Located just outside today's Martinsville, Virginia, the plantation thrived in tobacco production and textile manufacturing, as well as producing household goods and raising livestock.

The original house was destroyed by fire in 1837 and was rebuilt while owned by George Hairston's son Marshall, whose profile according to family legend was incised on a window of the home when he was struck by lightning.

Through his confession, Hairston discovered a plot to poison himself and neighboring slaveholders, a rebellion that would have been disguised by an expected British attack in the area.

The Hairston family, who had Beaver Creek built, eventually came to control tens of thousands of acres of land in Virginia, North Carolina and elsewhere across the South.

[6][7][8] Ultimately, the fallout from the Civil War, chiefly the emancipation of slaves, put an end to the Hairston's booming business and the family's fortunes dwindled.