Ben Lomond Historic Site

Originally part of an extensive Northern Virginia land grant, the site of Ben Lomond was one of numerous plantations that Robert “Councillor” Carter III owned in Colonial Virginia. After Carter died his large land-holdings were divided amongst his heirs. One, Benjamin Tasker Chinn, inherited the site of Ben Lomond in 1830 and within two years had built the two story main house along with the dairy, smokehouse, and slave quarter. Chinn leased the property out the Pringle family prior to the Civil War. Both the Chinns and Pringles used their enslaved workforce to farm corn and wheat and to care for the nearly 500 Merino sheep that were part of the property.   Immediately after the Battle of 1st Manassas the house was converted into a Confederate field hospital. For nearly a month wounded soldiers were crammed into the house with many more covering the grounds. Confederate troops encamped near the house in the winter, requiring the house to be re-established as a hospital treating diseased men. After the Confederates evacuated the area in 1862, Federal soldiers ransacked the house, destroying furniture and decorating the interior with graffiti.