Belle Grove Plantation enlivens Valley history in a graceful, elegant way

Out of all the many historic attractions in the Shenandoah Valley there is nothing to experience quite like Belle Grove Plantation. Since 1797, the Federal-style, limestone manor house has held a commanding presence at the center of an open, rolling meadow that rolls before three distinct mountain ranges and forms the southern end of the Cedar Creek Civil War Battlefield. It's part of the Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park.

The American legacy of Belle Grove begins with the couple that built it. Issac Hite, Jr. was an American Revolutionary War soldier and a grandson of one of the Valley's original European settlers, Jost Hite. His wife, Nelly, was James Madison's sister. A Madison family friend by the name of Thomas Jefferson helped design the manor house. Jefferson's touches are unmistakably recognizable.

Early 19th century plantation life there epitomized the “good life” of the time, even after Nelly Hite passed away in 1802. James Madison had honeymooned there. Issac Hite was an energetic renaissance man who held patents on a number of inventions and loved experimenting with progressive farming techniques. Hite's second wife, Ann Maury Hite, help him fulfill his dream of carving out a piece of what was then the American Frontier. As the Civil War literally swarmed up to Belle Grove's doorstep, the idyllic and industrious period of Antebellum prosperity abruptly ended.