"The Estate of Secretary Nelson," April 26, 2019

"A Very Handsome House," Secretary Nelson's Mansion and Yorktown Estate

Please join the Yorktown Preservation Society and the York County Historical Museum on Friday, April 26, 2019 for a lecture about the estate of Sec. Nelson, at 2:00pm in York Hall. This in not Governor Nelson’s home that many of us are familiar with!

Beginning in ca. 1744, Secretary Thomas Nelson (1716-1788) transformed a 15-acre tract on the east side of Yorktown into a conspicuous Georgian estate atop the highest elevation in Yorktown. Historical research, architectural analysis, and archaeological investigations reveal that Secretary Nelson transformed his estate during several decades before it was destroyed in the siege of Yorktown in 1781 when Lord Cornwallis initially selected the mansion to serve as his first headquarters. This presentation will focus on the transformation of the house and landscape into a symmetrical Georgian estate and a symbol by one of Virginia’s leading colonial authorities as well as its destruction in the siege of Yorktown.

Presented by Hank D. Lutton, an archaeologist and historian with twenty years of professional experience. He is a Registered Professional Archaeologist who specializes in historical archaeology, particularly the artifacts, lifeways, and landscapes of the colonial and Early Republic periods. He has directed major urban excavations in Yorktown, Hampton, and Williamsburg, Virginia where he investigated town formation and urbanization from the late seventeenth century onward. Hank has worked as a curator at Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville, West Virginia for the past three years. Prior to that he was a project archaeologist at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and James River Institute for Archaeology. As an undergrad at George Washington University, he majored in political science and minored in history and literature. Hank received a MA in historical archaeology from the College of William and Mary’s Anthropology Department. He was a Presidential Teaching Fellow in the Archaeology Department at Boston University while enrolled in the doctoral program. Hank has had a life-long fascination with the past, especially the built environment, landscapes, and the First World War.

Sponsored by the Yorktown Preservation Society and the York County Historical Museum.  This event is free and open to the public.  #yorkcountyvamuseum. #yorkcountyhistoricalmuseum. #visityorktown  

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