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Fort Mattapony

King and Queen County, US

Fort Mattapony

Fort Mattapony/Ryefield is a historic archaeological site located near Walkerton, King and Queen County, Virginia. The Fort Mattapony/Ryefield archeological sites, which has been dated archeologically to the fourth quarter of the 17th century, are located in a one-acre area on prominent grassy hillt

op overlooking the Mattaponi River, Walkerton and Locust Grove. Collectively designated 44KQ7 in Virginia's official inventory of archeological sites, the site consists of two closely associated components, the Fort Mattapony storehouse and a domestic structure called Ryefield. After abandonment of the fort at the close of the 17th century and the domestic structure by the mid-18th century, a later colonial plantation, Locust Grove, developed in the surrounding area, which continues to be occupied by descendants. The land on which the Fort Mattapony/Ryefield archaeological sites are located was first patented by Edward Digges in 1653. Digges, who shortly thereafter became Governor of Virginia, deserted his patent, and in 1665 it was granted to Lt. Colonel Thomas Walker, in whose family it has remained ever since. Both Digges' and Walker's patents refer to the 2,300 acre grant as the 'Mattapony...

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