The Stone House , Manassas National Battlefield Park The Stone House , Manassas National Battlefield Park , is a two - story , stone structure in Prince William County , Virginia . It was built as a stop on the Fauquier and Alexandria Turnpike in 1848 , but it achieved its main significance during the American Civil War , when it served as a hospital during the First and Second Battles of Manassas . Today it is owned by the National Park Service as a contributing property to the Manassas National Battlefield Park , which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . Early years . The land on which the Stone House was built was settled during the latter half of the eighteenth century . Wormeley Carter , of Virginia , received the land that would become the Stone House tract from his father in 1801 , but by the time of his death in 1805 , he had sold off much of his land , which by that point had been reduced to just over 1 , 900 acres . The Fauquier and Alexandria Turnpike Company was formed in 1808 with the hope of constructing a road that would stretch 28 miles from Fairfax Court House to Fauquier Court House , both in Virginia . The Company hoped the road would help Alexandria , Virginia , compete with Fredericksburg , Virginia , for trade with Fauquier Court House . Six toll gates were located along the route , each about five miles apart . Once the construction began in 1812 , it would take a total of sixteen years for the road to reach all the way to Fauquier Court House , which by then was known as Warrenton . It was soon realized that stops along the Warrenton Turnpike would be needed . Wormeley ' s son Thomas Otway Carter inherited the tract but there is little indication he added anything to it . The first record of the existence of a structure on the property appeared on a tax return for the year 1830 , after Thomas Carter had sold 148 acres of land and the house on it to John Lee in 1828 . Although no physical descriptions of the Stone House as it appeared at this point exist , it is known that a woman named Mary " Polly " Clark operated a wagon stand at the toll gate there . Travelers who stopped at the Stone House would have been required to pay a toll , and likely also were able to receive food , drink , and possibly lodging . As the century progressed , the Fauquier and Alexandria Turnpike Company ’ s fortune began to dwindle . John Lee died in 1848 and land was bequeathed to Thomas O . Clark , son of Polly Clark . Tax records in 1849 show a significant jump in the value of Clark ’ s property to $ 500 , suggesting the construction of a substantial house . This , coupled with an authoritative statement by Arthur Lee Henry identifying Thomas O . Carter as the builder of the Stone House , indicates the Stone House was built in 1848 . In 1850 the Clarke family sold the property to Henry P . Matthew , who intended to farm the land since it was being used less and less as a stop on the turnpike each year due to competition from the railroads . For the next decade Matthews and his family would live in the Stone House and harvest its land . First Battle of Manassas . During the Battle of First Manassas , which occurred on July 21 , 1861 , Union commander Irvin McDowell planned to flank the Confederate position along Bull Run , which would bring the fighting extremely close to the vicinity of the Stone House . As the battle progressed , a Confederate force that had taken position on Matthews Hill , north of Stone House , was driven back by advancing Federals . The Union force that captured the Stone House area , though , quickly came under fire from Confederate artillery , and coupled with the fact that they were outnumbered by nearby Confederates , the Union troops had to fall back from the house . As the battle wore , on , however , the Stone House came under Union control once again . Between 10 AM and 12 noon , ten Union and six Confederate regiments clashed in the vicinity of the Stone House . As a result 1 , 054 men were wounded during those two hours of fighting . Although the battle eventually shifted away from the Stone House , the property ’ s importance did not diminish . Surgeons and Northern soldiers soon began to seek refuge inside the house . Because the building had strong stone walls , a well in the yard , and was close to the main road back to the hospitals of Washington , D . C , it was an ideal site for a hospital . The Stone House began to fill quickly with soldiers seeking a reprise from the fight . One Union officer noted the muddy dirt floor of the cellar was covered with soldiers . Colonel John S . Slocum , wounded mortally as he led the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry , was carried to the house and treated by Surgeon James Harris of the 1st Rhode Island Infantry . Dr . Harris remained on duty at the Stone House after the retreat and was found there with 21 wounded Union soldiers . The next day , according to an informant , the scene there remained a grisly one : “ In this building were 32 wounded , many of them dreadfully mangled by cannon shot . There was but a single surgeon , and he was young and apparently inefficient . Men lay on the floor with their clotted wounds still undressed . Some had died and not been removed … ” Throughout the rest of the day , the house was constantly under fire as the battle raged on nearby , with some projectiles entering the house and supposedly further wounding a few soldiers . Two flags were placed in the windows of the house to try and identify it as a hospital , but this did not slow down the fire that constantly peppered the structure . The well outside the Stone House served as a continuous comfort to soldiers on both sides as the fight wore on . As the Union line crumbled toward the end of the battle and the Northern Army found itself retreating from the area , the house came under Confederate control once again , and continued to serve as a hospital throughout the rest of the afternoon . After Confederate forces recaptured the house , they found a large number of wounded Union troops , some dead , and 36 men who surrendered as prisoners . Around 100 arms were also found in the house . After the end of fighting , the Stone House continued to be a scene of continued activity . Since it was one of the few buildings on the battlefield located on a major road , it was a busy hospital . A traveler passing by the house commented that the filth inside was so disgusting that he was not capable of staying long . Other visitors to the building noted there were men who had still not been attended to even many days after the battle ended . Eventually , the wounded inside the house were likely taken to Richmond as prisoners of war . Confederate forces continued to occupy the house until March 1862 . It is not known whether Henry Matthews and his wife returned to their home before it was caught in a maelstrom once again . Second Battle of Manassas . In the days leading up to the Second Battle of Manassas , which took between September 28 and 30 , 1862 , passing troops would have seen the house as they took their positions on the old and new battlefield . On the 30th of August , Union General Pope , with his army of about 65 , 000 , was massed in the area of the Stone House and the Dogan House . Once the fighting began , the Stone House was quickly converted to a hospital once again . As one unit charged past the Stone House toward Matthews Hill , they found many wounded and dead , as well as thirty - six men who had sought safety behind the massive stone walls . Federal surgeons marked the building with a flag and treated the wounded throughout the first day of the battle . On the second day of battle the house continued to serve as a hospital . Some Union troops also buried their men in the yard of the Stone House . Two members of the 5th New York Volunteer Infantry , Privates Charles E . Brehm , age 21 , and Eugene P . Geer , age 18 , arrived at the Stone House after being wounded late in the battle , and were taken to an upstairs room . At some point during their stay , both men carved their names into the floorboards of the room they were in . Brehm ’ s carving appears as “ Brehm Aug 30 ” , and Greer , unable to complete his last name , left the carving “ E . P . Ge . ” Brehm survived the war and lived until 1909 ; Geer did not live to see the end of 1862 . The carvings can still be seen to this day Like the previous battle , the Stone House was under Confederate control at the battle ' s conclusion , but unlike the previous year , the captured Union troops in the house were not taken prisoner , but instead paroled . Many of the other Union prisoners on various parts of the battlefield were also taken to the Stone house to be paroled . Five days after the battle began , on September 2 , the last ambulance left the Stone House , and the building had seen its last action of the war . After the war . It is unsure when the Matthews family returned to their home , but in October 1865 , it and the adjacent land were sold to Mary Starbuck . After the Civil War , the tolls from the travelling public provided revenue for its maintenance and the profits of its owners . In 1879 the land was deeded to George Starbuck and his wife Meribah . Two years later the house was sold to Benson Pridemore . The Pridemores partitioned some upper rooms to make room for their children . This was the first major structural change made to the Stone House . Mr . Pridemore also added a front porch , a picket fence , and a barn to the property . In 1902 , following the death of Pridemore , the property was sold to Henry . J . Ayres . In 1904 Ayers added a kitchen and a large back porch to the house . Twentieth century visitors to the battlefield often remember George Ayers as a bright eyed , slender man , usually dressed in riding boots and breeches . Ayers loved horses and dogs , especially colts and bloodhounds . For 45 years he was able to look from the Stone House at the long northwest slope that soldiers had charged on July 21 , 1861 . Following the death of Ayers , the house passed into the possession of his son , George , in 1912 . Photographic evidence indicates that artillery shells were put into the exterior walls sometime after 1912 . Presumably , the artillery shells were placed where the masonry had been damaged during the Civil War . It is likely that George Ayers placed the projectiles in the house . In 1949 , the Stone House was sold to the United States Government . Two major renovation projects took place since then , including re - roofing the structure and installing new electrical and plumbing systems . Present . Although the Stone House is unoccupied today , various tours and interpretive programs take place there as a part of Manassas National Battlefield Park .