[2][3] The homestead was constructed in the 1840s by James "Gentleman Jim" Robinson, an African American, on land he purchased from local planter John Lee.

As was common throughout the United States at that time, Lee owned land and slaves, including Jim's wife and children.

[citation needed] Around the same time Jim established his own roadhouse on the Warrenton Turnpike, the main road from Washington, D.C. to Richmond, Virginia, the capital of what would become the Confederacy.

[7] This was a prime location that would make him one of the wealthiest African Americans in the Manassas area, but would also bring the Civil War right into his front yard.

His forces held the line on one side of the Robinson House as the Union troops attempted to overcome their stiff opposition.

After securing the house Jim attempted to reunite with his family, but was caught in the crossfire of the battle and had to take shelter under a bridge over Young's Branch of the Bull Run River until hostilities ceased.

[11] In sworn testimony before the Southern Claims Commission, Gentleman Jim described how following the battle, troops raided his farm in search of food and supplies, causing more than $2,000 in damages.

Jim's testimony, as well as that of the witnesses called in regarding his case, offered up valuable insights into the military maneuvers of the Union and Confederate troops.

In the claim Jim and his neighbors detail how Union troops took food, livestock, fence posts, and goods from his house.

According to available census records, he moved in with his mother and other family members as the head of the Robinson clan, until his death in 1904.

Even before the First Battle of Bull Run some of the other homes in the area, such as the Carter mansion at Pittsylvania, had been abandoned and fallen into disrepair.

Robinson House managed to remain intact in spite of its location in the center of heavy gunfire and artillery barrages.

[2][3] The National Park Service, in accordance with their current guidelines, has no plans to rebuild the structure, but they did conduct an archeological dig on the property, which resulted in the publication of the most significant document on the house and the family that owned and occupied it from pre-Civil War days into the early 20th century.