Northumberland County, Virginia in the context of "Heathsville, Virginia"

Colonel Thomas Lee (c. 1690 – November 14, 1750) was a planter and politician in colonial Virginia, and a member of the Lee family, a political dynasty. Lee became involved in politics in 1710, serving in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, and also held important positions as Naval Officer for the Northern Potomac Region and agent for the Northern Neck Proprietary. After his father died, Lee inherited thousands of acres of land as well as enslaved people in then-vast Northumberland and Stafford Counties in Virginia as well as across the Potomac River in Charles County, Maryland. These properties were developed as tobacco plantations. Northumberland County was later subdivided, so some of Lee's properties were in present-day Fairfax, Fauquier, Prince William, and Loudoun counties and counties in the present-day Northern Neck of Virginia.

When Lee married Hannah Harrison Ludwell in 1722, he benefited from the connections of the already established Harrison family of Virginia. A year later, he would become a member of the House of Burgesses. Arson destroyed Lee's home, he used money from Caroline of Ansbach and Britain to build Stratford Hall overlooking the Potomac River. Four years later, in 1733, he was appointed to the Governor's Council, the upper house of the General Assembly. In 1747, he founded the Ohio Company of Virginia with fellow Virginian colonists who wished to expand Virginia's territory into the Ohio River Valley. For less than a year, in 1749 until his death in 1750, Lee served as the de facto royal governor of Virginia in place of the absent William Gooch.

The Northern Neck is the northernmost of three peninsulas (traditionally called "necks" in Virginia) on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay in the Commonwealth of Virginia (along with the Middle Peninsula and the Virginia Peninsula). The Potomac River forms the northern boundary of the peninsula; the Rappahannock River demarcates it on the south. The land between these rivers was formed into Northumberland County in 1648, prior to the creation of Westmoreland County and Lancaster County.

The Northern Neck encompasses the following Virginia counties: Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland; it had a total population of 50,158 as of the 2020 census.

U.S. Route 360 (US 360) is a spur route of US 60. The U.S. Highway runs 225.3 miles (362.6 km), entirely within the state of Virginia, from US 58 Business, Virginia State Route 293 (SR 293), and SR 360 in Danville east to SR 644 in Reedville. US 360 connects Danville, South Boston, Keysville and Burkeville in Southside Virginia with the state capital of Richmond. The highway connects Richmond with Tappahannock on the Middle Peninsula and the eastern Northern Neck, where it serves as the primary route through Northumberland County. US 360 is a four-lane divided highway for almost all of its length.