Evelynton was the site of fierce Civil War skirmishes in 1862, when General George McClellan waged his destructive Peninsula Campaign; J.E.B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson and John Pelham bravely led the Southern offensive in the Battle of Evelynton Heights. The original was burned during that fight, and the current residence was erected two generations later by Edmund Ruffin's great grandson, John Augustine Ruffin, Jr. and his wife Mary Ball Saunders. The architect who completed a brilliant restoration of Carters Grove in Williamsburg, designed the Georgian Revival manor house in 1937. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 2,500-acre farm is still family owned and operated.
