William Kirk was a Scottish immigrant believed to have been a pirate before settling near New Baltimore in Fauquier County in the late 1700s. He led a secluded life on his farm, now known as Snow Hill Farm. However, before his death in 1780, he is said to have buried a stash of nearly $60,000 in gold and silver coins somewhere on the farm’s 386-acres. He went to his grave telling no one, not even his wife, of the treasure’s location.
About a hundred years after his death, a tenant farmer on the land found a crock of English guineas and Spanish pieces of eight and a few weeks later, bought his own farm for $8,000 in cash, despite claiming that there had only been a few coins in the crock. The remainder of the treasure remains hidden to this day.
