About Riverview
For many years called the Armstrong House, Riverview, erected here in 1846, is one of Port Royal’s most spacious homes. This two story house with 9 room fronts on a series of long, steep, terraces leading down to the edge of the Rappahannock River, where formerly a grain warehouse stood for loading grain onto riverboats. One hundred yards out into the river are the remains of a wharf, built in the 19th century where the Lightfoot family moored its boat, the “P.D.Q”. Nearly all riverfront residents maintained wharves such as this a century ago. The pilings of five such wharves can be seen at low tide. Riverview was built as the residence of John Bernard Lightfoot, 1814 – 1888 and his wife Harriett, 1822 – 1871. Members of the Lightfoot family lived here until 1909.
–About Section Courtesy “Hidden Village: Port Royal, Virginia 1744-1981” by Ralph Emmett Fall