The property that George Weedon and Hugh Mercer — brothers-in-arms and, later, brothers-in-law — purchased on what is now Caroline Street in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1764 was well positioned, within sight of the Rappahannock River and George Washington’s childhood home at Ferry Farm beyond. After the American Revolution and Mercer’s death, Weedon built what is known today as the “Sentry Box,” a large two-story building that drew from Federal, Georgian, Greek Revival, and Colonial Revival architecture on the property. During the Civil War, the house witnessed the Battle of Fredericksburg in late 1862.

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