Morattico is an
unincorporatedIn law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
former post office town along the
Rappahannock RiverThe Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length. It traverses the entire northern part of the state, from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west, across the Piedmont, to the Chesapeake Bay, south of the Potomac River.An important river in American...
in
Lancaster CountyAs of the census of 2000, there were 11,567 people, 5,004 households, and 3,412 families residing in the county. The population density was 87 people per square mile . There were 6,498 housing units at an average density of 49 per square mile...
,
VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It sits across Morattico Creek from
Belle Isle State ParkBelle Isle State Park is located in Lancaster County, Virginia, on the Rappahannock River. It sits between Deep Creek and Morattico Creek and is currently under public ownership. The park has an area of and has facilities for fishing, boating and picnics....
. "Morattico" is an anglicized version of "Moraughticund", the name of a
Native AmericanThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
tribe whose primary village may have been on or near this site. In 1608, Captain John Smith mediated a feud between the Moraughticunds and their neighbors, the
Rappahannock tribeThe Rappahannock are one of the eleven state-recognized Native American tribes in Virginia. They are made up of descendants of several small Algonquian-speaking tribes who merged in the 17th century.-17th century:...
.
By 1706 the site had been purchased by Joseph Ball I, who began building a house which became known as Morattico Plantation, or simply Morattico.
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