Chesterfield County, Virginia
Encyclopedia
Chesterfield County is a county
County (United States)
In the United States, a county is a geographic subdivision of a state , usually assigned some governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 of the 50 states; Louisiana is divided into parishes and Alaska into boroughs. Parishes and boroughs are called "county-equivalents" by the U.S...

 located in the Commonwealth
Commonwealth (United States)
Four of the constituent states of the United States officially designate themselves Commonwealths: Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia....

 of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, a state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. In 2010, its population was estimated to be 316,236. Chesterfield County is now the fourth-largest municipality in Virginia (behind Fairfax County
Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...

, Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay...

, and Prince William County
Prince William County, Virginia
-National protected areas:* Featherstone National Wildlife Refuge* Manassas National Battlefield Park* Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge* Prince William Forest Park-Government and politics:...

, respectively). Its county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 is Chesterfield
Chesterfield Court House, Virginia
Chesterfield Court House is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP had a total area of .-Demographics:...

 (Courthouse). It is located in the Richmond-Petersburg
Richmond-Petersburg
The Greater Richmond Region is a region located in a central part of the state of Virginia in the United States. As of 2010, it had a population of 1,258,251, making it the 43rd largest MSA in the country...

 region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Much of the northern portion of Chesterfield County accounts for what is referred to as Metropolitan Richmond's "South Side"
Southside (Richmond, Virginia)
The Southside of Richmond is an area of the Metropolitan Statistical Area surrounding Richmond, Virginia. It generally includes all portions of the City of Richmond which lie south of the James River, and includes all of the former city of Manchester...

.

Part of Henrico Cittie, Henrico Shire, Henrico County

During the early 17th century, shortly after the settlement pf Jamestown
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...

 in 1607, English settlers and explorers began settling other areas. One of the more progressive developments in the colony was Henricus
Henricus
The "Citie of Henricus" — also known as Henricopolis or Henrico Town or Henrico — was a settlement founded by Sir Thomas Dale in 1611 as an alternative to the swampy and dangerous area around the original English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia...

, founded under the guidance of Sir Thomas Dale. It was to include a college to help educate Virginia Indians, as well as the children of settlers.
Dale was accompanied by men known as the "Hammours". These veterans of the Low Country wars were heavily armed and better trained than settlers of Jamestown.

Dale wrote about the site: "Eighty miles up our river from Jamestown, I have surveyed a convenient, strong, healthie and sweete site to plant a new towne (according as I had instructions upon my departure) there to build whence might be removed the principal site."
Today known as Farrars Island, the site was on a neck of land with 5000 acres (20.2 km²) and a shoreline of seven miles (11 km) on the James River. The English settlers soon built a palisade
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...

 and moat-like ditch to protect entrance to the 174 yards (159.1 m) wide neck from the shore area.

Dale named the new settlement Henricus in honor of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales
Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales
Henry Frederick Stuart, Prince of Wales was the elder son of King James I & VI and Anne of Denmark. His name derives from his grandfathers: Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and Frederick II of Denmark. Prince Henry was widely seen as a bright and promising heir to his father's throne...

, the elder son of King James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

. When finished in 1619, "Henricus Citie" contained three streets of well-framed houses, a church, storehouses, a hospital, and watchtowers. 1619 was a watershed year for the Virginia Colony. Henrico and three other large citties (sic) were formed, one of which included what is now Chesterfield County. That year Falling Creek Ironworks
Falling Creek Ironworks
Falling Creek Ironworks was the first iron production facility in North America. It was established by the Virginia Company of London in Henrico Cittie on Falling Creek near its confluence with the James River. It was short-lived due to an attack by Native Americans in 1622.The long-lost site was...

, the first in what is now the United States, was established slightly west on the creek near its confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...

 with the James River
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...

. In the Indian Massacre of 1622
Indian massacre of 1622
The Indian Massacre of 1622 occurred in the Colony of Virginia, in what now belongs to the United States of America, on Friday, March 22, 1622...

, Native Americans destroyed Henrico City and the ironworks to try to drive away the English. These were not rebuilt. The colony did not gain a college until 1693, when the College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...

 was awarded a royal charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...

 in the capital.

In 1634, the King of England directed the formation of eight shire
Shire
A shire is a traditional term for a division of land, found in the United Kingdom and in Australia. In parts of Australia, a shire is an administrative unit, but it is not synonymous with "county" there, which is a land registration unit. Individually, or as a suffix in Scotland and in the far...

s (or counties) in the colony of Virginia. One of these was Henrico County
Henrico County, Virginia
Henrico is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. As of 2010, Henrico was home to 306,935 people. It is located in the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, which incorporated a large area on both sides of the James River.

Chesterfield County formed

On 25 May 1749, the Virginia House of Burgesses separated Chesterfield from Henrico County and created the new county. The first county seat was established at Chesterfield Court House
Chesterfield Court House, Virginia
Chesterfield Court House is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP had a total area of .-Demographics:...

. It has continued as county seat except for 1870–1876, during Reconstruction, when the county government was located at Manchester
Manchester, Virginia
Manchester, Virginia is a former independent city in Virginia in the United States. Prior to receiving independent status, it served as the county seat of Chesterfield County, between 1870 and 1876...

. The latter community has been subsumed by South Richmond.

The legislature named the county for the former British Secretary of State
Secretary of State (United Kingdom)
In the United Kingdom, a Secretary of State is a Cabinet Minister in charge of a Government Department ....

, Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield PC KG was a British statesman and man of letters.A Whig, Lord Stanhope, as he was known until his father's death in 1726, was born in London. After being educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, he went on the Grand Tour of the continent...

. Lord Chesterfield was famous for his "good manners and writings". One of his most frequently used sayings implies avoiding rudeness; "An injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult." Many years later, Chesterfield Cigarettes were named after this county.

In 1939 during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

, the Virginia State Police
Virginia State Police
Virginia State Police is a state agency, conceived in 1919 and established in 1932, that acts as the state police force for the Commonwealth of Virginia. The agency originated out of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles as an inspector and enforcer of highway laws...

 moved their offices from downtown Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

 to a seven-room farmhouse located on 65 acres (263,045.9 m²) of land 3½ miles west on route 60. This structure served as administrative headquarters and barracks. The State Police have since built a new administrative headquarters and an academy here.

Early ports, coal, roads, turnpikes and railroads

Prior to the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

, a thriving port town named Warwick
Warwick, Virginia (Chesterfield County)
Warwick was an unincorporated town and port in Chesterfield County, Virginia, located on the navigable portion of the James River about 5 miles south of downtown Richmond, Virginia...

 was located at the northwestern confluence of Falling Creek and the James River. It was destroyed during that war, and not rebuilt. (Near the present-day DuPont
DuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...

 facility at Ampthill
Ampthill
Ampthill is a small town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, between Bedford and Luton, with a population of about 6,000. It is administered by Central Bedfordshire Council. A regular market has taken place on Thursdays for centuries.-History:...

, the site is not open to the public.) Another early port town was Port Walthall
Port Walthall
Port Walthall was located on the north bank of the Appomattox River in Chesterfield County, Virginia, a few miles upriver from its confluence with the James River at City Point....

 on the north shore of the Appomattox River
Appomattox River
The Appomattox River is a tributary of the James River, approximately long, in central and eastern Virginia in the United States, named for the Appomattocs Indian tribe who lived along its lower banks in the 17th century...

, near the current Point-of-Rocks Park.

Coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

 mining in the Midlothian
Midlothian, Virginia
Midlothian is an unincorporated community in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. Founded over 300 years ago as a coal mining village, it is now a suburban community located in the Southside of Richmond well beyond the city limits of Richmond in the Richmond–Petersburg region.It was named...

 area of Chesterfield County began in the 18th century. Around 1701, French Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...

 settlers to the area discovered coal. In a 1709 diary entry William Byrd II
William Byrd II
Colonel William Byrd II was a planter, slave-owner and author from Charles City County, Virginia. He is considered the founder of Richmond, Virginia.-Biography:...

, the wealthy planter who had purchased 344 acres (1.4 km²) of land in the area, noted that "the coaler found the coal mine very good and sufficient to furnish several generations." Commercially mined beginning in the 1730s, the coal fueled the production of cannon at Westham (near the present Huguenot Memorial Bridge
Huguenot Memorial Bridge
Huguenot Memorial Bridge is located in Henrico County and the independent city of Richmond, Virginia. It carries State Route 147 across the former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway , the James River and Kanawha Canal, and the James River in the fall line region above the head of navigation at...

) during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

.

The Manchester Turnpike
Manchester Turnpike
The Manchester Turnpike was a turnpike road in Chesterfield County in the U.S. state of Virginia, and was the first lengthy paved roadway in that state. It stretched from Manchester west to Falling Creek near Midlothian, and is now known as Midlothian Turnpike, mostly forming part of U.S...

 in Chesterfield County, completed in 1807, was the first graveled roadway of any length in Virginia. The toll road
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...

 ran between the coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

 mining area of Midlothian near the headwaters of Falling Creek
Falling Creek
Falling Creek is a tributary of the James River located near Richmond, Virginia. Approximately in length, it varies in width between at its source to several hundred feet in the Falling Creek Reservoir. Falling Creek rises in the Salisbury section of northwestern Chesterfield County and empties...

 and the James River port of Manchester
Manchester, Virginia
Manchester, Virginia is a former independent city in Virginia in the United States. Prior to receiving independent status, it served as the county seat of Chesterfield County, between 1870 and 1876...

. The current Midlothian Turnpike (U.S. Route 60) generally follows the earlier route.

Created in 1816, the Virginia Board of Public Works
Virginia Board of Public Works
The Virginia Board of Public Works was a governmental agency which oversaw and helped finance the development of Virginia's internal transportation improvements during the 19th century. In that era, it was customary to invest public funds in private companies, which were the forerunners of the...

 was a governmental agency which oversaw and helped finance the development of Virginia's internal transportation improvements during the 19th century. In that era, it was customary to invest public funds in private companies, which were the forerunners of the public service and utility companies
Public service company
A public service company is a corporation or other non-governmental business entity which delivers public services - certain services considered essential to the public interest...

 of modern times. Claudius Crozet
Claudius Crozet
Benoit Claudius Crozet was an educator and civil engineer.Crozet was born in France. After serving in the French military, in 1816, he immigrated to the United States. He taught at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and helped found the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington,...

 (1789–1864), a civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...

 and educator who helped found the Virginia Military Institute
Virginia Military Institute
The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are...

 (VMI), was Principal Engineer and later Chief Engineer for the Board of Public Works. He supervised the planning and construction of many of the canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...

s, turnpikes
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...

, bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

s and railroads in Virginia, including the area which is now West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

.

The Board partially engineered and funded new turnpikes, which were operated by private companies to collect tolls
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...

. The Manchester and Petersburg Turnpike, which preceded much of the current Jefferson Davis Highway
Jefferson Davis Highway
The Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway was a planned transcontinental highway in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s that began in Washington, D.C. and extended south and west to San Diego, California; it was named for Jefferson Davis, who, in addition to being the first and only President of...

 (U.S. Routes 1-301), was one of these. A canal was built in the Manchester section of Chesterfield to enable transporting coal around the James River falls. Portions are extant and may be seen near the south end of Richmond's Mayo Bridge. This canal is not as well known as the larger James River and Kanawha Canal
James River and Kanawha Canal
The James River and Kanawha Canal was a canal in Virginia, which was built to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast....

, which was constructed along the north bank at Richmond, and extended many miles to the west.

To improve access to markets, in 1825, a group of mine owners, including Nicholas Mills
Nicholas Mills
Nicholas Mills Sr. was a prominent businessman in Richmond, Virginia. He built a 13 mile tramway known as the Chesterfield Railroad Company to connect the coal pits of Chesterfield County to the James River. He was at one time the owner of the Chesterfield Coal Pits and president of the Tredegar...

, Beverley Randolph and Abraham S. Wooldridge, resolved to build a tramway
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...

. (The Wooldridge brothers hailed from East Lothian
East Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....

 and West Lothian
West Lothian
West Lothian is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire....

 in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, and named their mining company Mid-Lothian, the source of the modern community name). In 1831, the Chesterfield Railroad
Chesterfield Railroad
The Chesterfield Railroad was located in Chesterfield County, Virginia. It was a 13-mile long mule-and-gravity powered line that connected the Midlothian coal mines with wharves that were located at the head of navigation on the James River just below the fall line at Manchester...

 opened as the first railroad in Virginia; it carried coal from mines near Falling Creek to the docks at the fall line on the James River. Later railroad lines connecting these areas included the Richmond and Danville Railroad
Richmond and Danville Railroad
The Richmond and Danville Railroad was chartered in Virginia in the United States in 1847. The portion between Richmond and Danville, Virginia was completed in 1856...

 (R&D) (which put the Chesterfield Railroad out of business) and the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad
Richmond and Petersburg Railroad
Richmond and Petersburg Railroad was a regional railroad serving east-central Virginia. It was strategically important to the Confederacy during the American Civil War, when it provided a vital supply and transportation route in late 1864 and early 1865 for Robert E...

. They were both completed before the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, in which they provided important transportation for Southern supplies and men.

A narrow gauge railroad was constructed through the county: the Farmville and Powhatan Railroad, later renamed the Tidewater and Western Railroad, extended from Farmville
Farmville, Virginia
Farmville is a town in Prince Edward and Cumberland counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 6,845 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Prince Edward County....

 in Prince Edward County
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Prince Edward County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 23,368. Its county seat is Farmville.-Formation and County Seats:...

 to the tiny village of Bermuda Hundred
Bermuda Hundred, Virginia
Bermuda Hundred was the first incorporated town in the English colony of Virginia. It was founded by Sir Thomas Dale in 1613, six years after Jamestown. At the southwestern edge of the confluence of the Appomattox and James Rivers opposite City Point, annexed to Hopewell, Virginia in 1923, ...

 in far eastern Chesterfield. It was a port on the James River near the mouth of the Appomattox River
Appomattox River
The Appomattox River is a tributary of the James River, approximately long, in central and eastern Virginia in the United States, named for the Appomattocs Indian tribe who lived along its lower banks in the 17th century...

, opposite present-day Hopewell. Although long gone, portions of the old rail bed may be seen along Beach Road near the entrance to Pocahontas State Park
Pocahontas State Park
Pocahontas State Park is a state park located in Chesterfield, Virginia, USA, not far from the state capitol of Richmond. The park was laid out by the Civilian Conservation Corps, and at was, at its creation, Virginia's largest state park....

.

After Reconstruction, the R&D became part of the Southern Railway
Southern Railway (US)
The Southern Railway is a former United States railroad. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894...

. It is now part of Norfolk Southern Railway
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...

. The Richmond Petersburg Railroad became part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was an American railroad that existed between 1900 and 1967, when it merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, its long-time rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad...

. In 1900, a mostly parallel line was built by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad
Seaboard Air Line Railroad
The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad whose corporate existence extended from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line...

, with a branch line to Hopewell
Hopewell, Virginia
Hopewell is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 22,591 at the 2010 Census . It is in Tri-Cities area of the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area...

. Through the restructuring of the railroad industry beginning in 1960, the CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...

 system eventually absorbed parts of both these lines.

American Civil War

During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 (1861–1865), Drewry's Bluff became a key defensive point for Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 forces to block the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

's vastly superior Navy from taking Richmond by way of the James River. During the Siege of Petersburg
Siege of Petersburg
The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War...

 (1864–65), a long defensive works through the county was part of the Confederacy's Richmond-Petersburg
Richmond-Petersburg
The Greater Richmond Region is a region located in a central part of the state of Virginia in the United States. As of 2010, it had a population of 1,258,251, making it the 43rd largest MSA in the country...

 line of land defenses. Railroad lines passing through Petersburg finally proved the key to the fall of Richmond in 1865, effectively ending the War.

A normal school
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...

 founded by the state after the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 primarily to help educate freedmen eventually became Virginia State University
Virginia State University
Virginia State University is a historically black and land-grant university located north of the Appomattox River in Chesterfield, in the Richmond area. Founded on , Virginia State was the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of higher learning for black Americans...

, located in the Ettrick
Ettrick, Virginia
Ettrick is a census-designated place in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. The population was 6,682 at the 2010 census. The town is home to Virginia State University and the Petersburg Amtrak train station....

 area near Petersburg and Colonial Heights.

Former areas lost to new independent cities

Manchester
Manchester, Virginia
Manchester, Virginia is a former independent city in Virginia in the United States. Prior to receiving independent status, it served as the county seat of Chesterfield County, between 1870 and 1876...

 (directly across the James River from the City of Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

) was the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of Chesterfield County from 1870 until 1876, when it was moved to the present location at Chesterfield Court House. The City of Manchester had meanwhile left Chesterfield in 1874 to become an independent city
Independent city
An independent city is a city that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity. These type of cities should not be confused with city-states , which are fully sovereign cities that are not part of any other sovereign state.-Historical precursors:In the Holy Roman Empire,...

, and merged with the City of Richmond by mutual agreement in 1910. It is now known as a part of South Richmond.

Colonial Heights
Colonial Heights, Virginia
Colonial Heights is an independent city in Virginia, United States. The population was 17,411 as of 2010. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the City of Colonial Heights with Dinwiddie County for statistical purposes...

 was formerly an incorporated town
Incorporated town
-Canada:Incorporated towns are a form of local government in Canada, which is a responsibility of provincial rather than federal government.-United States:...

 in Chesterfield County, and became an independent city
Independent city
An independent city is a city that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity. These type of cities should not be confused with city-states , which are fully sovereign cities that are not part of any other sovereign state.-Historical precursors:In the Holy Roman Empire,...

 in 1948. Over half a century later, the two neighbors continued to share provision of some governmental services.

Annexation issues

Chesterfield County shares borders with four independent cities, and was long exposed to annexation suits from any of them under Virginia law. The county lost territory to the City of Richmond through several annexations in the 20th century, including one in 1944. The city tried to annex more of the county in 1970, an action that created controversy.

While the annexation lawsuit filed by Richmond in 1965 was being heard, with the city seeking 51 square miles (132 km²) of the county, the leaders of the two jurisdictions, Irvin G. Horner, Chairman of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors, and Phil J. Bagley, Jr., the Mayor of Richmond, met privately and agreed to a compromise. In May 1969, the city and Chesterfield County approved what was called the Horner-Bagley Compromise, incorporated in a court decree of 12 July 1969. This effectively shut out a number of third parties attempting to block the annexation, and they believed they had been excluded from the process. A small commuter bus company held operating rights in the county, but the expanded city granted the franchise to a competitor.

Richmond annexed 23 square miles (60 km²) of the county, including fire stations, parks, and other infrastructure, such as water and sewer lines. Under the agreement, the county school system also conveyed about a dozen public schools, support buildings, and future school sites to the City of Richmond to be operated by Richmond Public Schools
Richmond Public Schools
This school division contains public schools serving the independent city of Richmond, Virginia. It is occasionally described locally as Richmond City Public Schools to emphasize its connection to the independent city rather than the Richmond-Petersburg region at large or the rural Richmond County...

. Residents of the annexed area were unhappy about this change, as Richmond Public Schools was already involved in a contentious racial desegregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...

 lawsuit in the Federal courts because of its failure to integrate. The transferred schools included Huguenot High School
Huguenot High School
Huguenot High School, part of the Richmond Public Schools system, is a high school located in Richmond, Virginia, with grades 9-12.Huguenot High School was named in honor of the Huguenots, French Protestants who emigrated to the English Virginia Colony beginning in the early 18th century.-Land for...

, Fred D. Thompson Middle School, Elkhardt Middle School, and eight elementary schools. In 1971, the federal court ordered these schools included in a citywide desegregation busing
Desegregation busing
Desegregation busing in the United States is the practice of assigning and transporting students to schools in such a manner as to redress prior racial segregation of schools, or to overcome the effects of residential segregation on local school demographics.In 1954, the U.S...

 program. This ended in the 1990s.

Many of the 47,000 residents who lived in the annexed area had been opposed to the action. They fought unsuccessfully for more than 7 years in the courts to have the agreement reversed. Some called the annexed 23 square miles (60 km²) area "Occupied Chesterfield."

Many black residents of Richmond also opposed the annexation, claiming that it violated the National Voting Rights Act of 1965. They said the city had deliberately diminished their voting power by adding the white voters of the annexed area, which diluted the black vote within the city. In 1970 the pre-annexation population of the city was 202,359, of which 104,207 or 52% were black citizens. The annexation added 47,262 people, of whom 45,705 were non-black and 1,557 were black. The total post-annexation population was 249,621 and 42% black.

The plaintiffs prevailed in federal court. The city created an electoral ward system to ensure blacks did not lose their voting power, changing what had been a system of electing all city council positions at large (by which the majority population would more easily prevail). Under the ward system, four wards had a predominantly white population, four wards had a predominantly black population, and one ward had a population that was 59% white and 41% black. Soon after the ward system was established, the city elected its first black mayor .

Revisions in state annexation laws

Many political leaders have long believed that Virginia's annexation laws have created a barrier to regional cooperation among localities. The issues resulting from the 1970 Richmond-Chesterfield case were considered prime examples of obstacles to regional cooperation as the state legislators considered changes. In 1979, the Virginia General Assembly
Virginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members,...

 adopted legislation that allowed any county meeting certain population and density standards to petition the local circuit court to declare the county permanently immune from annexation. In 1981, Chesterfield County and several other counties in the state sought and received such immunity from further annexation by Richmond.

Recognizing the controversy surrounding annexations in Virginia, in 1987, the General Assembly placed a moratorium on future annexations of any county by any city. When this moratorium expires, as it is currently scheduled to do in 2010, Chesterfield County remains immune from annexation by Richmond because of the 1981 state grant of immunity. Unless new revenue sharing or other agreements are reached, the county is at risk to annexation suits by any of the smaller independent cities of Colonial Heights, Hopewell, and Petersburg which adjoin it.

Highways, transportation, tolls

Beginning especially in the second half of the 20th century, Chesterfield grew exponentially, most of all as a commuter town
Commuter town
A commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential, from which most of the workforce commutes out to earn their livelihood. Many commuter towns act as suburbs of a nearby metropolis that workers travel to daily, and many suburbs are commuter towns...

 of Richmond. The Richmond-Petersburg Interurban Electric Railway, local streetcar service, and commuter rail service of the Southern Railway to Bon Air
Bon Air, Virginia
Bon Air is a census-designated place in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. The population was 16,366 at the 2010 census. The community is considered a suburb of the independent city of Richmond in the Richmond-Petersburg region, and shares a post office with Richmond...

 had all ended by 1957.

Although some bus routes extended into the county from both cities, the county did not fund transit bus
Transit bus
A transit bus , also known as a commuter bus, city bus, or public bus, is a bus used for short-distance public transport purposes...

 service when the large systems in Richmond and Petersburg converted to governmentally subsidized operations in the 1970s. Privately owned suburban bus services, such as that operated by Virginia Overland Transportation
Virginia Overland Transportation
Virginia Overland Transportation was an organization in Virginia in the United States which operated new and used bus dealerships and a number of intrastate urban-suburban bus lines for about 30 years in the late 20th and early 21st centuries....

 could not operate profitably, even when funded with start-up money through state demonstration program grants. County leaders believed the Chesterfield residents were committed to individual auto use for most local, commuter, and through transportation of people. With the increases in population, traffic, and poor air quality, some residents have asked the county to fund commuter bus services. Further complicating the issue is the general lack of sidewalks along most roads, adding to residents' dependence on motor vehicles.

Although the Virginia Department of Transportation
Virginia Department of Transportation
The Virginia Department of Transportation is the agency of state government responsible for transportation in the state of Virginia in the United States. Headquartered in Downtown Richmond, VDOT is responsible for building, maintaining, and operating the roads, bridges and tunnels in the...

 (VDOT) built interstate, primary and secondary highways throughout the 20th century, they quickly filled with traffic as the population and use of autos increased. Customary funding sources were insufficient to raise the monies needed for highway construction. Opened in 1958, and funded through toll revenue bond
Toll revenue bond
A toll revenue bond is a financial promissory note usually issued to generate funds for the construction and/or operation of a public accommodation such as an expressway, bridge, or tunnel...

s, the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike
Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike
The Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike was a toll road located in the Richmond-Petersburg region of central Virginia, USA.After World War II, major traffic congestion occurred in the area around Richmond and Petersburg along U.S. Route 1 and U.S. Route 301...

 was a toll highway
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...

 which paralleled U.S. 1
U.S. Route 1 in Virginia
U.S. Route 1 in the U.S. state of Virginia runs north–south through South Hill, Petersburg, Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Alexandria on its way from North Carolina to the 14th Street Bridge into the District of Columbia...

 and U.S. Route 301
U.S. Route 301
U.S. Route 301 is a spur of U.S. Route 1 running through the South Atlantic States. It currently runs 1,099 miles from Glasgow, Delaware at U.S. Route 40 to Sarasota, Florida. It passes through the states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida...

 between the northern edge of Richmond and the southern limits of Petersburg. Its portion through Chesterfield County was the longest section of its mileage. Conceived prior to the creation of the Interstate Highway System
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...

, the roadway was made toll-free in 1992. The former Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike forms a vital portion of Interstate 95
Interstate 95 in Virginia
In the Commonwealth of Virginia, Interstate 95 runs through the state. It runs concurrently for with Interstate 64 in Richmond, and meets the northern terminus of Interstate 85 in Petersburg. Though Interstate 95 was originally planned to go straight through Washington, D.C., it was instead...

 in central Virginia, including the northernmost portion of Interstate 85
Interstate 85
Interstate 85 is a major interstate highway in the Southeastern United States. Its current southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus interchanges with Interstate 95 in Petersburg, Virginia, near Richmond...

 near Petersburg.

The Powhite Parkway Extension of the Powhite Parkway in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

 (a toll road
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...

 operated by the Richmond Metropolitan Authority
Richmond Metropolitan Authority
The Richmond Metropolitan Authority is an independent authority and political subdivision which serves the Richmond, Virginia metropolitan area. Created by an act of the Virginia General Assembly in 1966, the RMA was originally tasked with building and maintaining a toll expressway system for the...

) was built and opened in 1988. The extension in Chesterfield County is operated by and the tolls are collected by VDOT. (The entire route in Richmond and Chesterfield is signed as Virginia State Route 76). The county extension begins at the exit for State Route 150 (Chippenham Parkway), and includes major exits for U.S. Route 60 west of Richmond, and State Route 288 in the Midlothian
Midlothian, Virginia
Midlothian is an unincorporated community in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. Founded over 300 years ago as a coal mining village, it is now a suburban community located in the Southside of Richmond well beyond the city limits of Richmond in the Richmond–Petersburg region.It was named...

 area. The southern terminus of State Route 76 is near the Brandermill
Brandermill
Brandermill is a major suburban residential and commercial development in the Southside of Richmond, Virginia. It is located near Midlothian, Virginia at the southern terminus of the Powhite Parkway and is centered around the Swift Creek Reservoir...

 development. Today the Powhite Parkway features a new highspeed toll system that allows smart-tag and e-z pass holders to travel through at speeds of 45-50 mph.

The Pocahontas Parkway, a 8.8 miles (14.2 km) toll road known as State Route 895, connects the junction of Interstate 95 and State Route 150 in Chesterfield County with Interstate 295
Interstate 295 (Virginia)
Interstate 295 is an eastern and northern bypass of the cities of Richmond and Petersburg in the U.S. state of Virginia. The southern terminus is a junction with Interstate 95 southeast of Petersburg...

 near Richmond International Airport
Richmond International Airport
- Accidents and incidents :*In 1996, Eastwind Airlines Flight 517 from Trenton experienced loss of rudder control while on approach to Richmond, however rudder control was regained shortly after and the aircraft landed normally. There was one minor injury....

 in Henrico County
Henrico County, Virginia
Henrico is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. As of 2010, Henrico was home to 306,935 people. It is located in the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, forming part of a southeastern bypass of Richmond. The roadway features the high-level Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge over the shipping channel of the James River downstream from the deep-water Port of Richmond, to allow ample clearance for ocean-going vessels.

Although Route 895 had been planned for many years, sufficient state and federal construction funds were not available at the time of construction, but the state encouraged innovative funding. In 1995, the Virginia General Assembly passed the Public-Private Transportation Act, to allow private entities to propose solutions for designing, constructing, financing and operating transportation improvements. A public-private partnership developed a proposal acceptable to the state. Since construction, the partnership has collected tolls to recover costs. The toll collection facility features one of the Richmond area's high-speed open lanes, enabling vehicles to travel through at highway speeds with a Smart Tag
Smart Tag
Smart Tag is the former name of a transponder-based electronic toll collection system implemented by the Virginia Department of Transportation . It was launched as Fastoll on April 15, 1996...

 or other compatible electronic toll collection
Electronic toll collection
Electronic toll collection , an adaptation of military "identification friend or foe" technology, aims to eliminate the delay on toll roads by collecting tolls electronically. It is thus a technological implementation of a road pricing concept...

 transponder.

The large planned community of Brandermill
Brandermill
Brandermill is a major suburban residential and commercial development in the Southside of Richmond, Virginia. It is located near Midlothian, Virginia at the southern terminus of the Powhite Parkway and is centered around the Swift Creek Reservoir...

, which includes a conference center, was named in 1977 the "best planned community in America" by Better Homes and Gardens
Better Homes and Gardens (magazine)
Better Homes and Gardens is the fourth best selling magazine in the United States. The editor in Chief is Gayle Butler. Better Homes and Gardens focuses on interests regarding homes, cooking, gardening, crafts, healthy living, decorating, and entertaining. The magazine is published 12 times per...

 magazine and the National Association of Homebuilders.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the county has a total area of 437 square miles (1,131.8 km²), of which 426 square miles (1,103.3 km²) is land and 11 square miles (28.5 km²) (2.57%) is water.

Chesterfield County is largely bordered by two rivers which define miles of its boundaries. The major adjoining cities each originated at the head of navigation of these river, called the fall line
Fall line
A fall line is a geomorphologic unconformity between an upland region of relatively hard crystalline basement rock and a coastal plain of softer sedimentary rock. A fall line is typically prominent when crossed by a river, for there will often be rapids or waterfalls...

. There, the hillier and rockier Piedmont region falls to the sandy and mostly flat eastern coastal plain
Coastal plain
A coastal plain is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a seacoast and separated from the interior by other features. One of the world's longest coastal plains is located in eastern South America. The southwestern coastal plain of North America is notable for its species diversity...

 Tidewater region, a change which creates barriers for ships going upstream on the rivers. Chesterfield County includes areas of both regions.

Richmond and Manchester were formed at the fall line of the James River. Most of the northern portion of Chesterfield County is part of what is called Richmond's "South Side"
Southside (Richmond, Virginia)
The Southside of Richmond is an area of the Metropolitan Statistical Area surrounding Richmond, Virginia. It generally includes all portions of the City of Richmond which lie south of the James River, and includes all of the former city of Manchester...

. As the James River flows east to Richmond and then turns almost due south below the fall line for about 8 miles (13 km) before turning east, Henrico County encompasses much of Richmond's West End, North Side
North Side (Richmond Virginia)
The North Side is an area composed of northern Richmond, Virginia and some parts of Henrico County, Virginia.The area is home to many diverse neighborhoods, especially early streetcar suburbs, including Barton Heights, Bellevue, Ginter Park, Washington Park, Hermitage Road, Highland Park, Sherwood...

, and East End
East End (Richmond, Virginia)
The East End of Richmond, Virginia is the quadrant of the City of Richmond, Virginia, and more loosely the Richmond metropolitan area, east of the downtown.-Geographic boundaries:...

 areas.

Chesterfield County borders on the Appomattox River
Appomattox River
The Appomattox River is a tributary of the James River, approximately long, in central and eastern Virginia in the United States, named for the Appomattocs Indian tribe who lived along its lower banks in the 17th century...

 to the south. Much of the southern and eastern portions of the county are considered part of the Tri-Cities
Tri-Cities, Virginia
The Tri-Cities of Virginia is an area in the Greater Richmond Region which includes the three independent cities of Petersburg, Colonial Heights, and Hopewell and portions of the adjoining counties of Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, and Prince George in south-central Virginia...

 area, which includes Petersburg, located at the fall line.

Adjacent counties

  • Henrico County, Virginia
    Henrico County, Virginia
    Henrico is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. As of 2010, Henrico was home to 306,935 people. It is located in the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area...

     - northeast
  • Richmond, Virginia
    Richmond, Virginia
    Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

     - northeast
  • Charles City County, Virginia
    Charles City County, Virginia
    As of the census of 2000, there were 6,926 people, 2,670 households, and 1,975 families residing in the county. The population density was 38 people per square mile . There were 2,895 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile...

     - east
  • Hopewell, Virginia
    Hopewell, Virginia
    Hopewell is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 22,591 at the 2010 Census . It is in Tri-Cities area of the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area...

     - southeast
  • Prince George County, Virginia
    Prince George County, Virginia
    As of the census of 2000, there were 33,047 people, 10,159 households, and 8,096 families residing in the county. The population density was 124 people per square mile . There were 10,726 housing units at an average density of 40 per square mile...

     - southeast
  • Colonial Heights, Virginia
    Colonial Heights, Virginia
    Colonial Heights is an independent city in Virginia, United States. The population was 17,411 as of 2010. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the City of Colonial Heights with Dinwiddie County for statistical purposes...

     - southeast
  • Petersburg, Virginia
    Petersburg, Virginia
    Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...

     - southeast
  • Dinwiddie County, Virginia
    Dinwiddie County, Virginia
    Dinwiddie County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 28,001. Its county seat is Dinwiddie.- History :...

     - south
  • Amelia County, Virginia
    Amelia County, Virginia
    As of the census of 2000, there were 11,400 people, 4,240 households, and 3,175 families residing in the county. The population density was 32 people per square mile . There were 4,609 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...

     - southwest
  • Powhatan County, Virginia
    Powhatan County, Virginia
    As of the census of 2000, there were 22,377 people, 7,258 households, and 5,900 families residing in the county. The population density was 86 people per square mile . There were 7,509 housing units at an average density of 29 per square mile...

     - northwest

National protected areas

  • Presquile National Wildlife Refuge
    Presquile National Wildlife Refuge
    Presquile National Wildlife Refuge in the U.S. state of Virginia is one of four refuges that comprise the Eastern Virginia Rivers National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The refuge is a island in the James River, located approximately south of Richmond. It is located in the easternmost part of...

  • Richmond National Battlefield Park
    Richmond National Battlefield Park
    Richmond National Battlefield Park commemorates more than 30 American Civil War sites around Richmond, Virginia, which served as the capital of the Confederate States of America for the majority of the war...

     (part)

Demographics

At the 2000 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

, there were 259,903 people, 93,772 households and 72,110 families residing in the county. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 610 per square mile (236/km²).

A more recent 2006 estimate puts the population of Chesterfield County at 306,000 - a growth of over 35,000 people since 2000.

There were 97,707 housing units at an average density of 230 per square mile (89/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 65.44% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 32.23% Black
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.33% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 2.37% Asian
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.04% Pacific Islander
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 1.34% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 1.41% from two or more races. 2.93% of the population were Hispanic
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 or Latino
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 of any race.

The largest ancestry groups in Chesterfield County include African
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 (18%), English
English American
English Americans are citizens or residents of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England....

 (14.5%), German
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...

 (12.5%), Irish
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...

 (11%), Italian
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...

 (4%) and Scots-Irish
Scots-Irish American
Scotch-Irish Americans are an estimated 250,000 Presbyterian and other Protestant dissenters from the Irish province of Ulster who immigrated to North America primarily during the colonial era and their descendants. Some scholars also include the 150,000 Ulster Protestants who immigrated to...

 (3%).

There were 93,772 households of which 40.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.20% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 11.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.10% were non-families. 18.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.11.

Age distribution was 28.30% under the age of 18, 7.70% from 18 to 24, 31.20% from 25 to 44, 24.90% from 45 to 64, and 8.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.30 males.

The median household income
Median household income
The median household income is commonly used to generate data about geographic areas and divides households into two equal segments with the first half of households earning less than the median household income and the other half earning more...

 was $58,537, and the median family income was $65,058. Males had a median income of $43,030 versus $30,518 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the county was $25,286. About 3.30% of families and 4.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.60% of those under age 18 and 3.40% of those age 65 or over.

Town twinning

In 2005, Chesterfield County agreed to form a relationship with the Borough of Gravesham
Gravesham
Gravesham is a local government district and borough in North West Kent, England. It has borders with the River Thames to the north; the City of Rochester and Medway to the east; the borough of Tonbridge and Malling ; and the boroughs of Sevenoaks and Dartford to the west.Its council is based at...

 in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The town of Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...

 on the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

 is part of the borough. It was here that Pocahontas
Pocahontas
Pocahontas was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in Tidewater Virginia...

 was buried after dying on a trip to England. Matoaca in Chesterfield County was traditionally believed to be her native village in North America. The "sister communities" were formed as part of Virginia's activities in 2007 to celebrate the founding of Jamestown.

Recognition

In May 2004, Chesterfield was named the "17th Best Place to Live in America" by the American City Business Journals
American City Business Journals
American City Business Journals is an American newspaper chain based in Charlotte, North Carolina owned by Advance Publications. It has a range of media including 41 primary metropolitan weekly publications, which reach 4 million readers with business community related news, and Bizjournals, the...

.

Chesterfield County is also noted as the home town of NASCAR superstar Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin
James Dennis Alan "Denny" Hamlin is an American race car driver. Though originally born in Tampa, Florida, Hamlin was raised for most of his life in Chesterfield, Virginia. After racing in go-karts for a number of years, he worked his way up to Late Models by 2004 and signed a development contract...

. He spent years racing at many local short tracks, including Southside Speedway
Southside speedway
Southside Speedway is a short track used for stock car auto racing located just South of Richmond, Virginia in Chesterfield County. It is a .333 mile asphalt oval owned and operated by Sue Clements and Patsy Stargardt...

 in Midlothian, Virginia
Midlothian, Virginia
Midlothian is an unincorporated community in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. Founded over 300 years ago as a coal mining village, it is now a suburban community located in the Southside of Richmond well beyond the city limits of Richmond in the Richmond–Petersburg region.It was named...

.

Roy F. Hoffmann, Chairman of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, owns a home in Chesterfield County.

Unincorporated towns and communities

The Chesterfield County Planning Department has identified 25 distinct communities within Chesterfield.

More information regarding the communities can be found in the Chesterfield County Community Indicators Report.
  • Bellwood
    Bellwood, Virginia
    Bellwood is a census-designated place in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. The population was 6,352 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Bellwood is located at ....

  • Belmont
  • Bon Air
    Bon Air, Virginia
    Bon Air is a census-designated place in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. The population was 16,366 at the 2010 census. The community is considered a suburb of the independent city of Richmond in the Richmond-Petersburg region, and shares a post office with Richmond...

  • Brandermill
  • Chester
    Chester, Virginia
    Chester is a census-designated place in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. The population was 20,987 at the 2010 census.-History:...

  • Courthouse
    Chesterfield Court House, Virginia
    Chesterfield Court House is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP had a total area of .-Demographics:...

  • Enon
    Enon, Virginia
    Enon is a census-designated place in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States, just east of Chester. The population as of the 2010 Census was 3,466. It has the zip code 23836 and GPS coordinates 37.3504000, -77.3254000....

  • Ettrick
    Ettrick, Virginia
    Ettrick is a census-designated place in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. The population was 6,682 at the 2010 census. The town is home to Virginia State University and the Petersburg Amtrak train station....

  • Genito
  • Gordon
  • Harrowgate
  • Hening
  • Jefferson Davis North
    Bensley, Virginia
    Bensley is a census-designated place in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. The population was 5,819 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Bensley is located at ....

  • Manchester
  • Hampton Park
  • Matoaca
    Matoaca, Virginia
    Matoaca is a census-designated place in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,403 at the 2010 census. It is named after the Algonquian princess Matoaka who was better known by her nickname "Pocahontas"...

  • Meadowbrook
  • Midlothian
    Midlothian, Virginia
    Midlothian is an unincorporated community in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. Founded over 300 years ago as a coal mining village, it is now a suburban community located in the Southside of Richmond well beyond the city limits of Richmond in the Richmond–Petersburg region.It was named...

  • Reams
  • Robious
  • Rockwood
  • Salisbury
  • South Rockwood
  • Spring Run
  • Winterpock
    Winterpock, Virginia
    Winterpock is an unincorporated community in western Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. Winterpock does not have its own post office....

  • Woodlake


Other areas of interest and census designated areas within Chesterfield:
  • Bensley
    Bensley, Virginia
    Bensley is a census-designated place in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. The population was 5,819 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Bensley is located at ....

  • Bermuda Hundred
    Bermuda Hundred, Virginia
    Bermuda Hundred was the first incorporated town in the English colony of Virginia. It was founded by Sir Thomas Dale in 1613, six years after Jamestown. At the southwestern edge of the confluence of the Appomattox and James Rivers opposite City Point, annexed to Hopewell, Virginia in 1923, ...

  • Moseley

Schools

Chesterfield County Public Schools is the local school system, and has received the U.S. Department of Education
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...

's Blue Ribbon Award.

See also


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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