About 600 million years ago, when most of what became the eastern United States (including Virginia) was covered by a shallow sea, volcanic activity left a basin-like topographic feature which contains the only mineral deposit of consequence in the area, vermiculite.

[4] That volcanic feature led to a heavy clay soil that retains plant nutrients and moisture, creating an open landscape suitable for farming.

[6] While early plans suggested that payroll alone at the site would add $2 million annually to the local economy, opponents circulated drawings showing that the cellblocks surrounded by a 30 foot security fence and guarded by a 60-foot control tower would become an environmental eyesore, quite unlike the historic Rotunda at the University of Virginia a half hour's drive away and shown dwarfed in the corner as a scale model.

[15] Nonetheless, on March 30, 1973, Governor Holton announced the prison construction would proceed, since nearly half of the land in the district (especially the 1000 acres now owned by Richard Purcell and other parcels held by owners who hoped for vermiculite royalties discussed below) was not subject to the checkerboard of conservation easements.

Morton (a Kentucky-born former Maryland congressman and chairman of the Republican National Committee) wrote the term-limited Governor Holton criticizing the proposed prison's location.

[17] The Richmond Mercury published a cartoon entitled "Holton's Vietnam" (showing the governor opening his shirt LBJ-style to display an outline of Louisa County with the prison location starred), echoing a Washington Post editorial.

Following the Grace donation to Historic Green Springs in 1993, Virginia Vermiculite filed a lawsuit alleging that was an antitrust violation, although others considered the litigation a SLAPP.

Neighbors soon realized three large wells were being drilled, with the water to be pumped to Zion Crossroads to support a housing development and golf course.

However, Colonial Pipeline proceeded with site work, and in 2016 its bulldozers unearthed artifacts and human remains, long before notifying the Monacans (who with three other Virginia tribes finally achieved federal recognition in 2018).