Changes to the House

After purchasing 170 acres of land from John Lee in 1840, this is the strucutre which James Robinson built for himself and his family. This is how the house would have appeared in 1861 and 1862 during the Battles of Manassas. 

Expanding the house for the first time in 1871, James Robinson used funds received from the federal government to helpd rebuild and improve his home after the devestation of the Civil War.

There is also a more political reason why James Robinson may have waited until 1871 to improve his home, even though he was a successful farmer. Adept at negotiating the tenuous place of a free African American even before emancipation, Robinson knew how to avoid drawing negative attention to himself. Sharing the hill upon which the Robinson House sat was the home of the Henry family. The Henry's were white and distant relatives of James. James waited until the Henry's expanded their home first before expanding his own. This could have been a survival strategy. 

Adding on a second addition to the house in 1888, this smaller area was likely an enclosed work area that had previously been outside. 

This final rennovation to the house not only added on a second story, but also moved the location of the front porch from facing south to facing north. This suggests that the style of life for the Robinson's had changed, now looking toward the road instead of toward their farm. 

In 1936 the family donated the home and land to the National Park Service. Sadly in 1993 the house was destroyed by fire.