Weems-Botts House
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Why it's listed
Perched on a hill above Main Street in Dumfries, Virginia, this small frame house grew in four stages between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. Its oldest part is a brick-nogged, story-and-a-half room on a slate foundation, a type unusual in Virginia. Mason Locke Weems, a bookseller, bought the lot in 1798 and probably built this section as a bookshop and temporary lodging. Much of his short biography of George Washington was likely written here. In 1802 the property passed to Benjamin Botts, a criminal lawyer on the team defending Aaron Burr, who used it as a law office. Botts and his wife died in the 1811 Richmond theater fire, and his sons later repurchased the property. A larger mid-nineteenth-century section was added, followed by a kitchen ell, a west wing and a porch in the twentieth century. The Merchant family owned it from 1869 to 1968. The Town of Dumfries acquired it in 1974, and it is being restored as a museum.
Significance in brief: The building is tied to two prominent early Virginians: Mason Locke (Parson) Weems, the bookseller and author of a popular Washington biography, and lawyer Benjamin Botts, who helped defend Aaron Burr. It is one of the few early structures surviving in the Potomac port town of Dumfries. Its earliest section is a fine example of a small late-eighteenth-century commercial building and an unusual true story-and-a-half type for Virginia.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 75002029, listed May 12, 1975. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | SW corner of Duke and Cameron Sts., Dumfries |
|---|---|
| County | Prince William County |
| Listed | May 12, 1975 |
| Reference number | 75002029 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 18th and 19th centuries (boxes checked for 18th and 19th Century) |
| Architectural style | Vernacular |
| Areas of significance | Literature, Law, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Owned by the Town of Dumfries since 1974 and leased to a preservation group undergoing restoration as a museum; condition listed as good, with preservation work in progress. |
| Acreage | 1.6 |
| Coordinates | 38.56844, -77.32917 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 75002029.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7979567
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.