1400 Morgan Ford Road
Front Royal, Virginia 22630
Directions from Stone Bridge to site 19:
- Continue south on Sugar Hill Rd for 1.8 mile
- Turn left onto Ashby Station Rd and continue for 1 mile
- Turn right onto Milldale Rd (This will eventually turn into Morgan Ford Rd)
- Drive for 3.2 miles and cross the bridge
- The boat ramp/parking area will be on the right
- Visitors are encouraged to pull off into the boat ramp parking to read the three waysides standing to one side
Leeds Town, also known as Smoke Town, was established sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century and was located south of the Morgan’s Ford crossing of the Shenandoah River. In 1791, Robert Carter III, who owned a significant amount of land in this area, began the gradual emancipation of his enslaved labor force of nearly 500 persons. This process continued after his death in 1804. Carter’s actions led to the creation of one of the earliest Freed Black communities in Virginia, as many formerly enslaved people settled in or around Leeds Town/Smoke Town. Census records from the decades after Carter’s death confirm the presence of a large number of emancipated African Americans continuing to live in the community. Nothing remains of the community, although recent archaeological investigations have confirmed the site of several dwellings in the general area.
