The Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation placed a permanent open-space easement on Red Hill, the home of Patrick Henry, the first Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The easement resulted in 600-acres being preserved through the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. The conservation easement is intended to protect the historic and open space qualities of the property, fund additional interpretation of existing historic elements while enabling the installation of several new historic interpretive elements. The preservation of Patrick Henry’s Red Hill was made possible through the partnership of the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation, the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation, Virginia Outdoors Foundation, and Beechtree Group with funding from the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation and Preservation Trust Fund.
Red Hill is open to the public 362 days per year, providing substantial outreach and education to both youth and adults and receives over 10,000 visitors each year. Patrick Henry’s Red Hill provides visitors with opportunities to experience the property from the perspective of its previous inhabitants. Red Hill contains the home, law office, and burial site of Patrick Henry. The property also includes significant archaeological resources and a cemetery for enslaved and free African Americans, including life stories from families of those who are buried in the cemetery.
The property also has important ecological significance, containing prime farmland, contributing to the Virginia Natural Land Network which allows unrestricted movement of wildlife, and runs along a segment of the Staunton State Scenic River. The easement placed on Red Hill gives the land a permanent voice.
