Freestone Point on the Potomac River

The Freestone Point, now a tall bluff overlooking the Potomac River, has seen a lot of fighting during the Civil War, shipping of goods, and even entertainment in the form of a casino.

“At the point of the rock,” or Freestone Point, was the translation of the American Indian word Neabsco. Neabsco is an actual road today leading to the Leesylvania State Park. The word describes the land known as Freestone Point. In 18^th century maps Freestone Point is indicated as a landmark to river pilots who navigated the Potomac.

During Colonial times Freestone Point was quarried of sandstone which was easily cut and transported on the river as an inexpensive and abundant building material which colonists saw it as “free stone,” hence the name.

Henry Lee and Lucy Grymes Lee used such sandstone as foundation for their manor house and other buildings when they established the Leesylvania Plantation around 1750. (Museum Archives)

The Leesylvania Plantation was located on lands between the Neabsco and Powells Creeks and was used primarily to grow tobacco. The Lee family used fifty-five slaves to grow tobacco from December to September to complete the difficult cultivation process. Ploughing the soil, planting the seeds, watering them and watching them bud, weed them by using a hoe to break the soil, and removing plant pests, was demanding work. After the plants ripened in August, the leaves were cut and hung upside down to dry. After six weeks of drying the leaves were packed into large wooden barrels called hogsheads. These barrels were rolled down the hill to wait for ships to be loaded and sent overseas to the market.

When the river was blockaded during the Civil War, cannons were placed on the bluff, shelling the passing ships below. There is one cannon still positioned in the original location, but it is unclear where this cannon originated.

Gen. Robert E. Lee ordered the blockade of the Potomac River on August 22, 1861. Artillery positions were built along the six-mile-front that would control the sailing channel passage to the Union capital, Washington, D.C. One such position was the land of his ancestral home, Leesylvania, known as Freestone Point.

Freestone Point served as a decoy while the essential batteries were placed down river at Possum Point, Cockpit Point, and Evansport.

The Potomac River channel hosted “A Pacific Paradise on the Potomac” on the S.S. Freestone, a gambling ship, as a recreational resort and casino even though it was illegal to gamble or sell alcohol by the glass in Virginia at that time. The ship was moored in Maryland by what is now the fishing pier. This pier is clearly marked today about 1/3 of the way as Maryland waters. It was not illegal to gamble or sell drinks in Maryland then.

The S.S. Freestone had 200 slot machines on deck, a restaurant on the second deck, and a cocktail lounge on the third deck, decorated in Hawaiian décor with music and dancing. A former steamer, the boat had been turned into a floating casino.

On opening day, July 20, 1957, “live music was provided by Johnny Long and his orchestra, water ballet, water skiing exhibitions, races by sailing craft, fireworks, and a beauty contest to crown the Queen of Freestone Point.”

Walking on the fishing pier today, there is a lot of banter and laughter in Spanish coming from the regular fishermen who come to catch the weekend dinner for their families. Nobody knows the history of the park or the family that donated the land for their enjoyment.