This photograph is of Aquia Creek near Government Island in Stafford, Virginia. The federal government purchased the island, then known as Wiggington's Island, in 1791. The island served as a quarry for the freestone that was used to build the President's House and the United States Capitol Building. Extensive amounts of freestone were extracted from 1791 to the 1820s. Stone extracted was then transported to Washington, D.C. via Aquia Creek and the Potomac River.