Tidewater lies east of the fall line of the Virginia rivers that flow into the Chesapeake--a definition that dates back to colonial times. Much of what we know of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Tidewater comes from the writings of Captain John Smith, William Byrd II and Thomas Jefferson. The Virginia of Smith, Byrd and Jefferson remains, in part, our Virginia. Geography and place names are largely the same. Their accounts of what they saw, where they traveled, what's in bloom and what's ready for harvest will sound very familiar. Read their words, paired with photographer and author Bryan Hatchett's stunning photographs of Tidewater landscapes and landmarks, and experience the continuity as well as the change that time has brought to this very special place.

This is simple story of the old homes on the Rappahannock River. The pioneer Rappahannock planter built his home not only for today and tomorrow, but for the day after tomorrow, and for the great, great grandchildren of his children. Many of these sturdy mansions have been victims of calamitous misfortune, and are no more. Others still feel the thrill of life,-in a greater or lesser degree,-and some of these we will consider. --