Port city no more: Dumfries keeps its colonial story alive with its upcoming Charter Day celebration

DUMFRIES — Dumfries will celebrate its founding again after a brief hiatus.

The annual festival took off last year, but the festivities to honor Virginia oldest, continuously chartered are back return Saturday, May 12.

The festivities begin at 11 a.m. in Merchant Park, next to the Weems-Botts Museum, and run until 4 p.m. 6 p.m.

Attractions include:

• An opening ceremony at the William Grayson Bandstand Memorial
• Fredericksburg Spinners & Weavers Guild (who will be demonstrating textile production methods)
• Colonel Grayson Chapter of the SAR (who will have Revolutionary War uniformed men and unloaded muskets to show the public)
• Victorian Society of Falls Church (who will be in costumes representing different time periods inside the museum which will be an open house for people to walk through at their own pace)
• Prince William County Historic Preservation Division table 
• Prince William Forest National Park table
• Craft vendors
• Food vendors
• Children’s activities including a bounce house, face painting, balloon artist, etc.
• The Virginia Tourism “LOVE” sign

The town’s original charter date is May 11, 1749. Much of the colonial history of the town has been lost over the years.

The town was one a major east coast seaport, as well as the early center of Prince William County’s’ government, economy, and social activities.

The town’s land mass is now larger than it once was. In fact, where Route 1 runs through the town, that land was once under water, filled with ships loading and unloading cargo.

Over the years, things have changed.

“Due to our harbor silting in, losing buildings due to fires and neglect, and modern development, the town’s landscape has changed dramatically. This makes it difficult for people to instinctively pick up on our historical heritage without further information,” explains Karleen Kovalcik, executive site manager at Historic Dumfries Virginia, Inc.

Reminding people of the town’s past is the reason why Charter Day is so important, and why its held outside the Weems-Botts Museum, home to Parson Weems, George Washington’s biographer who wrote the famous cherry tree “I cannot tell a lie” story, and later home to Benjamin Botts, who served on Vice President Aaron Burr’s treason trial in 1807.

“I love watching the reaction of people who are learning about our history for the first time on a guided tour. If the Weems-Botts Museum wasn’t operating, knowledge of Dumfries’ history will dwindle away,” said Kovalcik.

Dumfries Charter Day is free to attend.