Aquia crucifix

honoring the Brents - early Virginia Catholics

1930 roadside interpretation

Virginia Barbecue without pig on top

Hampshire porker - too kitschy for Route 1 "sign" in Stafford

(click on images for larger versions)

• Scenic America - Billboard Control: Fighting Visual Pollution
• Bloody Beginning for Catholics in Virginia
• Catholic Diocese of Arlington - History
• St. William of York Parish Rooted in Family History
• Virginia Barbeque
• Virginia Department of Historic Resources
• Virginia Historical Highway Markers
• WPA Guide To The Old Dominion
• 1940 road map of Virginia
• Tour 1 (note Section a. - DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA to FREDERICKSBURG

Topics to Explore

- why was Margaret Brent commemorated on a plaque at Jones Point?
- why are the Brents commemorated with a crucifix at Aquia?
- why was a Catholic colony north of the Potomac River a concern to the Virginia colony?
- how were church and state separated/integrated in colonial Virginia
- was Maryland the first Catholic settlement in the United States?
- why were historical markers first erected on Virginia highways? should state or local taxpayers fund new historical markers?
- what makes a neighborhood "classy"? how does roadway signage or sidewalks impact the "feel" of a neighborhood?