Mayfield Earthwork Fort is one of a series of earthwork fortifications constructed in 1861 by the Confederate Army to defend the Manassas railroad junction. Located between Buckhall and Russia Branch tributaries of the Occoquan River, its strategic high ground and water resources made it advantageous for a fortification.
Today, the 11-acre site includes eight interpretive signs, foundation stone markers of the homestead owned by the Hooe family in the 1700s, and the Hooe family cemetery. After Confederate evacuation of Mayfield in 1862, U.S. troops sporadically occupied the fort until 1864. When U.S. troops first entered the fort, they discovered Quaker guns – logs that were shaped and painted to look like cannons.
The site is open daily from dawn until dusk with no admission fee.
