Haymarket Real Estate

Haymarket is built on land that used to be hunting grounds of the western Iroquois nations, who came from the New York and Pennsylvania area around the Great Lakes. They used hunting paths through the land until 1722, when they made a treaty with the colonies of Virginia and New York to move into the Blue Ridge Mountain region.

Due to the hunting paths, this location, and later the town, were given the nickname The Crossroads. The town of Haymarket began to be developed and built after the American Revolutionary War, formally founded in 1799 on the land of William Skinker. The Virginia General Assembly gave Skinker the rights to lay out the town, which he drew to consist of 13 streets and 140 lots. Shortly after, a clerk's office and jail were constructed in 1801, as the town had been selected as the site of what is now a district court. The town owed its early development to business and trade associated with the regular court sessions.

In 1807, the Virginia General Assembly abolished the district court in favor of the circuit court system, which established a court at each county seat. Until 1830 the court house remained the focal point of the town, while serving multiple purposes. In 1830, the court house was converted into and deeded as an Episcopal church; in 1833 it was consecrated as St Paul's.

During the Civil War, on November 4, 1862, Union troops invaded Haymarket and set the entire town on fire. Only four buildings survived: three small houses and St. Paul's Church. For the remainder of the war, Haymarket remained mostly uninhabited. A skirmish took place on October 19, 1863, involving the Second Brigade, Second Division, and Fifth Army Corps. Another skirmish took place on June 1863. They both involved Union encounters with the Confederate cavalry. Following General Robert E. Lee's surrender, Haymarket began to recover. Slowly it regained its former prosperity and size.