Fredericksburg was possibly settled by whites as early as 1622 and certainly by 1681 when Major Lawrence Smith's fort was built, but it was not incorporated by law until 1727. Showing their attachment to England's royal family, the residents named their town after Frederick, Prince of Wales, son of George II, and also named "nearly every street in the original survey of the town after some member of the royal family..." This informative history covers a variety of topics including: home industries; modes of punishment; fires, including one that burned nearly half of the town; mail carrying; the Revolutionary War; the Civil War wherein the town surrendered to the Federal authorities in 1862 but later regained control of their homes; Freedman's Bureau; establishment of public buildings such as the jail, courthouse, town hall, and library; hotels; public works including the telephone company; cemeteries; churches; societies; newspapers and periodicals; and biographical sketches of "some distinguished men buried in Fredericksburg;" and much more. Several of the places discussed and illustrated in this work can still be seen in Fredericksburg: the Rising Sun Tavern, the Mary Washington Monument, and the Sunken Road. An index to full-names, places and subjects completes this work.