Prince William County Historical Society

07/13/2026

A special thank you to those who came out to help clean up Bradley Community Cemetery. In just about an hour and a half we made a huge improvement. Special thanks to Austin, Karen, Jeff, Erin, Colleen, and David. Check out the before and after pictures.

07/10/2026

Volunteer Cemetery Cleanup planned for Sunday afternoon!

The weather this Sunday afternoon is said to be less humid than recently so the Prince William County Historical Society thought it would be a great day to have a cleanup planned at the Bradley Community Cemetery near Manassas/Lake Jackson area. The cemetery wasn't maintained during the recent road construction due to access restrictions so it's in need of work.

Where/When:
Bradley Cemetery near the wild intersection of 234 and the Prince William Parkway. Sunday, July 12th, 3pm. Google map link below.

What will the work entail:
This cleanup will focus on vegetation removal around the gravestones and cemetery. We will be cutting and removing small trees, bushes, and dead limbs that have fallen and taking them to the back part of the fenced in area where there are no graves. There is plenty of room as this is a big parcel. We will not be cleaning any headstones, and there is no headstone work planned such as resetting or foundation improvements. We will talk about the cemetery and share common cemetery information such as traditions, common layouts, different monument styles, where they came from and who carved them, plus more. You may stay as long or as little as you'd like but it's not expected to go past 6pm. You are welcome to bring a chair and watch if you'd like.

What to wear:
It’s best to cover as much of your skin as you can. It’s recommended that you wear a long pants, long sleeve shirt, work boots, gloves, a hat, and sunglasses or safety glasses. Ear plugs or sound reducing headphones are recommended as loud power tools will be used.

What to bring:
The Cemetery work is focused on removal of vegetation so if have saws, either gas, electric, or hand saws that you’re comfortable with using, it would be great if you could bring them. Gloves if you have a pair. Water and snacks for yourself but we will have some there. Even if you have no tools there will be plenty of fallen sticks to pick up and move.

It's best to use this link for directions as the address does not bring you to the gravel driveway. There is plenty of parking along the gravel driveway or at the top. Please park similar to others in an organized way if possible.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/YT5ei82m2fJTwGMZ7

Learn more about the cemetery at https://pwchs.org/cemeteries/cemeteries-in-pwc/bradley-cemetery.html

The picture above/below was taken today at Bradley Cemetery.

06/24/2026

Hey everyone!

I wanted to share something I've been working on.

Over the past several months, I've been building a genealogy business in the Manassas/Prince William area, that I hope will eventually grow into a meaningful "after retirement" career. I've invested a lot of time and effort into creating my website and page, and I'd love for anyone who is interested to follow along on this journey with me.

I have recently received my Certificate of Genealogical Research from Boston University. I am continuing my education and with classes at the International Institute of Genealogy Studies, and I am also a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

I'll be posting genealogy tips, family history content, research stories, and other related topics. One of the things I'm most excited about is creating fun engagement posts that encourage people to share their own family stories and experiences.

I know folks in this group aren’t necessarily looking to hire someone and that’s ok! Being part of this group is an opportunity to get feedback, suggestions and engagement!

— Laura

**Please delete if this is not allowed. I did not see any rules against it.

03/21/2026

David Cuff is on stage highlighting historic photographs from Prince William County at the Prince William County Office of Historic Preservation’s History Symposium. He kicked off the session with an exciting announcement - Historic Prince William is updating its name to Prince William County Historical Society. We’ll be refreshing our content and logo soon, stay tuned!

03/16/2026

We hope to see you Saturday at the Prince William/Manassas History Symposium. If you missed out on a ticket, recordings will be available. Looking forward to a great event!

The 11th Annual Prince William/Manassas History Symposium is officially sold out! We're excited for the program this upcoming Saturday, March 21st when speakers will explore Prince William County's unique past and role throughout the centuries, from the 1776 New York Campaign to the 2002 Beltway Sniper attacks.

If you missed out on a ticket to the Symposium but are interested in the lectures, don't worry: each lecture will be recorded and posted later to our YouTube page.

Thank you to City of Manassas Virginia Parks, Culture & Recreation, Historic Prince William, the Prince William Historic Preservation Foundation, and the Prince William County Historical Commission for their continued support of this program.

02/26/2026

What should our new website logo feature?

Next month we plan to change our name to Prince William County Historical Society. This change will normalize our name to match the naming convention of other historical societies in the area, state, and country.

Our current logo is somewhat of a mystery to us. It was drawn decades ago and contains a scene unrelated to Prince William County.

Our new logo will likely have a similar ring around a circle shape with the words "Prince William County Historical Society". Since our great county is the only one named Prince William, Virginia will likely be left out of the logo but will be mentioned on our website and page.

Inside the outer ring could and should be some graphical element that represents our county. Prince William County is diverse in history, geography, people, and architecture. We don't own and property or buildings, all the great structural landmarks in the county are owned by the county government or by private owners and choosing just one would be a disservice to the many others. The county is unique in landscape with the Potomac to the east and Bull Run Mountains to the west but our focus has been more of the human element of history such as buildings, events, places, cemeteries, and people. We do a lot, and would like to and hope to do more with cemeteries. The restoration of decapitated cemeteries is what we really like so it seems fitting to feature a cemetery or headstone in our logo while trying to convey we have many more interests. It's not an easy task to choose.

So, what would you put in the logo of a historical society representing all of Prince William County?

02/06/2026

The Bennett School building next to the county courthouse in Manassas is threatened with demolition by the Prince William County Board of Supervisors. Below is a copy of the letter we sent to the board urging the restoration and reuse of the structure.

01/09/2026

This 1927 photo of the Fire Station in Quantico was taken just 10 years after the military started using the area for training. This photo was sent to us by a gentleman in Michigan. If you happen to find old pictures of Prince William County, we would sure like to see them.