Stone Bridge Over Goose Creek

Built between 1801 and 1803 during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, this bridge is one of the last four-arch stone bridges in Virginia and was the scene of a cavalry and artillery duel on June 21, 1863. There, confederate artillery successfully delayed a Union cavalry advance, which was probing to find Gen. Robert E. Lee's build-up across the Blue Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley, prior to Lee's advance towards Gettysburg. The fight lasted 90 minutes and was the second half of a 4-mile-long running fight which began to the south in Rectortown. The Confederates threw all kinds of shots across the narrow bridge at the Federal troops trying to approach. Portions of Union Cavalry were assigned to ford the creek, but found the terrain rough with deep water and steep banks. Many men and horses died here. It is even thought that a cannon, which was unable to get away, rolled into the creek.

The bridge is an historic landmark in the state of Virginia. Abandoned by the highway department in 1957, the Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club took on the bridge's maintenance and preservation in perpetuity in 1976. In the late 1990s the club successfully campaigned for a federal ISTEA grant to help restore the structure. They formed a "Save the Bridge" charitable organization in order to raise the necessary funds to maintain and preserve the bridge for generations to come.

Local historians will be available to recount the actual battle. Civil War re-enactments, with both Federal and Confederate cavalry, will be ongoing.