Four Mile Tree Plantation

This plantation derived its name from a tree on the place located precisely four miles from Jamestown. In 1619, "the four mile tree" served as Jamestown's western boundary. Capt. Henry Browne built a plantation of at least 2400 acres on the site in 1637, during the reign of King Charles I. It served as the headquarters of the influential Browne family through William Browne's death in 1799.

Four Mile Tree is located on the James River a short distance upstream from the old village of Cobham at the mouth of Gray's Creek. The surviving brick, 1.5-story house was built about 1745. According to Surry County historian Aurelius Wilson Bohannan, during the War of 1812, the British sale ships up the James River and stopped at Four Mile Tree. A company of Surry County Militia soon engaged the British, killing or wounding several and driving them off. During the Civil War, Federal gunboats reportedly shelled the plantation, with one of their shells exploding in the house.