Mission Statement:
The Mission of the Harry Z. Issac Foundation, Inc. is to preserve, restore and manage the house, gardens and furnishings of Historic Long Branch and Virginia to the highest standards; to educate people about the history of Long Branch, Virginia and its greater community, and to serve as a center for cultural activities in the region.

History:

Long Branch was built around 1805 by Robert Carter Burwell, a member of a group of descendants of Tidewater tobacco planters who moved to the Shenandoah Valley at the end of the eighteenth century. Settling on land granted to mem in 1730 by an ancestor, Robert 'King" Carter, they built large and well-appointed houses and raised tobacco and wheat with slave labor. This new plantation society revolved around the village of Millwood, with its store, blacksmith's shop and gristmill.

Ivobert Carter Burwell consulted Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the noted architect of the U.S. Capitol, as he drew up plans for his new home on a rise above the Long Branch creek, "Whether Burwell was able to finish the house and live mere is not known; he led a company ofmilitia to fight in the War of 1812 and died of disease at a camp near Norfolk in September 1813.
   
In his will, Burwell left Long Branch to his sister and brother-in-law, Sarah and Philip Nelson. Philip Nelson was a son of Thomas Nelson Jr., signer of the Declaration of Independence and governor of Virginia during the Revolutionary War; Philip Nelson was a vestryman, justice of the peace and owned up to 33 slaves. He and his wife raised a large family and operated a girl's school at Long Branch.

In 1842 Nelson sold Long Branch to his nephew, Hugh Mortimer Nelson and his wife, Adelaide Holker Nelson. They renovated the house, adding Greek Revival porticos, a spiral staircase, and intricate woodwork in the parlors. They were known for hospitality, and among their many guests was the novelist and historian Washington Irving. They had two children, Hugh Nelson Jr. and Nannie Nelson.

Hugh Nelson represented Clarke County during Virginia's Secession Convention, and at the outbreak of the Civil War he raised a company of Confederate cavalry. His unit was assigned to the flamboyant J.E.B. Stuart, but when Nelson failed to win re- election to his command, he became an aide to General Richard B. Ewell. Nelson served in the 1862 Valley Campaign and the Seven Days battles near Richmond before he became sick and died in August 1862.