{"nrhp_refnum":"70000815","name":"Custis Tombs","other_names":["Custis cemetery at Arlington"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"NW of jct. of Rtes. 644 and 645","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cheapside","county":"Northampton County","state":"VA","lat":37.22902328200007,"lon":-76.00355462299996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1970-04-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Other"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small colonial family burial ground near Cheapside on the south bank of Old Plantation Creek, Northampton County, Virginia, containing two surviving tombs of the Custis family within an iron fence, on about one acre.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it one of the most significant unexcavated colonial sites in Virginia, tied to the prominent Custis family and the original Arlington seat on the Eastern Shore. The marble tomb of John Custis IV is a finely carved, well-preserved and signed example of 18th-century funerary sculpture with a rare skull motif.","narrative":"Two tombs mark what remains of the Custis family burial ground on the south bank of Old Plantation Creek, near Cheapside in Northampton County. A poured concrete platform and a high iron fence, set in a grove of trees, surround them. One is a limestone slab on a low brick base for Major General John Custis (1630-1696), who came to Virginia around 1650 and established his seat, Arlington, on the Eastern Shore. The other is the box-like marble tomb of his grandson John Custis IV, with a pyramidal top, drapery carving, a family crest and a skull set within a shield. It is signed by William Colley of London and is notably well preserved. The family's descendants include the wife of Robert E. Lee and Martha Washington's grandchildren, and the name Arlington later passed to the National Cemetery. The site is regarded as one of Virginia's most significant unexcavated colonial sites.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"William Colley of Fenchurch Street, London (maker of the John Custis IV tomb)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition marked deteriorated; tombs unaltered and on original site; open to the public without restriction.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.804693-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/64/6822/41682264/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/70000815.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000815/410867d9a3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000815/410867d9a3-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"James Shelton32","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Custis_IV_tomb_J.S.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">James Shelton32</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Custis_IV_tomb_J.S.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682264","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custis_Tombs","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15212221"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/northampton-county/custis-tombs-70000815/"}