 The land upon which Literary Hall was established was originally part of the Northern Neck Proprietary , a 5 @,@ 000 @,@ 000 @-@ acre ( 20 @,@ 000 km2 ) land grant that Charles II of England awarded to seven of his supporters in 1649 and renewed by an official patent in 1688 . One of these seven supporters , Thomas Colepeper , 2nd Baron Colepeper , acquired the entire area in 1681 ; his grandson , Thomas Fairfax , 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron , inherited it in 1719 . 
