family.
In the 1750s, Landon Carter was deeded a portion of land from the Middle Bull Run tract in northern Prince William, eastern Loudoun, and western Fairfax counties. While Landon primarily lived in Richmond County at Sabine Hall, the task of developing the Middle Bull Run tract was given to two of his sons: John Carter and Landon Carter II.
Landon Carter II built a large plantation called Pittsylvania on this tract of land, south of Bull Run near Matthews Hill, while his brother, John Carter built his home, Sudley Mansion, north of Bull Run in Fairfax County around 1760.
Near these two plantations, the community known as Sudley, or Sudley Springs, grew throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. While historians today do not know where the town’s name specifically originates from, the community may have gotten its name from Sudley Mansion or Sudley Springs, a sulpher spring nearby with medicinal values.
Furthermore, Sudley Road and Sudley Manor Road’s names originate from this historic community. By 1817, Sudley Mills, a saw and grist mill on Catharpin Run, was in operation supplying the nearby community with wood, cornmeal and flour. In 1822, Sudley Methodist Church was built on land donated by Landon Carter II. After the Manassas Gap Railroad was completed to Gainesville in 1852, there was easier access to town resulting in the growth of Sudley. New structures in town included the Sudley Springs Hotel, built northwest of Sudley Church, near Sudley Springs, a blacksmith shop, store, and a wheelwright shop by the mid 19th Century.
The Civil War brought destruction to the Sudley community. Many buildings in the area were destroyed or heavily damaged during the two battles in Manassas. Many buildings, including Pittsylvania, Sudley Church, and the Thornberry House, were converted into field hospitals.
Pittsylvania burned down in the midst of the war in 1862. Following the war, Sudley was left in a state of disrepair, but was revived throughout the 1870s. A Pennsylvanian named Andrew B. Fetzer, restored the mills, resuming operations in 1875, and would do so for the next thirty years.
After being rebuilt, the Sudley Springs Hotel reopened in 1871. The Thornberry residence became a post office after the war. The blacksmith shop resumed operation, and two stores run by B.R. Cross and Matthew Carson reopened.
However, by the late 19th century the town again fell into decline. The Depression of 1893 forced the hotel to close and it burned in the early 1900s. The Sudley Springs Post Office closed in 1903, postage transferring to Catharpin. The mill closed in 1910 and was dismantled in the 1930s. Carter’s Sudley Mansion fell into disrepair by the early 1900s and was dismantled. Struck by lightning in 1918, Sudley Methodist Church burned down and rebuilt in 1922.
The Thornberry House still stands and is currently preserved by the National Park Service. While the historic community does not exist anymore as it did hundreds of years ago near Catharpin Run and Bull Run, there is still a Sudley today that takes its name from these historical roots.
The Sudley community today spans 1.6 miles the length of Sudley Manor Drive from Route 234 until the road ends near Splashdown Waterpark, bordering Bull Run Regional Park, containing important structures such as schools, churches, businesses, and homes that shape a community today.
This post is brought to you by the The Prince William County Historic Preservation Division
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