Lost counties, cities, and towns of Virginia
Encyclopedia
Lost counties, cities, and towns of Virginia are those that existed within the English Colony of Virginia or, after statehood, the Commonwealth of Virginia
, and no longer retain the same form within its boundaries. The settlements, towns, and administrative units discussed here ceased to exist in a number of ways. A number of smaller settlements became extinct due to loss of population. In time, others changed names, ascended to higher levels (or occasionally, descended to lower levels) of autonomy, or were occasionally annexed by larger nearby units. At a higher level, large areas of Virginia were split off to form new states (Kentucky
, the product of a single Virginian county, and West Virginia
, made up of fifty), transferred to others as state boundaries were clarified, or came under the administration of the federal government
. Finally, several locations listed here are entirely fictional, but are believed to have been real by the public, due to their mention in fictional works.
in the 15th century, European nations competed to establish colonies on the continent. In the late 16th century, the area claimed by England was well defined along the coast, but was very roughly marked in the west, extending from 34
to 48 degrees north
latitude, or from the vicinity of Cape Fear in present-day North Carolina
well into Acadia
. The English called this huge claim, parts of which other powers contested, "Virginia." In 1609, the northern border was reduced to 45 degrees north latitude on the Atlantic
coast, very close to the current coastal border between the U.S. and Canada
. In 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh sent Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe
to explore the coast of present-day North Carolina
, and they returned with word of a regional Indigenous peoples of the Americas
chief named "Wingina." This name was given to the territory, and was shortly renamed "Virginia" by Queen Elizabeth I
, perhaps in part due to her status as the "Virgin Queen." Raleigh's Roanoke Colony
in the 1580s and the Virginia Company of Plymouth's Popham Colony
in the 1600's (present-day Maine
) both took place in what the English then called Virginia, and were both unsuccessful in establishing permanent footholds.
was the first permanent English settlement in North America, and included what was thereafter "Virginia." (The Pilgrims and the Plymouth Company's successor finally established a permanent colony at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620, but by then the area was no longer part of Virginia. The region was christened "New England
" by Captain John Smith
, who had played a crucial role in Jamestown's earliest years).
On May 14, 1607, the Virginia Company of London (competing with the Virginia Company of Plymouth) was the first to achieve a permanent settlement with the establishment of Jamestown Island. While favorable for defending from attacks by enemy ships, the location was poorly sited for supporting a substantial population, with brackish water
, little hunting game, and high risk of attacks by hostile Native American tribes. Jamestown's survival was uncertain for the first five years. During that time, it was dependent upon supply missions from England, and a majority of early colonists died.
The colony reached a low point during the "starving time"
in 1609-1610, when over 80% of the 500 colonists perished after the third supply mission was disrupted by a massive hurricane in the North Atlantic. However, with the arrival of new supplies, leadership in the person of Lord Delaware, and John Rolfe's
successful cultivation of tobacco
for export
as a cash crop
, Jamestown's prospects began to improve, and the new colony surrounding it survived.
Though Jamestown became a permanent settlement, it was largely abandoned as a population center a century later, when the capital was moved to higher ground at Middle Plantation
, soon renamed Williamsburg
. Jamestown reverted to farmland until historic interest prompted preservation beginning in the late 19th century.
, a better-sited location in the present-day independent city
of Hampton
, was essentially stolen from Native Americans in 1610 by the English colonists, under the leadership of Sir Thomas Gates
. In the 21st century, through the old American Indian village of Kecoughtan, the City of Hampton lays claim to status as the oldest continually occupied settlement in the British Colonies
in what is now the United States.
For almost 400 years, hundreds of counties, cities, and towns were formed in the Colony of Virginia and later the Commonwealth of Virginia. It was generally the tradition of the English during the colonial period to establish large geographic units, and then to subsequently sub-divide them into smaller more manageable units. This two-phase process was conducted in order to establish legal claims to maximum territory. As areas were settled, the large territories were subdivided for a variety of reasons.
, the Sea Venture
. Aboard the flagship, commanded by Vice Admiral Christopher Newport
, was the Admiral of the fleet, Sir George Somers
, as well as Sir Thomas Gates
.
In the Atlantic Ocean, the fleet encountered a massive three-day storm, most likely now thought to have been a hurricane. Sighting land, Admiral Somers had the Sea Venture steered aground there to save it from sinking. All aboard survived but their ship was damaged beyond repair, and they had become separated from the others. They soon realized that they had become shipwreck
ed on the north-easternmost island of an uninhabited archipelago
, known as Bermuda
.
They were stranded on the islands for 10 months. Two new ships were built to replace the Sea Venture with many parts used in their construction salvaged from the wrecked ship, which had been left "high and dry" on the reef when the storm abated. By 1610 the Deliverance and the Patience had been completed. Leaving two men behind to maintain England's claim on the islands, Somers set sail with the remainder from Bermuda for Jamestown. Those embarked included William Strachey
, whose account of the adventures of the Sea Ventures survivors may have inspired Shakespeare's
The Tempest, and who would draft Virginia's first laws, and John Rolfe
, who would found Virginia's tobacco industry, making the colony economically viable. John Rolfe left his first wife and son buried in Bermuda, but the widower was to find a second wife in the Native American daughter of Chief Powhatan
. He and Pocahontas
became the parents of Thomas Rolfe
, through whose descendants many First Families of Virginia
trace their linage to both English and Native American roots.
On arrival in Virginia on May 23, 1610, Somers found the colony, headquartered at Jamestown
, decimated by what came to be called the Starving Time
. Starvation, illness and attacks by Native Americans
had left fewer than 100 survivors of the 500 settlers of the previous autumn. It was decided to abandon the settlement, and the survivors were boarded onto the Deliverance and Patience. The timely arrival of another relief fleet (bearing Governor Lord De La Warre) granted the colony a reprieve. Somers returned to Bermuda aboard the Patience, but died there in 1610.
After reaching England, the reports of survivors of the Sea Venture aroused great interest about Bermuda. Two years later, in 1612, the Virginia Company's Royal Charter was extended to include the island, and a party of 60 settlers was sent, under the command of Sir Richard Moore, the island's first governor, to join the three men left by the Deliverance and Patience. They founded and commenced construction of the town of St. George.
The Virginia Company, finding the colony at Bermuda unprofitable, briefly handed its administration to the Crown in 1614. The following year, 1615, King James
granted a charter to a new company, the Somers Isles Company
, formed by the same shareholders, which ran the colony until it was dissolved in 1684 (The Virginia Company itself was dissolved after its charter was revoked in 1624). Representative government was introduced to Bermuda in 1620, when its House of Assembly
held its first session, and it became a self-governing colony. So at the very least, from 1612 until 1614, Bermuda, also known as "Virgineola" and the "Somers Isles," was legally part of the Virginia Colony. Close connections continued for the following century and a half, with many Bermudians settling in Virginia, and wealthy Bermudian merchant families, such as the Tuckers http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/Autumn01/tucker.htm dominating trade through Virginia (and other Southern) ports.
), or "incorporations." Kecoughtan (soon renamed Elizabeth Cittie) included the eastern portion of the Virginia Peninsula
, as well as the entire area known in modern times as the Eastern Shore
as well as most of today's South Hampton Roads
. Each of the others extended to both sides of the James River
and even further.
These four citties were:
It unclear whether this form of political organization survived the loss of the Virginia Company's charter in 1624, when Virginia became a Royal Colony. Representation in the House of Burgesses
had been expanded as plantation
s grew, and was more representative of population than the boundaries of the "citties," both before and after 1624.
s (or counties) in England
. The concept as it was brought to North America, was to have an area of size such that legal matters such as recording land and property transfers, resolutions of disputes, and criminal matters could be handled at a "court
" within a day's journey of travel from all of its parts. As the population of counties grew, especially into more distant geographic extremities, many counties subdivided to form additional counties. Having counties composed of areas of common interests to the citizens became a more important factor as the distance one could travel in a single day increased. Throughout the United States, counties are generally the setting for local courts, and local courts are still the designated places for recording land transactions and resolving civil
disputes and criminal
matters.
Each of the eight original shires of Virginia
created in 1634 were renamed as counties only a few years later.
Note that including the earlier names of the 4 "citties" [sic] (created in 1619) and then changing "shire" to "county" in their names has long caused confusion. These actions led to seemingly contradictory names such as "James City County" and "Charles City County." In Virginia, with the unusual status of independent cities
to further confuse some, a locality can be one or the other, but not both.
Of these, as of 2007, five of the eight original shires are considered still extant in the Commonwealth of Virginia in essentially their same political form (county), though some boundaries and several names have changed in almost 400 years.
(1861–1865), cities became politically independent of the counties. An independent city
in Virginia since then has been comparable to a county. Many agencies of the U.S. Government consider Virginia's independent cities county-equivalent
s.
s are located within counties. The level of services and relationships with the county may vary to suit local preferences. Towns can initiate annexation suits against contiguous counties to expand their territory but cannot do so against other incorporated towns or independent cities. Some incorporated towns have become independent cities. There are prohibitions against forming new incorporated towns in some counties.
s are essentially unincorporated communities without a formal political structure. They may also be called villages. Virginia does not officially recognize village
s or unincorporated towns or communities as units of political subdivision of the state, unlike counties, independent cities, and incorporated towns. Township
is also an unused term in Virginia.
In some independent cities of Virginia, areas that formerly were unincorporated towns are often called neighborhoods or communities of the same or similar names, to maintain their individual areas and identities.
Some of the older counties that still operate under their earliest names (or with minor variation) are Charles City County
, James City County
and Henrico County
—each of which is one of the original eight shires
(or counties) formed by the Virginia House of Burgesses
(predecessor to the Virginia General Assembly
) and King Charles I of England
in 1634. Of these, with a substantial portion of the population claiming American Indian
roots, Charles City County may have a good claim to being still in its earliest form in the 21st century. However, politically, that honor goes to James City County, the nation's oldest.
While dozens of other localities in Virginia also trace their roots to the 17th century, hundreds more have changed their names, were merged or been annexed by neighbors, are now located in other states, or for many other reasons no longer exist in Virginia.
, Indiana
, Kentucky
, and West Virginia
) include significant territories once part of Colonial Virginia, and other neighbors possess smaller such areas. Generally, the earliest border descriptions of Virginia were more specific regarding eastern edges and waterways, than about western extremities, enabling Virginia's initial expansion.
of Jamestown established a trading post and settlement on the Isle of Kent
(today known as Kent Island) in the Chesapeake Bay
three years prior to the founding of the province of Maryland
. Following the colony's formation, ownership of the island was disputed between the two colonies, until Claiborne left Kent Island permanently in 1658. Virginia did not officially give up its claims however, until 1776. Today, Kent Island is part of Queen Anne's County, Maryland
.
prior to 1780. Similar conflicts between Maryland
and Pennsylvania were resolved by 1767 through the work of two men chosen by the sixth Lord Baltimore (for Maryland) and Thomas Penn
and his brother Richard Penn
(sons of William Penn
, and proprietors of Pennsylvania). Astronomer
Charles Mason
and surveyor Jeremiah Dixon
came from England to do this work. The line they surveyed in 1766 and 1767 has since been known as the Mason-Dixon Line
. However, their authority extended west only as far as Western Maryland, and did not resolve border conflicts in the area known as Yohogania County. Virginia and Pennsylvania disputes there and elsewhere along the Virginia-Pennsylvania border areas continued throughout the remainder of the colonial period.
After the areas in dispute became part of the newly formed United States
, the new states of Virginia and Pennsylvania (each one of the first thirteen states that formed the union) soon reached an agreement, and most of Yohogania County became part of Pennsylvania in the 1780s under terms agreed of the state legislatures of both Virginia and Pennsylvania. A small remaining portion left in Virginia was too small to form a county, and was annexed to another Virginia county, Ohio County
. It is now Hancock County, West Virginia
and part of Brooke County, West Virginia
.
The areas of Yohogania County ceded to Pennsylvania included all of present-day Westmoreland County
and parts of the present Allegheny
(including most of the city of Pittsburgh
), Beaver
, Washington
, and Fayette
Counties. Ohio and Monongalia Counties also lost territory that they claimed to Pennsylvania (Washington, Greene and Fayette Counties) in this realignment.
, the areas that formed Illinois and Indiana were all contained in only one Virginia county, which was named Illinois County.
In 1787, the future states of Indiana and Illinois became part of the original Northwest Territory
, part of which was partially carved from land previously in the far western portions of Virginia. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 passed by the United States Congress
allowed for the creation of as many as five states in the northwest portion of the Ohio Valley on lines originally laid out in 1784 by Thomas Jefferson
.
Known as the Northwest Territory (not to be confused with the Northwest Territories
of Canada
), the new federal lands were east of the Mississippi River
, and between the Ohio River
and the Great Lakes
. The region comprised more than 260000 square miles (673,396.9 km²). The ordinance defined the boundaries of the future states, excluded slavery, and required that 60,000 inhabitants be present for statehood. Ultimately, the territory was organized into the present states of Ohio
, Indiana
, Illinois
, Michigan
and Wisconsin
.
Subdivided from the Northwest Territory, the Indiana Territory
came into being in 1800, and included both Indiana and Illinois. In 1816, Indiana became the 19th state. In 1818, Illinois became the 21st state.
, large numbers of Virginia settlers began migrating through the Cumberland Gap
into what is now Kentucky
. Kentucky County
was formed in Virginia in 1776. Four years later it was divided into the Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln counties of Virginia. The Commonwealth of Kentucky (the Blue Grass State) was formed in its entirety from the Commonwealth of Virginia, being admitted to the Union as the fifteenth state in 1792.
Many of these names were later reused to name other new Virginia counties. Some of those were "lost" again when the state of West Virginia was formed in 1863. It is somewhat ironic that Virginia has twice named counties for one of its most revered sons, Thomas Jefferson
, and lost the county each time to the formation of another state.
(waters that drain to the Atlantic Ocean) along the Allegheny Mountains
, and the interests of the western portion, which drained to the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and the Gulf of Mexico
. The western area focused its commerce on neighbors to the west, and many citizens felt that the more populous eastern areas were too dominant in the State Legislature and insensitive to their needs. Major crises in the Virginia state government were averted during the period before the American Civil War
, but the underlying problems were fundamental and never well-resolved.
Though slavery
was not the major economic issue for the western counties, which were much less dependent upon large scale labor-intensive farming than their eastern counterparts, states rights were an issue for the majority of Virginians, regardless of geographic location. The American Civil War brought Virginia's internal problems with eastern and western conflicting state governmental needs to resolution. The early occupation of the western lands by Union forces and Virginia's divided loyalties led to the formation of the new State of West Virginia
, which was admitted to the Union in 1863.
Though the Commonwealth of Virginia had lost only ten counties when Kentucky became state in 1776, the number of lost counties (and cities and towns) was much greater when West Virginia was subdivided. Some of these were names Virginia reused after Kentucky separated from Virginia.
In 1866, Virginia unsuccessfully challenged in the Supreme Court
the secessions of Berkeley and Jefferson Counties.
, first settled in 1607, is probably the best known of all of these.
s expanded the reach of water-borne traffic.
During the first half of the 19th century, the emerging technology of railroads dramatically impacted the economics associated with transportation. Hundreds of new locations were established to service either the railroads' operating requirements, such as fuel and water, and/or the needs of freight and passenger services. By the early 20th century, the emergence of automobiles and motor vehicles supplanted some of the earlier uses of waterways and railroads, adding even more locations in some instances, even as activities at many of the older locations withered, to the extent that some were completely abandoned.
Naming of locations often related to prominent local families, financiers in some cases, and frequently utilized nearby geographic features. With the inception of Rural Free Delivery of the U.S. Mail, some names were changed to avoid confusion from duplications and similarities.
Unincorporated towns or communities in some counties may become incorporated towns, which are still within the respective county. Incorporated towns may become independent cities. Any of the above may act to merge or consolidate with a neighbor.
Likewise, it is possible to simplify status. Incorporated towns may relinquish their charters. Some independent cities have been allowed to revert to incorporated town status and rejoin contiguous counties.
Many leaders have felt that Virginia's annexation laws are a barrier to regional cooperation among localities, creating an air of mistrust, and a feeling among citizens that such changes often take place against their will. Many of the state's needs may be met best through regional cooperation, which is discouraged by annexation issues. As of 2007, a moratorium on many major annexations has been in place since the late 20th century by actions in the Virginia General Assembly
.
Consolidation of counties, cities, and towns is also possible, but only as authorized by special legislation of the Virginia General Assembly. The last wave of consolidations took place in the Hampton Roads area between 1952 and 1976.
to select a location that was easily defensible. An additional benefit of the site was that the land was not occupied by Indians
(Native Americans). This was largely due to the inhospitable terrain and poor conditions, which also caused most of the early settlers to die of disease and starvation. Jamestown was abandoned for the first time for only a day. In the late spring of 1610, following a winter that became known as the Starving Time, the surviving settlers packed up and set sail down the James River toward Hampton Roads, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean. They encountered a new supply convoy headed for Jamestown on an expedition led by the new governor appointed by King James, Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr
. Among the group leaving was a young businessman named John Rolfe
, who had lost both his wife and small child since leaving England. Despite his misfortune to that point, Rolfe possessed experimental seeds for a tobacco strain that became key to the colony's economic survival. The settlement began to prosper by 1617, and became the capital of the colony in 1619 when the House of Burgesses
was established.
Despite Virginia's successes, Jamestown had a troublesome climate, lacked a natural source of fresh water, and was plagued by mosquitoes. The statehouse burned several times and was, nevertheless, rebuilt. However, after yet another fire in the 1690s, the capital was relocated in 1699 to Middle Plantation
, on higher ground about 12 miles (20 km) east, soon renamed Williamsburg
. The town-like settlement at Jamestown was finally abandoned shortly thereafter.
Most of the area soon reverted to its natural state and actually became an island as the isthmus was severed by weather events at an unrecorded later date. By the 1750s, the land was a heavily cultivated plantation, and remained mostly farmland until 1892.
In 1892, Jamestown was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Edward Barney. The following year, the Barneys donated 2½ acres of land, including the 1639 church tower, to Preservation Virginia (formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities). By that time, erosion from the river had eaten away the island's western shore. Visitors began to conclude that the site of James Fort lay completely underwater. With federal assistance, a sea wall was constructed in 1900 to protect the area from further erosion.
Colonial National Monument was authorized by the U.S. Congress on July 3, 1930. It was established on December 30, 1930. On June 5, 1936, it was re-designated a national historical park
, and became known as Colonial National Historical Park
.
In 1934, the National Park Service
obtained the remaining 1500 acre (6.1 km²) portion of Jamestown Island that had been under private ownership. The National Park Service partnered with the APVA to preserve the area and present it to visitors in an educational manner.
In 1957, for the 350th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, the National Park Service restored the isthmus to Jamestown Island, making it accessible as a peninsula once again and the Commonwealth of Virginia built Jamestown Festival Park. The island and the former Festival park remained as a permanent attractions after the 1957 celebration, and with many enhancements, are now known respectively as Historic Jamestowne
and Jamestown Settlement
.
The archaeological remains of the original 1607 fort, which had been protected by the sea wall, were discovered in 1994 by the Jamestown Rediscovery
project. Additional significant archaeological discoveries have shed even more light upon the early days of Jamestown in the years since, and the work is ongoing.
Jamestown has been reborn in a way, but it remains an historical site and not an actively inhabited town. Normally only the wildlife and perhaps security personnel from the U.S. Park Police
regularly spend the night on the island.
s" in Virginia, and there have been none since the terminology was changed to "county" within a few years of their creation in 1634, all could be considered lost to posterity, at least in name. However, of the eight shires of Virginia
created by the Virginia House of Burgesses
(predecessor to the Virginia General Assembly
) and King Charles I of England in 1634, five still exist in their original political form as counties in Virginia as of 2006, though all have lost some area and some have endured name changes. Some of their courthouses contain land records and other documents that predate the shires of 1634, though some were heavily damaged during the Revolutionary War
and Civil War
, which both took a heavy toll on eastern Virginia.
One of these, Alexandria County (not to be confused with the City of Alexandria
) left Virginia for approximately 56 years (1791–1847) to become part of the District of Columbia. 74 years after its retrocession to Virginia
, its name was changed to its present name, Arlington County
. At only 26 square miles (67.3 km²), it is Virginia's smallest county in land area (and by some reckonings, the smallest county in the United States).
Two other current counties in the state re-used the names of older lost counties. These newer counties (one name earlier lost to Kentucky, the other on the following list) are respectively, Madison and Rappahannock. Both the newer counties of that name are located in Virginia's Piedmont region.
The extinct counties of Virginia (alphabetically)are:
Virginia laws enacted late in the 20th century enabled smaller independent cities to revert (or convert) to town status, which included rejoining a county. Advocates considered this option as a potential way to streamline local governmental structure. As of 2007, two small independent cities had done so and several others were reported considering it.
The "lost" independent cities of Virginia (alphabetically) were:
s grew to become independent cities. In fact, most of Virginia's current independent cities began that way. Towns that became cities of the same name include the current cities of Charlottesville
, Danville
, Fredericksburg
, Norfolk, Poquoson
, Portsmouth, Richmond, and Williamsburg, to name only a few. Not to be confused with Roanoke County, the town and then city of Roanoke made its two step transition in only a couple of years, the fast growth earning the nickname "Magic City."
It is actually rare in Virginia to find a city not previously incorporated as a town or, in a few instances, as a county. Only two, Hopewell and Newport News, are known to have begun directly as a city without previously incorporating as a town or county. Thus, if an incorporated town became a city of the same name, it is not listed here as extinct or lost.
The lost incorporated towns of Virginia were:
A few of the lost towns of Virginia have very dramatic stories, and, somewhat like the early settlers of Jamestown, the residents experienced much hardship. While natural factors doomed Jamestown, they also literally wiped out Boyd's Ferry, which was virtually entirely destroyed by flooding of the Dan River
in Halifax County around 1800. That town was rebuilt across the river in a better location, and grew to become the Town of South Boston, which was even an incorporated independent city for over 25 years before the citizens decided to rejoin Halifax County as an incorporated town again in 1995.
Conflicts with American Indians doomed several other early Virginia towns. Henricus
(also known as "Henricopolis") is now a historic site in Chesterfield County
. In the early 17th century, it was a boom town with an emerging school system until the Indian Massacre of 1622
wiped it out, along with Wolstenholme Towne
on Martin's Hundred Plantation
downriver from Jamestown in James City County
. In addition, virtually all Indigenous American towns and communities were eventually wiped out by the ever-expanding English settlements in the Virginia Colony.
For example, in the creation of Shenandoah National Park
and the Skyline Drive
between 1924 and 1936, a number of families and entire communities were required to vacate portions of the Blue Ridge Mountains
, mostly by actions of the Commonwealth of Virginia, which then ceded land to the federal government. Many residents in the 500 homes in eight affected counties of Virginia were vehemently opposed to losing their homes and communities. Most of the families removed came from Madison County
, Page County
, and Rappahannock County
. U.S. President Herbert Hoover
selected a spot on the Rapidan River
for what would become a 164-acre (66-hectare) presidential retreat, Rapidan Camp
.
The Commonwealth of Virginia, initially led by efforts of Harry Flood Byrd, used the Great Depression
and access to jobs and modern amenities such as indoor plumbing and public schools to help justify the controversial dislodging of the mountain residents. It is true that the development of the Park and the Skyline Drive created badly needed jobs for many Virginians during the Great Depression. Nearly 90% of the inhabitants of the land taken by the government worked the land for a living. Many worked in the apple orchards in the valley and in areas near the eastern slopes. The work to create the National Park and the Skyline Drive began following a terrible drought in 1930 that destroyed the crops of many families in the area who farmed in the mountainous terrain, as well as many of the apple orchards where they worked picking crops. Nevertheless, it remains a fact that they were displaced, often against their will, and even for the very few who managed to stay, their communities were lost.
A little-known fact is that, while some families were removed by force, a few others (who mostly had also become difficult to deal with) were allowed to stay after their properties were acquired, living in the park until nature took its course and they gradually died. The last to die was Annie Lee Bradley Shenk who died in 1979 at age 92. Most of the people displaced left their homes quietly. According to the Virginia Historical Society
, 85-year-old Hezekiah Lam explained, "I ain't so crazy about leavin' these hills but I never believed in bein' ag'in the Government. I signed everythin' they asked me." http://www.vahistory.org/shenandoah.html. Small family cemeteries were allowed to remain on the parkland, however. The lost communities and homes were a price paid for one of the country's most beautiful National Parks and scenic roadways. Seven new communities were created for the dislocated mountain people of the northern Blue Ridge
. The Library of Virginia
and Shenandoah National Park each have created exhibits that chronicle these mountain people and their lost homes.
In the eastern Virginia Peninsula
region, during World War I, Mulberry Island
in Warwick County
became part of Camp Abraham Eustis, later expanded and renamed Fort Eustis. Nearby, a large tract of land in York County
and a smaller portion of James City County
property occupied by many primarily African American
s along the former Yorktown-Williamsburg Road in the unincorporated town of Lackey
(locally known informally as "the Reservation") was taken to create a military base now known as Naval Weapons Station Yorktown
. Assisted by self-educated farmer and county magistrate, John Roberts, (born approximately 1860), and known locally as "Judge Roberts," many of the displaced residents of this area, which included landowners and tenants who were farmers and watermen were who able to obtain financial compensation and relocated to the community of Grove
in nearby James City County
, as well as other nearby communities. Also taken was the community of Halstead's Point
.
During World War II, the U.S. Navy
took over a large area in York County and a smaller area in James City County which became known as Camp Peary
. All residents of the entire towns of Magruder
and Bigler's Mill
were removed. Magruder had been named for Civil War Confederate
General John B. Magruder
, and a Civil War field hospital had occupied the site of Bigler's Mill. At Magruder, entire families and a church were compensated and relocated, with many again choosing Grove in nearby James City County. The Mt. Gilead Baptist Church on U.S. Route 60 in the Grove Community maintains cemeteries at both the old location (now on the closed base of Camp Peary) and the newer one.
Camp Peary later became well known as "The Farm," a training facility for joint forces in the U.S. military. Though the roads and structures are still there and occupied, access to the base is still restricted. It would be fair to say that the two towns are "lost" to Virginia, albeit for purposes of national defense. Also in 1943, the site of another nearby town, Penniman
, disappeared into the Cheatham Annex complex, which adjoins Camp Peary, and is part of the Naval Weapons Station Yorktown.
Likewise, in Northern Virginia
, a Resettlement Administration
program was begun to turn an area in Eastern Prince William County into a park for the nearby city of Washington, D.C.
that resulted in the loss of three towns: Batestown, Hickory Ridge
, and Joplin
. Though some residents persisted, this changed with the onset of World War II, with the parkland becoming an Office of Strategic Services
spy training facility. Similarly, nearby Marine Corps Base Quantico
expanded for the war effort, engulfing the town of Kopp
.
, created by Virginian Earl Hamner, Jr. The fictional Walton's Mountain was patterned after Hamner's hometown of Schuyler
in Nelson County
near Charlottesville
, all of are still there.
Shunpiker
s leaving Interstate 64
or U.S. Highway 29 a few miles away will be able to find Schuyler and the Walton's Mountain Museum, however. John Boy Walton's alma mater, Boatwright University, does not exist, though it bears a striking resemblance to the University of Richmond
.
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...
, and no longer retain the same form within its boundaries. The settlements, towns, and administrative units discussed here ceased to exist in a number of ways. A number of smaller settlements became extinct due to loss of population. In time, others changed names, ascended to higher levels (or occasionally, descended to lower levels) of autonomy, or were occasionally annexed by larger nearby units. At a higher level, large areas of Virginia were split off to form new states (Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, the product of a single Virginian county, and 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...
, made up of fifty), transferred to others as state boundaries were clarified, or came under the administration of the federal government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
. Finally, several locations listed here are entirely fictional, but are believed to have been real by the public, due to their mention in fictional works.
English settlement
After the European discovery of North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in the 15th century, European nations competed to establish colonies on the continent. In the late 16th century, the area claimed by England was well defined along the coast, but was very roughly marked in the west, extending from 34
34th parallel north
The 34th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 34 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America and the Atlantic Ocean....
to 48 degrees north
48th parallel north
The 48th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 48 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean....
latitude, or from the vicinity of Cape Fear in present-day North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
well into Acadia
Acadia
Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
. The English called this huge claim, parts of which other powers contested, "Virginia." In 1609, the northern border was reduced to 45 degrees north latitude on the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
coast, very close to the current coastal border between the U.S. and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh sent Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe
Arthur Barlowe
Arthur Barlowe was one of two British captains who, under the direction of Sir Walter Raleigh, left England in 1584 to find land in North America to claim for Queen Elizabeth I of England. His survives in a letter written to Raleigh as a report on their journey...
to explore the coast of present-day North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, and they returned with word of a regional Indigenous peoples of the Americas
Native
The term "native" can have many different social and political connotations in different contexts. In some cases it is a neutral, descriptive term, for example, when stating that one is a native of a particular city or that a certain language is one's native language...
chief named "Wingina." This name was given to the territory, and was shortly renamed "Virginia" by Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, perhaps in part due to her status as the "Virgin Queen." Raleigh's Roanoke Colony
Roanoke Colony
The Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island in Dare County, present-day North Carolina, United States was a late 16th-century attempt to establish a permanent English settlement in what later became the Virginia Colony. The enterprise was financed and organized by Sir Walter Raleigh and carried out by...
in the 1580s and the Virginia Company of Plymouth's Popham Colony
Popham Colony
The Popham Colony was a short-lived English colonial settlement in North America that was founded in 1607 and located in the present-day town of Phippsburg, Maine near the mouth of the Kennebec River by the proprietary Virginia Company of Plymouth...
in the 1600's (present-day Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
) both took place in what the English then called Virginia, and were both unsuccessful in establishing permanent footholds.
Jamestown
JamestownJamestown, 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...
was the first permanent English settlement in North America, and included what was thereafter "Virginia." (The Pilgrims and the Plymouth Company's successor finally established a permanent colony at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620, but by then the area was no longer part of Virginia. The region was christened "New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
" by Captain John Smith
John Smith of Jamestown
Captain John Smith Admiral of New England was an English soldier, explorer, and author. He was knighted for his services to Sigismund Bathory, Prince of Transylvania and friend Mózes Székely...
, who had played a crucial role in Jamestown's earliest years).
On May 14, 1607, the Virginia Company of London (competing with the Virginia Company of Plymouth) was the first to achieve a permanent settlement with the establishment of Jamestown Island. While favorable for defending from attacks by enemy ships, the location was poorly sited for supporting a substantial population, with brackish water
Brackish water
Brackish water is water that has more salinity than fresh water, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing of seawater with fresh water, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes from the Middle Dutch root "brak," meaning "salty"...
, little hunting game, and high risk of attacks by hostile Native American tribes. Jamestown's survival was uncertain for the first five years. During that time, it was dependent upon supply missions from England, and a majority of early colonists died.
The colony reached a low point during the "starving time"
Starving Time (Jamestown)
The Starving Time at Jamestown in the Colony of Virginia was a period of forced starvation initiated by the Powhatan Confederacy to remove the English from Virginia. The campaign killed all but 60 of the 500 colonists during the winter of 1609–1610....
in 1609-1610, when over 80% of the 500 colonists perished after the third supply mission was disrupted by a massive hurricane in the North Atlantic. However, with the arrival of new supplies, leadership in the person of Lord Delaware, and John Rolfe's
John Rolfe
John Rolfe was one of the early English settlers of North America. He is credited with the first successful cultivation of tobacco as an export crop in the Colony of Virginia and is known as the husband of Pocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Powhatan Confederacy.In 1961, the Jamestown...
successful cultivation of tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
for export
Export
The term export is derived from the conceptual meaning as to ship the goods and services out of the port of a country. The seller of such goods and services is referred to as an "exporter" who is based in the country of export whereas the overseas based buyer is referred to as an "importer"...
as a cash crop
Cash crop
In agriculture, a cash crop is a crop which is grown for profit.The term is used to differentiate from subsistence crops, which are those fed to the producer's own livestock or grown as food for the producer's family...
, Jamestown's prospects began to improve, and the new colony surrounding it survived.
Though Jamestown became a permanent settlement, it was largely abandoned as a population center a century later, when the capital was moved to higher ground at Middle Plantation
Middle Plantation
Middle Plantation in the Virginia Colony, was the unincorporated town established in 1632 that became Williamsburg in 1699. It was located on high ground about half-way across the Virginia Peninsula between the James River and York River. Middle Plantation represented the first major inland...
, soon renamed Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...
. Jamestown reverted to farmland until historic interest prompted preservation beginning in the late 19th century.
Other settlements
KecoughtanKecoughtan, Virginia
Kecoughtan in Virginia was originally named Kikotan , the name of the Algonquian Native Americans living there when the English colonists arrived in the Hampton Roads area in 1607....
, a better-sited location in the present-day 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,...
of Hampton
Hampton, Virginia
Hampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...
, was essentially stolen from Native Americans in 1610 by the English colonists, under the leadership of Sir Thomas Gates
Thomas Gates
Thomas Gates may refer to:*Sir Thomas Gates , of the Virginia Company, an early leader and governor of the Colony of Virginia*Thomas Sovereign Gates , U.S. educator, first president of the University of Pennsylvania...
. In the 21st century, through the old American Indian village of Kecoughtan, the City of Hampton lays claim to status as the oldest continually occupied settlement in the British Colonies
British America
For American people of British descent, see British American.British America is the anachronistic term used to refer to the territories under the control of the Crown or Parliament in present day North America , Central America, the Caribbean, and Guyana...
in what is now the United States.
For almost 400 years, hundreds of counties, cities, and towns were formed in the Colony of Virginia and later the Commonwealth of Virginia. It was generally the tradition of the English during the colonial period to establish large geographic units, and then to subsequently sub-divide them into smaller more manageable units. This two-phase process was conducted in order to establish legal claims to maximum territory. As areas were settled, the large territories were subdivided for a variety of reasons.
Extension to Bermuda
In 1609, the proprietary Virginia Company of London's Third Supply Mission to its Virginia Colony consisted of a fleet of nine ships, headed by the company's newly built flagshipFlagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
, the Sea Venture
Sea Venture
The Sea Venture was a 17th-century English sailing ship, the wrecking of which in Bermuda is widely thought to have been the inspiration for Shakespeare's The Tempest...
. Aboard the flagship, commanded by Vice Admiral Christopher Newport
Christopher Newport
Christopher Newport was an English seaman and privateer. He is best known as the captain of the Susan Constant, the largest of three ships which carried settlers for the Virginia Company in 1607 on the way to find the settlement at Jamestown in the Virginia Colony, which became the first permanent...
, was the Admiral of the fleet, Sir George Somers
George Somers
This article is about the English naval hero. For the American football player, see George Somers Admiral Sir George Somers was an English naval hero. Born in Lyme Regis, Dorset, the son of John Somers, his first fame came as part of an expedition led by Sir Amyas Preston against the Spanish...
, as well as Sir Thomas Gates
Thomas Gates
Thomas Gates may refer to:*Sir Thomas Gates , of the Virginia Company, an early leader and governor of the Colony of Virginia*Thomas Sovereign Gates , U.S. educator, first president of the University of Pennsylvania...
.
In the Atlantic Ocean, the fleet encountered a massive three-day storm, most likely now thought to have been a hurricane. Sighting land, Admiral Somers had the Sea Venture steered aground there to save it from sinking. All aboard survived but their ship was damaged beyond repair, and they had become separated from the others. They soon realized that they had become shipwreck
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
ed on the north-easternmost island of an uninhabited archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
, known as Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
.
They were stranded on the islands for 10 months. Two new ships were built to replace the Sea Venture with many parts used in their construction salvaged from the wrecked ship, which had been left "high and dry" on the reef when the storm abated. By 1610 the Deliverance and the Patience had been completed. Leaving two men behind to maintain England's claim on the islands, Somers set sail with the remainder from Bermuda for Jamestown. Those embarked included William Strachey
William Strachey
William Strachey was an English writer whose works are among the primary sources for the early history of the English colonisation of North America...
, whose account of the adventures of the Sea Ventures survivors may have inspired Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
The Tempest, and who would draft Virginia's first laws, and John Rolfe
John Rolfe
John Rolfe was one of the early English settlers of North America. He is credited with the first successful cultivation of tobacco as an export crop in the Colony of Virginia and is known as the husband of Pocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Powhatan Confederacy.In 1961, the Jamestown...
, who would found Virginia's tobacco industry, making the colony economically viable. John Rolfe left his first wife and son buried in Bermuda, but the widower was to find a second wife in the Native American daughter of Chief Powhatan
Chief Powhatan
Chief Powhatan , whose proper name was Wahunsenacawh , was the paramount chief of Tsenacommacah, an alliance of Algonquian-speaking Virginia Indians in the Tidewater region of Virginia at the time English settlers landed at Jamestown in 1607...
. He and 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...
became the parents of Thomas Rolfe
Thomas Rolfe
Thomas Rolfe was the only child of Pocahontas by her English husband, John Rolfe. His maternal grandfather was Wahunsunacock, the chief of Powhatan tribe in Virginia.-Early Life:Thomas Rolfe was born in Virginia...
, through whose descendants many First Families of Virginia
First Families of Virginia
First Families of Virginia were those families in Colonial Virginia who were socially prominent and wealthy, but not necessarily the earliest settlers. They originated with colonists from England who primarily settled at Jamestown, Williamsburg, and along the James River and other navigable waters...
trace their linage to both English and Native American roots.
On arrival in Virginia on May 23, 1610, Somers found the colony, headquartered at 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...
, decimated by what came to be called the Starving Time
Starving Time (Jamestown)
The Starving Time at Jamestown in the Colony of Virginia was a period of forced starvation initiated by the Powhatan Confederacy to remove the English from Virginia. The campaign killed all but 60 of the 500 colonists during the winter of 1609–1610....
. Starvation, illness and attacks by Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
had left fewer than 100 survivors of the 500 settlers of the previous autumn. It was decided to abandon the settlement, and the survivors were boarded onto the Deliverance and Patience. The timely arrival of another relief fleet (bearing Governor Lord De La Warre) granted the colony a reprieve. Somers returned to Bermuda aboard the Patience, but died there in 1610.
After reaching England, the reports of survivors of the Sea Venture aroused great interest about Bermuda. Two years later, in 1612, the Virginia Company's Royal Charter was extended to include the island, and a party of 60 settlers was sent, under the command of Sir Richard Moore, the island's first governor, to join the three men left by the Deliverance and Patience. They founded and commenced construction of the town of St. George.
The Virginia Company, finding the colony at Bermuda unprofitable, briefly handed its administration to the Crown in 1614. The following year, 1615, King James
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...
granted a charter to a new company, the Somers Isles Company
Somers Isles Company
The Somers Isles Company was formed in 1615 to operate the English colony of the Somers Isles, also known as Bermuda, as a commercial venture. It held a royal charter for Bermuda until 1684, when it was dissolved, and the Crown assumed responsibility for the administration of Bermuda as a royal...
, formed by the same shareholders, which ran the colony until it was dissolved in 1684 (The Virginia Company itself was dissolved after its charter was revoked in 1624). Representative government was introduced to Bermuda in 1620, when its House of Assembly
House of Assembly of Bermuda
The House of Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Bermuda. The house has 36 members, each elected for a five year term in a single seat constituencies....
held its first session, and it became a self-governing colony. So at the very least, from 1612 until 1614, Bermuda, also known as "Virgineola" and the "Somers Isles," was legally part of the Virginia Colony. Close connections continued for the following century and a half, with many Bermudians settling in Virginia, and wealthy Bermudian merchant families, such as the Tuckers http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/Autumn01/tucker.htm dominating trade through Virginia (and other Southern) ports.
Citties
In 1619, The Virginia Company of London divided up the settled portions of Virginia in North America into four large "burroughs," "citties" (sicSic
Sic—generally inside square brackets, [sic], and occasionally parentheses, —when added just after a quote or reprinted text, indicates the passage appears exactly as in the original source...
), or "incorporations." Kecoughtan (soon renamed Elizabeth Cittie) included the eastern portion of the Virginia Peninsula
Virginia Peninsula
The Virginia Peninsula is a peninsula in southeast Virginia, USA, bounded by the York River, James River, Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay.Hampton Roads is the common name for the metropolitan area that surrounds the body of water of the same name...
, as well as the entire area known in modern times as the Eastern Shore
Eastern Shore of Virginia
The Eastern Shore of Virginia consists of two counties on the Atlantic coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The region is part of the Delmarva Peninsula and is separated from the rest of Virginia by the Chesapeake Bay. Its population was 45,553 as of 2010...
as well as most of today's South Hampton Roads
South Hampton Roads
South Hampton Roads is a region located in the extreme southeastern portion of Virginia in the United States, and is part of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA with a population about 1.7 million....
. Each of the others extended to both sides of 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...
and even further.
These four citties were:
- Kecoughtan (later renamed Elizabeth Cittie)Elizabeth City (Virginia Company)Elizabeth City was one of four incorporations established in the Virginia Colony in 1619 by the proprietor, the Virginia Company of London, acting in accordance with instructions issued by Sir George Yeardley, Governor.The plantations and developments were divided into four political divisions,...
- James CittieJames City (Virginia Company)James City was one of four incorporations established in the Virginia Colony in 1619 by the proprietor, the Virginia Company. The plantations and developments were divided into four "incorporations" or " ", as they were called...
- Charles CittieCharles City (Virginia Company)Charles City was one of four incorporations established in the Virginia Colony in 1619 by the proprietor, the Virginia Company. The plantations and developments were divided into four "incorporations" or "citties" , as they were called. These were Charles City, Elizabeth City, Henrico City, and...
- Henrico CittieHenrico City (Virginia Company)Henrico City was one of four incorporations established in the Virginia Colony in 1619 North America by the proprietor, the Virginia Company. The plantations and developments were divided into four "incorporations" or "citties", as they were called. These were Charles City, Elizabeth City, Henrico...
It unclear whether this form of political organization survived the loss of the Virginia Company's charter in 1624, when Virginia became a Royal Colony. Representation in the House of Burgesses
House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses was the first assembly of elected representatives of English colonists in North America. The House was established by the Virginia Company, who created the body as part of an effort to encourage English craftsmen to settle in North America...
had been expanded as plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
s grew, and was more representative of population than the boundaries of the "citties," both before and after 1624.
Shires
In 1634, the local governmental unit of a "county" came to Virginia following the form of shireShire
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 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 concept as it was brought to North America, was to have an area of size such that legal matters such as recording land and property transfers, resolutions of disputes, and criminal matters could be handled at a "court
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
" within a day's journey of travel from all of its parts. As the population of counties grew, especially into more distant geographic extremities, many counties subdivided to form additional counties. Having counties composed of areas of common interests to the citizens became a more important factor as the distance one could travel in a single day increased. Throughout the United States, counties are generally the setting for local courts, and local courts are still the designated places for recording land transactions and resolving civil
Civil law (common law)
Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...
disputes and criminal
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
matters.
Each of the eight original shires of Virginia
Shires of Virginia
The eight Shires of Virginia were formed in 1634 in the Virginia Colony. These shires were based on a form of local government used in England at the time, and were redesignated as counties a few years later...
created in 1634 were renamed as counties only a few years later.
Note that including the earlier names of the 4 "citties" [sic] (created in 1619) and then changing "shire" to "county" in their names has long caused confusion. These actions led to seemingly contradictory names such as "James City County" and "Charles City County." In Virginia, with the unusual status of independent cities
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,...
to further confuse some, a locality can be one or the other, but not both.
- The oldest county, James City, which includes the location of the original 1607 settlement at JamestownJamestown, VirginiaJamestown 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...
, apparently attempted to address the potential for confusion long ago, as the legal name is the "County of James City."
- In 1952, the citizens of the now-extinct "Elizabeth City County"Elizabeth City County, VirginiaElizabeth City County was a county in southeastern Virginia from 1634 to 1952. Originally created in 1634 as Elizabeth River Shire, it was one of eight shires created in the Virginia Colony by order of the King of England. In 1636, it was subdivided, and the portion north of the harbor of Hampton...
voted to consolidate with the independent city of HamptonHampton, VirginiaHampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...
in 1952. They also voted to assume the better-known and less cumbersome name of Hampton.
Of these, as of 2007, five of the eight original shires are considered still extant in the Commonwealth of Virginia in essentially their same political form (county), though some boundaries and several names have changed in almost 400 years.
Independent cities
In Virginia, beginning in 1871, under state constitutional changes after the American Civil WarAmerican 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), cities became politically independent of the counties. 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 Virginia since then has been comparable to a county. Many agencies of the U.S. Government consider Virginia's independent cities county-equivalent
County-equivalent
A county-equivalent in the United States is a term used by the federal government to describe one of the two following governmental subdivisions:#A unit of local government in certain states which is comparable to a county as found in most states....
s.
Incorporated towns
In Virginia, incorporated townIncorporated town
-Canada:Incorporated towns are a form of local government in Canada, which is a responsibility of provincial rather than federal government.-United States:...
s are located within counties. The level of services and relationships with the county may vary to suit local preferences. Towns can initiate annexation suits against contiguous counties to expand their territory but cannot do so against other incorporated towns or independent cities. Some incorporated towns have become independent cities. There are prohibitions against forming new incorporated towns in some counties.
Unincorporated towns and communities
In Virginia, unincorporated townTown
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
s are essentially unincorporated communities without a formal political structure. They may also be called villages. Virginia does not officially recognize village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
s or unincorporated towns or communities as units of political subdivision of the state, unlike counties, independent cities, and incorporated towns. Township
Township (United States)
A township in the United States is a small geographic area. Townships range in size from 6 to 54 square miles , with being the norm.The term is used in three ways....
is also an unused term in Virginia.
In some independent cities of Virginia, areas that formerly were unincorporated towns are often called neighborhoods or communities of the same or similar names, to maintain their individual areas and identities.
Virginia in the present
, Virginia had 95 counties, 39 independent cities, and 190 incorporated towns. There are also hundreds of unincorporated towns in Virginia with their own identities.Some of the older counties that still operate under their earliest names (or with minor variation) are Charles City County
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...
, James City County
James City County, Virginia
James City County is a county located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. Its population was 67,009 , and it is often associated with Williamsburg, an independent city, and Jamestown which is within the...
and 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...
—each of which is one of the original eight shires
Shires of Virginia
The eight Shires of Virginia were formed in 1634 in the Virginia Colony. These shires were based on a form of local government used in England at the time, and were redesignated as counties a few years later...
(or counties) formed by the Virginia House of Burgesses
House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses was the first assembly of elected representatives of English colonists in North America. The House was established by the Virginia Company, who created the body as part of an effort to encourage English craftsmen to settle in North America...
(predecessor to 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,...
) and King Charles I of England
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
in 1634. Of these, with a substantial portion of the population claiming American Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
roots, Charles City County may have a good claim to being still in its earliest form in the 21st century. However, politically, that honor goes to James City County, the nation's oldest.
While dozens of other localities in Virginia also trace their roots to the 17th century, hundreds more have changed their names, were merged or been annexed by neighbors, are now located in other states, or for many other reasons no longer exist in Virginia.
Former areas of Virginia
Four other states (IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, and 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...
) include significant territories once part of Colonial Virginia, and other neighbors possess smaller such areas. Generally, the earliest border descriptions of Virginia were more specific regarding eastern edges and waterways, than about western extremities, enabling Virginia's initial expansion.
Maryland
In 1631, William ClaiborneWilliam Claiborne
William Claiborne was an English pioneer, surveyor, and an early settler in Virginia and Maryland. Claiborne became a wealthy planter, a trader, and a major figure in the politics of the colony...
of Jamestown established a trading post and settlement on the Isle of Kent
Kent Island, Maryland
Kent Island is the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay, and a historic place in Maryland. To the east, a narrow channel known as the Kent Narrows barely separates the island from the Delmarva Peninsula, and on the other side, the island is separated from Sandy Point, an area near Annapolis, by...
(today known as Kent Island) in the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
three years prior to the founding of the province of Maryland
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
. Following the colony's formation, ownership of the island was disputed between the two colonies, until Claiborne left Kent Island permanently in 1658. Virginia did not officially give up its claims however, until 1776. Today, Kent Island is part of Queen Anne's County, Maryland
Queen Anne's County, Maryland
Queen Anne's County is a county located on the Eastern Shore of the U.S. state of Maryland.As of 2010, the population was 47,798. Its county seat and most populous municipality is Centreville. The census-designated place of Stevensville is the county's most populous place...
.
Pennsylvania
There were many disputes over boundaries in western Virginia and PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
prior to 1780. Similar conflicts between Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and Pennsylvania were resolved by 1767 through the work of two men chosen by the sixth Lord Baltimore (for Maryland) and Thomas Penn
Thomas Penn
Thomas Penn was a son of William Penn, founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony that became the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Thomas Penn was born in Bristol, England after his father returned there in 1701 because of financial difficulties...
and his brother Richard Penn
Richard Penn, Sr.
Richard Penn was a proprietary and titular governor of the province of Pennsylvania and the counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex on the Delaware River....
(sons of William Penn
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
, and proprietors of Pennsylvania). Astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
Charles Mason
Charles Mason
Charles Mason was an English astronomer who made significant contributions to 18th-century science and American history, particularly through his involvement with the survey of the Mason-Dixon line, which came to mark the division between the northern and southern United States...
and surveyor Jeremiah Dixon
Jeremiah Dixon
Jeremiah Dixon was an English surveyor and astronomer who is perhaps best known for his work with Charles Mason, from 1763 to 1767, in determining what was later called the Mason-Dixon line....
came from England to do this work. The line they surveyed in 1766 and 1767 has since been known as the Mason-Dixon Line
Mason-Dixon line
The Mason–Dixon Line was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the resolution of a border dispute between British colonies in Colonial America. It forms a demarcation line among four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and...
. However, their authority extended west only as far as Western Maryland, and did not resolve border conflicts in the area known as Yohogania County. Virginia and Pennsylvania disputes there and elsewhere along the Virginia-Pennsylvania border areas continued throughout the remainder of the colonial period.
After the areas in dispute became part of the newly formed United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the new states of Virginia and Pennsylvania (each one of the first thirteen states that formed the union) soon reached an agreement, and most of Yohogania County became part of Pennsylvania in the 1780s under terms agreed of the state legislatures of both Virginia and Pennsylvania. A small remaining portion left in Virginia was too small to form a county, and was annexed to another Virginia county, Ohio County
Ohio County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 47,427 people, 19,733 households, and 12,155 families residing in the county. The population density was 447 people per square mile . There were 22,166 housing units at an average density of 209 per square mile...
. It is now Hancock County, West Virginia
Hancock County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 32,667 people, 13,678 households, and 9,506 families residing in the county. The population density was 394 people per square mile . There were 14,728 housing units at an average density of 178 per square mile...
and part of Brooke County, West Virginia
Brooke County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 25,447 people, 10,396 households, and 7,152 families residing in the county. The population density was 286 people per square mile . There were 11,150 housing units at an average density of 126 per square mile...
.
The areas of Yohogania County ceded to Pennsylvania included all of present-day Westmoreland County
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 369,993 people, 149,813 households, and 104,569 families residing in the county. The population density was 361 people per square mile . There were 161,058 housing units at an average density of 157 per square mile...
and parts of the present Allegheny
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Allegheny County is a county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,223,348; making it the second most populous county in Pennsylvania, following Philadelphia County. The county seat is Pittsburgh...
(including most of the city of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
), Beaver
Beaver County, Pennsylvania
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 181,412 people, 72,576 households, and 50,512 families residing in the county. The population density was 418 people per square mile . There were 77,765 housing units at an average density of 179 per square mile...
, Washington
Washington County, Pennsylvania
-Government and politics:As of November 2008, there are 152,534 registered voters in Washington County .* Democratic: 89,027 * Republican: 49,025 * Other Parties: 14,482...
, and Fayette
Fayette County, Pennsylvania
Fayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the2010 census, the population was 136,606. The county is part of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area....
Counties. Ohio and Monongalia Counties also lost territory that they claimed to Pennsylvania (Washington, Greene and Fayette Counties) in this realignment.
Illinois and Indiana
By the time the United States was formed late in the 18th century following the American Revolutionary WarAmerican 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 areas that formed Illinois and Indiana were all contained in only one Virginia county, which was named Illinois County.
In 1787, the future states of Indiana and Illinois became part of the original Northwest Territory
Northwest Territory
The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio...
, part of which was partially carved from land previously in the far western portions of Virginia. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 passed by the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
allowed for the creation of as many as five states in the northwest portion of the Ohio Valley on lines originally laid out in 1784 by Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
.
Known as the Northwest Territory (not to be confused with the Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
), the new federal lands were east of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, and between the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
and the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
. The region comprised more than 260000 square miles (673,396.9 km²). The ordinance defined the boundaries of the future states, excluded slavery, and required that 60,000 inhabitants be present for statehood. Ultimately, the territory was organized into the present states of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
.
Subdivided from the Northwest Territory, the Indiana Territory
Indiana Territory
The Territory of Indiana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1800, until November 7, 1816, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Indiana....
came into being in 1800, and included both Indiana and Illinois. In 1816, Indiana became the 19th state. In 1818, Illinois became the 21st state.
Kentucky
At the outbreak of the American Revolutionary WarAmerican 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...
, large numbers of Virginia settlers began migrating through the Cumberland Gap
Cumberland Gap
Cumberland Gap is a pass through the Cumberland Mountains region of the Appalachian Mountains, also known as the Cumberland Water Gap, at the juncture of the U.S. states of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia...
into what is now Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. Kentucky County
Kentucky County, Virginia
Kentucky County was formed by the Commonwealth of Virginia by dividing Fincastle County into three new counties: Kentucky, Washington, and Montgomery, effective December 31, 1776. Four years later Kentucky County was abolished on June 30, 1780, when it was divided into Fayette, Jefferson, and...
was formed in Virginia in 1776. Four years later it was divided into the Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln counties of Virginia. The Commonwealth of Kentucky (the Blue Grass State) was formed in its entirety from the Commonwealth of Virginia, being admitted to the Union as the fifteenth state in 1792.
List of lost counties
The ten Virginia counties "lost" in the formation of the new Commonwealth of Kentucky were (alphabetically):- Bourbon CountyBourbon County, KentuckyBourbon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the remnant of what was previously a much larger Bourbon County, established as part of Virginia in 1785, and comprising what are now thirty-four modern Kentucky counties...
- Fayette CountyFayette County, KentuckyFayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The population was 295,083 in the 2010 Census. Its territory, population and government are coextensive with the city of Lexington, which also serves as county seat....
- Jefferson CountyJefferson County, KentuckyAs of the census of 2000, there were 693,604 people, 287,012 households, and 183,113 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 305,835 housing units at an average density of...
- Kentucky CountyKentucky County, VirginiaKentucky County was formed by the Commonwealth of Virginia by dividing Fincastle County into three new counties: Kentucky, Washington, and Montgomery, effective December 31, 1776. Four years later Kentucky County was abolished on June 30, 1780, when it was divided into Fayette, Jefferson, and...
- Lincoln CountyLincoln County, KentuckyLincoln County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The population was 24,742 in the 2010 Cesus. Its county seat is Stanford. Lincoln is a prohibition or "dry county" and is part of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
- Madison CountyMadison County, KentuckyMadison County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2008, the population was 82,192. Its county seat is Richmond. The county is named for Virginia statesman James Madison, who later became the fourth President of the United States. This is also where famous pioneer Daniel...
- Mason CountyMason County, KentuckyMason County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 16,800. Its county seat is Maysville. The county is named for George Mason, a Virginia delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention, known as the "Father of the Bill of Rights"...
- Mercer CountyMercer County, KentuckyMercer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 20,817. Its county seat is Harrodsburg. The county is named for General Hugh Mercer...
- Nelson CountyNelson County, KentuckyNelson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2010, the population was 43,437. Its county seat is Bardstown. The county is part of the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY–IN Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
- Woodford CountyWoodford County, KentuckyWoodford County is a county located in the heart of the Bluegrass region of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 23,208. Its county seat is Versailles. The county is named for General William Woodford, who was with General George Washington at Valley Forge...
Many of these names were later reused to name other new Virginia counties. Some of those were "lost" again when the state of West Virginia was formed in 1863. It is somewhat ironic that Virginia has twice named counties for one of its most revered sons, Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
, and lost the county each time to the formation of another state.
West Virginia
Much as counties were subdivided as the population grew to maintain a government of a size and location both convenient and of citizens with common interests (at least to some degree), as Virginia grew, the portions that remained after the subdivision of Kentucky in 1776 became more populated. For the western areas, problems were the distance from the state seat of government in Richmond and the difference of common economic interests resultant from the tobacco and food crops farming, fishing, and coastal shipping on the Eastern Continental DivideEastern Continental Divide
The Eastern Continental Divide, in conjunction with other continental divides of North America, demarcates two watersheds of the Atlantic Ocean: the Gulf of Mexico watershed and the Atlantic Seaboard watershed. Prior to 1760, the divide represented the boundary between British and French colonial...
(waters that drain to the Atlantic Ocean) along the Allegheny Mountains
Allegheny Mountains
The Allegheny Mountain Range , also spelled Alleghany, Allegany and, informally, the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the eastern United States and Canada...
, and the interests of the western portion, which drained to the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
. The western area focused its commerce on neighbors to the west, and many citizens felt that the more populous eastern areas were too dominant in the State Legislature and insensitive to their needs. Major crises in the Virginia state government were averted during the period 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...
, but the underlying problems were fundamental and never well-resolved.
Though slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
was not the major economic issue for the western counties, which were much less dependent upon large scale labor-intensive farming than their eastern counterparts, states rights were an issue for the majority of Virginians, regardless of geographic location. The American Civil War brought Virginia's internal problems with eastern and western conflicting state governmental needs to resolution. The early occupation of the western lands by Union forces and Virginia's divided loyalties led to the formation of the new State of 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...
, which was admitted to the Union in 1863.
Though the Commonwealth of Virginia had lost only ten counties when Kentucky became state in 1776, the number of lost counties (and cities and towns) was much greater when West Virginia was subdivided. Some of these were names Virginia reused after Kentucky separated from Virginia.
List of lost counties
Listed alphabetically, the 50 counties of Virginia lost to the formation of West Virginia were:- Barbour CountyBarbour County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there are 15,557 people, 6,123 households, and 4,365 families residing in the county. The population density is 46 people per square mile . There are 7,348 housing units at an average density of 22 per square mile...
- Berkeley CountyBerkeley County, West VirginiaBerkeley County is a county located in the Eastern Panhandle region of the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2010, the population is 104,169, making it the second-most populous county in West Virginia, behind Kanawha...
- Boone CountyBoone County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 25,535 people, 10,291 households, and 7,460 families residing in the county. The population density was 51 people per square mile . There were 11,575 housing units at an average density of 23 per square mile...
- Braxton County
- Brooke CountyBrooke County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 25,447 people, 10,396 households, and 7,152 families residing in the county. The population density was 286 people per square mile . There were 11,150 housing units at an average density of 126 per square mile...
- Cabell CountyCabell County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 96,784 people, 41,180 households, and 25,490 families residing in the county. The population density was 344 people per square mile . There were 45,615 housing units at an average density of 162 per square mile...
- Calhoun CountyCalhoun County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 7,582 people, 3,071 households, and 2,201 families residing in the county. The population density was 27 people per square mile . There were 3,848 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile...
- Clay CountyClay County, West Virginia-External links:***...
- Doddridge CountyDoddridge County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 7,403 people, 2,845 households, and 2,102 families residing in the county. The population density was 23 people per square mile . There were 3,661 housing units at an average density of 11 per square mile...
- Fayette CountyFayette County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 47,579 people, 18,945 households, and 13,128 families residing in the county. The population density was 72 people per square mile . There were 21,616 housing units at an average density of 33 per square mile...
- Gilmer CountyGilmer County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 7,160 people, 2,768 households, and 1,862 families residing in the county. The population density was 21 people per square mile . There were 3,621 housing units at an average density of 11 per square mile...
- Greenbrier CountyGreenbrier County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 34,453 people, 14,571 households, and 9,922 families residing in the county. The population density was 34 people per square mile . There were 17,644 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile...
- Hampshire CountyHampshire County, West VirginiaHampshire County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 23,964. Its county seat is Romney, West Virginia's oldest town . Hampshire County was created by the Virginia General Assembly on December 13, 1753, from parts of Frederick and Augusta counties ...
- Hancock CountyHancock County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 32,667 people, 13,678 households, and 9,506 families residing in the county. The population density was 394 people per square mile . There were 14,728 housing units at an average density of 178 per square mile...
- Hardy CountyHardy County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 12,669 people, 5,204 households, and 3,564 families residing in the county. The population density was 22 people per square mile . There were 7,115 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile...
- Harrison CountyHarrison County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 68,652 people, 27,867 households, and 19,088 families residing in the county. The population density was 165 people per square mile . There were 31,112 housing units at an average density of 75 per square mile...
- Jackson County
- Jefferson CountyJefferson County, West VirginiaJefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 53,498. Its county seat is Charles Town...
- Kanawha CountyKanawha County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 200,073 people, 86,226 households, and 55,960 families residing in the county. The population density was 222 people per square mile . There were 93,788 housing units at an average density of 104 per square mile...
- Lewis CountyLewis County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 16,919 people, 6,946 households, and 4,806 families residing in the county. The population density was 44 people per square mile . There were 7,944 housing units at an average density of 21 per square mile...
- Logan CountyLogan County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 37,710 people, 14,880 households, and 10,936 families residing in the county. The population density was 83 people per square mile . There were 16,807 housing units at an average density of 37 per square mile...
- Marion CountyMarion County, West Virginia| style="float:right;"|As of the census of 2000, there were 56,598 people, 23,652 households, and 15,515 families residing in the county. The population density was 183 people per square mile . There were 26,660 housing units at an average density of 86 per square mile...
- Marshall CountyMarshall County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 35,519 people, 14,207 households, and 10,101 families residing in the county. The population density was 116 people per square mile . There were 15,814 housing units at an average density of 52 per square mile...
- Mason CountyMason County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 25,957 people, 10,587 households, and 7,569 families residing in the county. The population density was 60 people per square mile . There were 12,056 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...
- McDowell CountyMcDowell County, West VirginiaMcDowell County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The land that became McDowell was originally part of Tazewell County, Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,113. Its county seat is Welch. McDowell county is the southern-most county in the state, geographically...
- Mercer CountyMercer County, West Virginia-External links:* * * * * * *...
- Monongalia CountyMonongalia County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 81,866 people, 33,446 households, and 18,495 families residing in the county. The population density was 227 people per square mile . There were 36,695 housing units at an average density of 102 per square mile...
- Monroe CountyMonroe County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 14,583 people, 5,447 households, and 3,883 families residing in the county. The population density was 31 people per square mile . There were 7,267 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile...
- Morgan CountyMorgan County, West VirginiaMorgan County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2010, it's population was 17,541. Its county seat is Berkeley Springs. The county is one of three in Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area...
- Nicholas County
- Ohio CountyOhio County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 47,427 people, 19,733 households, and 12,155 families residing in the county. The population density was 447 people per square mile . There were 22,166 housing units at an average density of 209 per square mile...
- Pendleton CountyPendleton County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 8,196 people, 3,350 households, and 2,355 families residing in the county. The population density was 12 people per square mile . There were 5,102 housing units at an average density of 7 per square mile...
- Pleasants CountyPleasants County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 7,514 people, 2,887 households, and 2,136 families residing in the county. The population density was 58 people per square mile . There were 3,214 housing units at an average density of 25 per square mile...
- Pocahontas CountyPocahontas County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 9,131 people, 835 households, and 527 families residing in the county. The population density was 10 people per square mile . There were 7,594 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile...
- Preston CountyPreston County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 29,334 people, 11,544 households, and 8,357 families residing in the county. The population density was 45 people per square mile . There were 13,444 housing units at an average density of 21 per square mile...
- Putnam CountyPutnam County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 51,589 people, 20,028 households, and 15,281 families residing in the county. The population density was 149 people per square mile . There were 21,621 housing units at an average density of 62 per square mile...
- Raleigh CountyRaleigh County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 79,220 people, 31,793 households, and 22,096 families residing in the county. The population density was 130 people per square mile . There were 35,678 housing units at an average density of 59 per square mile...
- Randolph CountyRandolph County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 28,262 people, 11,072 households, and 7,661 families residing in the county. The population density was 27 people per square mile . There were 13,478 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...
- Ritchie CountyRitchie County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 10,343 people, 4,184 households, and 2,999 families residing in the county. The population density was 23 people per square mile . There were 5,513 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile...
- Roane CountyRoane County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 15,446 people, 6,161 households, and 4,479 families residing in the county. The population density was 32 people per square mile . There were 7,360 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile...
- Taylor CountyTaylor County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 16,089 people, 6,320 households, and 4,487 families residing in the county. The population density was 93 people per square mile . There were 7,125 housing units at an average density of 41 per square mile...
- Tucker CountyTucker County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 7,321 people, 3,052 households, and 2,121 families residing in the county. The population density was 18 people per square mile . There were 4,634 housing units at an average density of 11 per square mile...
- Tyler County
- Upshur CountyUpshur County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 23,404 people, 8,972 households, and 6,352 families residing in the county. The population density was 66 people per square mile . There were 10,751 housing units at an average density of 30 per square mile...
- Wayne CountyWayne County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 42,903 people, 17,239 households, and 12,653 families residing in the county. The population density was 85 people per square mile . There were 19,107 housing units at an average density of 38 per square mile...
- Webster County
- Wetzel CountyWetzel County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 17,693 people, 7,164 households, and 5,079 families residing in the county. The population density was 49 people per square mile . There were 8,313 housing units at an average density of 23 per square mile...
- Wirt CountyWirt County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 5,873 people, 2,284 households, and 1,699 families residing in the county. The population density was 25 people per square mile . There were 3,266 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile...
- Wood CountyWood County, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 87,986 people, 36,275 households, and 24,884 families residing in the county. The population density was 240 people per square mile . There were 39,785 housing units at an average density of 108 per square mile...
- Wyoming CountyWyoming County, West VirginiaWyoming County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 23,796. Its county seat is Pineville. Wyoming County was created in 1850 from Logan County and named for the Delaware Indian word meaning "large plains."-Geography:According to the U.S...
In 1866, Virginia unsuccessfully challenged in the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
the secessions of Berkeley and Jefferson Counties.
List of lost cities and towns
Also lost to Virginia with the formation of West Virginia were many cities and towns. A partial listing of these (there were many more) is:- BeckleyBeckley, West VirginiaBeckley is a city in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States, which was founded on April 4, 1838. The 2008 population was estimated to be 16,832 by the U.S. Census Bureau. Early in its history, the town was known as Beckleyville and Raleigh Court House...
- Bath (Berkeley Springs)
- BeverlyBeverly, West VirginiaBeverly is a small town in Randolph County, West Virginia, USA. It is situated along the Tygart Valley River and had a population of 651 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Beverly is located at ....
- Capon SpringsCapon Springs, West VirginiaCapon Springs is an unincorporated hamlet in Hampshire County, West Virginia, USA. According to the 2000 census, the Capon Springs community has a population of 95....
- Charles TownCharles Town, West VirginiaCharles Town is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,907 at the 2000 census. Due to its similar name, travelers have sometimes confused this city with the state's capital, Charleston.-History:...
- CharlestonCharleston, West VirginiaCharleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
- ClarksburgClarksburg, West VirginiaClarksburg is a city in and the county seat of Harrison County, West Virginia, United States, in the north-central region of the state. It is the principal city of the Clarksburg, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area...
- FairmontFairmont, West VirginiaFairmont is a city in Marion County, West Virginia, United States. Nicknamed "The Friendly City". The population was 18,704 at the 2010 census...
- FayettevilleFayetteville, West VirginiaFayetteville is a town in and the county seat of Fayette County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,754 at the 2000 census.Fayetteville was listed as one of the 2006 "Top 10 Coolest Small Towns in America" by Budget Travel Magazine ....
- FrankfortFort Ashby, West VirginiaFort Ashby is an census-designated place in Mineral County, West Virginia along Patterson Creek. It is part of the 'Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area'. The population was 1,380 at the 2010 census...
- FranklinFranklin, West VirginiaFranklin is a town in Pendleton County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 797 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Pendleton County...
- GerrardstownGerrardstown, West VirginiaGerrardstown is an unincorporated village located along West Virginia Route 51 in Berkeley County in the U.S. state of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. It was laid out in 1784 by David Gerrard and served as the site of the first Baptist church west of the Blue Ridge Mountains...
- GraftonGrafton, West VirginiaGrafton is a city in, and county seat of, Taylor County, West Virginia, USA. The population was 5,489 at the 2000 census. The only two national cemeteries in West Virginia are located in Grafton. Mother's Day was founded in Grafton on May 10, 1908; the city is the home to the International Mother's...
- Harper's Ferry
- HarrisvilleHarrisville, West VirginiaHarrisville is a town in Ritchie County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,842 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Ritchie County...
- HedgesvilleHedgesville, West VirginiaHedgesville is a town in Berkeley County in the U.S. state of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. The population was 240 at the 2000 census. The Town of Hedgesville was laid out in 1832 along the old Warm Springs Road and named for the prominent local Hedges family...
- LewisburgLewisburg, West VirginiaLewisburg is a city in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 3,830 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Greenbrier County.-Geography:Lewisburg is located at ....
- MartinsburgMartinsburg, West VirginiaMartinsburg is a city in the Eastern Panhandle region of West Virginia, United States. The city's population was 14,972 at the 2000 census; according to a 2009 Census Bureau estimate, Martinsburg's population was 17,117, making it the largest city in the Eastern Panhandle and the eighth largest...
- MoorefieldMoorefield, West VirginiaMoorefield is a town in Hardy County, West Virginia, USA. Moorefield is the county seat of Hardy County. It was originally chartered in 1777 and named for Conrad Moore, who owned the land upon which the town was laid out...
- MoundsvilleMoundsville, West VirginiaMoundsville is a city in Marshall County, West Virginia, along the Ohio River. It is part of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 9,998 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marshall County. The city was named for the Grave Creek Mound. Moundsville was settled in...
- MorgantownMorgantown, West VirginiaMorgantown is a city in Monongalia County, West Virginia. It is the county seat of Monongalia County. Placed along the banks of the Monongahela River, Morgantown is the largest city in North-Central West Virginia, and the base of the Morgantown metropolitan area...
- New CumberlandNew Cumberland, West VirginiaNew Cumberland is a city in Hancock County, West Virginia, USA, along the Ohio River. It is the county seat and is part of the Weirton–Steubenville, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,099 as of the 2000 census.-History:...
- North River MillsNorth River Mills, West VirginiaNorth River Mills is a historic unincorporated village in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. North River Mills is located between Capon Bridge and Slanesville on Cold Stream Road at its intersection with North River Road...
- ParkersburgParkersburg, West VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 33,099 people, 14,467 households, and 8,767 families residing in the city. In 2006 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that Parkersburg's population had decreased 4.4% to 31,755. The population density was 2,800.5 people per square mile . There were 16,100 housing...
- Paw PawPaw Paw, West VirginiaPaw Paw is a town in Morgan County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 524 at the 2000 census. The town is known for the nearby Paw Paw Tunnel. Paw Paw was incorporated by the Circuit Court of Morgan County on April 8, 1891 and named for the pawpaw, a wild fruit which formerly grew in...
- PhilippiPhilippi, West VirginiaPhilippi is a city in — and the county seat of — Barbour County, West Virginia, USA. The population was 2,870 at the 2000 census. In 1861, the city was the site of the Battle of Philippi, known as "The Philippi Races"...
- PiedmontPiedmont, West VirginiaPiedmont is a town in Mineral County, West Virginia, United States. It is part of the 'Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area'. The population was 1,014 at the 2000 census. Piedmont was chartered in 1856...
- Point PleasantPoint Pleasant, West VirginiaPoint Pleasant is a city in Mason County, West Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers. The population was 4,637 at the 2000 census...
- PrincetonPrinceton, West VirginiaPrinceton is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 7,652 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bluefield, WV-VA micropolitan area which has a population of 111,586. It is the county seat of Mercer County...
- RipleyRipley, West VirginiaRipley is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, West Virginia, United States.-Geography:Ripley is located at , along Mill Creek....
- RomneyRomney, West VirginiaRomney is a city in and the county seat of Hampshire County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,940 at the 2000 census, while the area covered by the city's ZIP code had a population of 5,873. It is a city with a very historic background dating back to the 18th century...
- ShepherdstownShepherdstown, West VirginiaShepherdstown is a town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States, located along the Potomac River. It is the oldest town in the state, having been chartered in 1762 by Colonial Virginia's General Assembly. Since 1863, Shepherdstown has been in West Virginia, and is the oldest town in...
- SpringfieldSpringfield, West VirginiaSpringfield is an unincorporated census-designated place in northwestern Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2010 census, Springfield had a population of 477. Springfield is located north of Romney along West Virginia Route 28 at its junction with Green Spring Road and...
- St. GeorgeSt. George, West VirginiaSt. George is the unincorporated original county seat of Tucker County, West Virginia.It is located on Cheat River where it is joined by Minear Run.-History:Originally known as Fort Minear and then as Westernford, St...
- St. MarysSt. Marys, West VirginiaSt. Marys is a city in Pleasants County, West Virginia, in the United States. The population was 2,017 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Pleasants County. St. Marys was established in 1849 by Alexander Creel, who is said to have had a vision of Mary while passing the townsite by boat...
- SummersvilleSummersville, West VirginiaSummersville is a town in Nicholas County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 3,194 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Nicholas County.-Geography:...
- UnionUnion, West VirginiaUnion is a town in Monroe County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 548 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Monroe County.-History:...
- WestonWeston, West VirginiaWeston is a city in Lewis County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 4,317 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lewis County, and home to the West Virginia Museum of American Glass.-History:...
- WheelingWheeling, West VirginiaWheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...
- White Sulphur SpringsWhite Sulphur Springs, West VirginiaWhite Sulphur Springs is a city in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,444 at the 2010 census.-Geography:White Sulphur Springs is located at ....
Summary
By the time Virginia drafted a new state constitution during Reconstruction, 62 former counties had become located in other states. Of course, many cities and towns were "lost" in those areas as well.Areas now in Virginia
Virginia began "losing" counties, cities, and towns as almost as early as they were formed. The reasons, some known and some unknown, vary widely. The very first town, JamestownJamestown, 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...
, first settled in 1607, is probably the best known of all of these.
Due to patterns of commerce and development
Over the period from the beginning of the 17th century through modern times, much of the development of Virginia, as well as the establishment and major changes in communities were relative to patterns of commerce and transportation. For the Native Americans and early European settlers, the natural waterways were the principal paths of commerce, and communities were often located along them. Former Indian trails, often no larger than footpaths, evolved into stagecoach routes. The lessons of floods joined advancements in bridge-building to modify the viability of some locations. The construction of canalCanal
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 expanded the reach of water-borne traffic.
During the first half of the 19th century, the emerging technology of railroads dramatically impacted the economics associated with transportation. Hundreds of new locations were established to service either the railroads' operating requirements, such as fuel and water, and/or the needs of freight and passenger services. By the early 20th century, the emergence of automobiles and motor vehicles supplanted some of the earlier uses of waterways and railroads, adding even more locations in some instances, even as activities at many of the older locations withered, to the extent that some were completely abandoned.
Naming of locations often related to prominent local families, financiers in some cases, and frequently utilized nearby geographic features. With the inception of Rural Free Delivery of the U.S. Mail, some names were changed to avoid confusion from duplications and similarities.
Voluntary status changes
Virginia law provides several mechanisms for changing the status of a locality. It is possible for an entity to change so that it has either greater or fewer local powers and responsibilities.Unincorporated towns or communities in some counties may become incorporated towns, which are still within the respective county. Incorporated towns may become independent cities. Any of the above may act to merge or consolidate with a neighbor.
Likewise, it is possible to simplify status. Incorporated towns may relinquish their charters. Some independent cities have been allowed to revert to incorporated town status and rejoin contiguous counties.
Annexation, consolidation
Virginia law provides for incorporated towns and independent cities to have the power to annex portions of contiguous localities at a lesser level. For example, incorporated towns may seek unincorporated territory in a county. Independent cities may seek additional unincorporated territory in a county or territory located in an incorporated town. Independent cities may not seek annexation from each other.Many leaders have felt that Virginia's annexation laws are a barrier to regional cooperation among localities, creating an air of mistrust, and a feeling among citizens that such changes often take place against their will. Many of the state's needs may be met best through regional cooperation, which is discouraged by annexation issues. As of 2007, a moratorium on many major annexations has been in place since the late 20th century by actions in 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,...
.
Consolidation of counties, cities, and towns is also possible, but only as authorized by special legislation of the Virginia General Assembly. The last wave of consolidations took place in the Hampton Roads area between 1952 and 1976.
Jamestown
The first English settlers in Virginia chose Jamestown Island largely because they had been advised by the Virginia CompanyVirginia Company
The Virginia Company refers collectively to a pair of English joint stock companies chartered by James I on 10 April1606 with the purposes of establishing settlements on the coast of North America...
to select a location that was easily defensible. An additional benefit of the site was that the land was not occupied by Indians
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
(Native Americans). This was largely due to the inhospitable terrain and poor conditions, which also caused most of the early settlers to die of disease and starvation. Jamestown was abandoned for the first time for only a day. In the late spring of 1610, following a winter that became known as the Starving Time, the surviving settlers packed up and set sail down the James River toward Hampton Roads, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean. They encountered a new supply convoy headed for Jamestown on an expedition led by the new governor appointed by King James, Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr
Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr
Thomas West, 3rd and 12th Baron De La Warr was the Englishman after whom the bay, the river, and, consequently, an American Indian people and U.S. state, all later called "Delaware", were named....
. Among the group leaving was a young businessman named John Rolfe
John Rolfe
John Rolfe was one of the early English settlers of North America. He is credited with the first successful cultivation of tobacco as an export crop in the Colony of Virginia and is known as the husband of Pocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Powhatan Confederacy.In 1961, the Jamestown...
, who had lost both his wife and small child since leaving England. Despite his misfortune to that point, Rolfe possessed experimental seeds for a tobacco strain that became key to the colony's economic survival. The settlement began to prosper by 1617, and became the capital of the colony in 1619 when the House of Burgesses
House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses was the first assembly of elected representatives of English colonists in North America. The House was established by the Virginia Company, who created the body as part of an effort to encourage English craftsmen to settle in North America...
was established.
Despite Virginia's successes, Jamestown had a troublesome climate, lacked a natural source of fresh water, and was plagued by mosquitoes. The statehouse burned several times and was, nevertheless, rebuilt. However, after yet another fire in the 1690s, the capital was relocated in 1699 to Middle Plantation
Middle Plantation
Middle Plantation in the Virginia Colony, was the unincorporated town established in 1632 that became Williamsburg in 1699. It was located on high ground about half-way across the Virginia Peninsula between the James River and York River. Middle Plantation represented the first major inland...
, on higher ground about 12 miles (20 km) east, soon renamed Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg is the private foundation representing the historic district of the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. The district includes buildings dating from 1699 to 1780 which made colonial Virginia's capital. The capital straddled the boundary of the original shires of Virginia —...
. The town-like settlement at Jamestown was finally abandoned shortly thereafter.
Most of the area soon reverted to its natural state and actually became an island as the isthmus was severed by weather events at an unrecorded later date. By the 1750s, the land was a heavily cultivated plantation, and remained mostly farmland until 1892.
In 1892, Jamestown was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Edward Barney. The following year, the Barneys donated 2½ acres of land, including the 1639 church tower, to Preservation Virginia (formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities). By that time, erosion from the river had eaten away the island's western shore. Visitors began to conclude that the site of James Fort lay completely underwater. With federal assistance, a sea wall was constructed in 1900 to protect the area from further erosion.
Colonial National Monument was authorized by the U.S. Congress on July 3, 1930. It was established on December 30, 1930. On June 5, 1936, it was re-designated a national historical park
National Historical Park
National Historic Sites are protected areas of national historic significance in the United States. A National Historic Site usually contains a single historical feature directly associated with its subject...
, and became known as Colonial National Historical Park
Colonial National Historical Park
Colonial National Historical Park is located in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia and is operated by the National Park Service of the United States government...
.
In 1934, the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
obtained the remaining 1500 acre (6.1 km²) portion of Jamestown Island that had been under private ownership. The National Park Service partnered with the APVA to preserve the area and present it to visitors in an educational manner.
In 1957, for the 350th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, the National Park Service restored the isthmus to Jamestown Island, making it accessible as a peninsula once again and the Commonwealth of Virginia built Jamestown Festival Park. The island and the former Festival park remained as a permanent attractions after the 1957 celebration, and with many enhancements, are now known respectively as Historic Jamestowne
Historic Jamestowne
Historic Jamestowne is the official name used for promotional purposes for the original site of the 1607 James Fort and the later 17th century city of Jamestown. It is located on the James River at Jamestown, Virginia and operated as a partnership between Preservation Virginia and the U.S...
and Jamestown Settlement
Jamestown Settlement
Jamestown Settlement is a name used by the Commonwealth of Virginia's portion of the historical sites and museums at Jamestown. Jamestown was the first successful English settlement on the mainland of North America...
.
The archaeological remains of the original 1607 fort, which had been protected by the sea wall, were discovered in 1994 by the Jamestown Rediscovery
Jamestown Rediscovery
Jamestown Rediscovery is an archaeological project of Preservation Virginia investigating the remains of the original settlement at Jamestown established in the Virginia Colony beginning on May 14, 1607. The period under study was from 1607-1698.Preservation Virginia archaeologist Dr...
project. Additional significant archaeological discoveries have shed even more light upon the early days of Jamestown in the years since, and the work is ongoing.
Jamestown has been reborn in a way, but it remains an historical site and not an actively inhabited town. Normally only the wildlife and perhaps security personnel from the U.S. Park Police
United States Park Police
The United States Park Police is one of the oldest uniformed federal law enforcement agencies in the United States. It functions as a full service law enforcement agency with responsibilities and jurisdiction in those National Park Service areas primarily located in the Washington, D.C., San...
regularly spend the night on the island.
Eight lost shires
Since there are currently no "shireShire
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" in Virginia, and there have been none since the terminology was changed to "county" within a few years of their creation in 1634, all could be considered lost to posterity, at least in name. However, of the eight shires of Virginia
Shires of Virginia
The eight Shires of Virginia were formed in 1634 in the Virginia Colony. These shires were based on a form of local government used in England at the time, and were redesignated as counties a few years later...
created by the Virginia House of Burgesses
House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses was the first assembly of elected representatives of English colonists in North America. The House was established by the Virginia Company, who created the body as part of an effort to encourage English craftsmen to settle in North America...
(predecessor to 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,...
) and King Charles I of England in 1634, five still exist in their original political form as counties in Virginia as of 2006, though all have lost some area and some have endured name changes. Some of their courthouses contain land records and other documents that predate the shires of 1634, though some were heavily damaged during the 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...
and 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...
, which both took a heavy toll on eastern Virginia.
Extant as of 2008
The five still-existing original shires of Virginia are:- Charles City ShireCharles City ShireCharles City Shire was formed in 1634 in the Virginia colony. It was named for Charles I, the then King of England, and was renamed Charles City County in 1637.-History:...
(1634–1642-43) became Charles City CountyCharles City County, VirginiaAs 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... - Charles River ShireCharles River ShireCharles River Shire was one of eight shires of Virginia created in the Virginia Colony in 1634.During the 17th century, shortly after establishment of Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, English settlers and explored and began settling the areas adjacent to Hampton Roads...
(1634–1643) became Charles River County in 1636, then York CountyYork County, VirginiaYork County is a county located on the north side of the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. Situated on the York River and many tributaries, the county seat is the unincorporated town of Yorktown... - James City ShireJames City ShireJames City Shire was formed in the British colony of Virginia in 1634.During the 17th century, shortly after establishment of Jamestown in 1607, English settlers and explored and began settling the areas adjacent to Hampton Roads....
(1634–1636) became James City CountyJames City County, VirginiaJames City County is a county located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. Its population was 67,009 , and it is often associated with Williamsburg, an independent city, and Jamestown which is within the... - Henrico Shire (1634–1642) became Henrico CountyHenrico County, VirginiaHenrico 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...
- Warrosquyoake ShireWarrosquyoake ShireWarrosquoake Shire was officially formed in 1634 in the Virginia colony, but had already been known as "Warascoyack County" before this...
(1634–1637) became Isle of Wight CountyIsle of Wight County, VirginiaAs of the census of 2010, there were 35,270 people, 11,319 households, and 8,670 families residing in the county. The population density was 94 people per square mile . There were 12,066 housing units at an average density of 38 per square mile...
Extinct as of 2008
The three original shires of Virginia that no longer exist in their original political form are:- Accomac ShireAccomac ShireAccomac Shire was established in the Virginia Colony by the House of Burgesses in 1634 under the direction of King Charles I. It was one of the original eight shires of Virginia. The shire's name comes from the Native American word Accawmack....
(1634–1643) (extinct) - Elizabeth River Shire (1634–1636) became Elizabeth City ShireElizabeth City ShireElizabeth City Shire was one of eight shires created in colonial Virginia in 1634. The shire and the Elizabeth River were named for Elizabeth of Bohemia, daughter of King James I....
in 1636, and then Elizabeth City CountyElizabeth City County, VirginiaElizabeth City County was a county in southeastern Virginia from 1634 to 1952. Originally created in 1634 as Elizabeth River Shire, it was one of eight shires created in the Virginia Colony by order of the King of England. In 1636, it was subdivided, and the portion north of the harbor of Hampton...
(now extinct) - Warwick River ShireWarwick River ShireWarwick River Shire was one of eight shires created in colonial Virginia in 1634. It was located on the Virginia Peninsula on the northern shore of the James River between Hampton Roads and the Jamestown Settlement....
(1634–1643) became Warwick CountyWarwick County, VirginiaWarwick County was a county in Southeast Virginia that was created from Warwick River Shire, one of eight created in the Virginia Colony in 1634. It became the City of Warwick on July 16, 1952...
, later City of WarwickWarwick, VirginiaWarwick is an extinct independent city which was located in the State of Virginia in the United States from 1952 until 1958. Formed by a political conversion of the former Warwick County, Virginia , it is now part of the independent city of Newport News, Virginia.-History:Warwick River Shire, named...
(now extinct)
Nineteen lost counties
19 counties once located in parts of Virginia that are still within the state either no longer exist or radically changed their names.One of these, Alexandria County (not to be confused with the City of Alexandria
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
) left Virginia for approximately 56 years (1791–1847) to become part of the District of Columbia. 74 years after its retrocession to Virginia
Retrocession (District of Columbia)
District of Columbia retrocession is the process of returning the land that was given to the federal government for the original purpose of creating the national capital. The District of Columbia was formed in 1791 from of land ceded by the states of Maryland and Virginia in accordance with the...
, its name was changed to its present name, Arlington County
Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal capital district. On February 27, 1801, the United States Congress organized the area as a subdivision of...
. At only 26 square miles (67.3 km²), it is Virginia's smallest county in land area (and by some reckonings, the smallest county in the United States).
Two other current counties in the state re-used the names of older lost counties. These newer counties (one name earlier lost to Kentucky, the other on the following list) are respectively, Madison and Rappahannock. Both the newer counties of that name are located in Virginia's Piedmont region.
The extinct counties of Virginia (alphabetically)are:
- Alexandria County (1749–1791) and (1846–1920) (was part of the District of Columbia 1791-1846), changed its name to become Arlington County in 1920
- Charles River County (1637–1643) renamed York County
- Dunmore County (1772–1778) renamed Shenandoah County
- Elizabeth City CountyElizabeth City County, VirginiaElizabeth City County was a county in southeastern Virginia from 1634 to 1952. Originally created in 1634 as Elizabeth River Shire, it was one of eight shires created in the Virginia Colony by order of the King of England. In 1636, it was subdivided, and the portion north of the harbor of Hampton...
(1643-1952) consolidated with the Town of PhoebusPhoebus, VirginiaPhoebus was an incorporated town located in Elizabeth City County on the Virginia Peninsula in eastern Virginia. Upon incorporation in 1900, it was named in honor of local businessman Harrison Phoebus , who is credited with convincing the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway to extend its tracks to the...
into the independent City of HamptonHampton, VirginiaHampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts... - Fincastle County (1772–1776) divided into Montgomery CountyMontgomery County, VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 83,629 people, 30,997 households, and 17,203 families residing in the county. The population density was 215 people per square mile . There were 32,527 housing units at an average density of 84 per square mile...
, Washington CountyWashington County, VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 51,103 people, 21,056 households, and 14,949 families residing in the county. The population density was 91 people per square mile . There were 22,985 housing units at an average density of 41 per square mile...
, and Kentucky County (the latter of which later became the state of Kentucky) - Lower Norfolk County (1637–1691) divided in Norfolk CountyNorfolk County, VirginiaNorfolk County was a county of the South Hampton Roads in eastern Virginia in the United States that was created in 1691. After the American Civil War, for a period of about 100 years, portions of Norfolk County were lost and the territory of the county reduced as they became parts of the separate...
and Princess Anne CountyPrincess Anne County, VirginiaPrincess Anne County is a former county which was created in the British Colony of Virginia and the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States in 1691. The county was merged into the city of Virginia Beach... - Nansemond CountyNansemond County, VirginiaNansemond County is an extinct county which was located in Virginia Colony and the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States, from 1646 until 1972...
(1646-1972) became the independent City of NansemondNansemond, VirginiaNansemond is an extinct independent city which was located in the State of Virginia in the United States from 1972 until 1974. It was created from Nansemond County, Virginia, and is now part of the independent city of Suffolk, Virginia.-History:...
(later consolidated with Suffolk) - New Norfolk County (1636–1637) divided into Lower Norfolk County and Upper Norfolk County
- Norfolk County (1691–1963) consolidated with the independent City of South NorfolkSouth Norfolk, VirginiaSouth Norfolk was an independent city in the South Hampton Roads region of eastern Virginia and is now a section of the City of Chesapeake, one of the cities of Hampton Roads which surround the harbor of Hampton Roads and are linked by the Hampton Roads Beltway.-History:Located a few miles south of...
to form the independent City of ChesapeakeChesapeake, VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 199,184 people, 69,900 households, and 54,172 families residing in the city. The population density was 584.6 people per square mile . There were 72,672 housing units at an average density of 213.3 per square mile... - Patrick Henry CountyPatrick Henry County, VirginiaPatrick Henry County is an extinct county which was established in Virginia in 1777. It was named in honor of Virginia patriot, Patrick Henry, who was serving as the first Governor of Virginia following the Declaration of Independence at the time....
(1777–1790) was split into two counties, the western part becoming Patrick CountyPatrick County, VirginiaPatrick County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 18,490. Its county seat is Stuart. It is located within both the rolling hills and valleys of the Piedmont Region of Virginia and mountainous Southwest Virginia....
and the rest becoming Henry CountyHenry County, VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 57,930 people, 23,910 households, and 16,952 families residing in the county. The population density was 152 people per square mile . There were 25,921 housing units at an average density of 68 per square mile...
. - Princess Anne CountyPrincess Anne County, VirginiaPrincess Anne County is a former county which was created in the British Colony of Virginia and the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States in 1691. The county was merged into the city of Virginia Beach...
(1691–1963) consolidated with the independent City of Virginia BeachVirginia Beach, VirginiaVirginia 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... - Rappahannock County (1656–1692) divided into Essex CountyEssex County, VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 9,989 people, 3,995 households, and 2,740 families residing in the county. The population density was 39 people per square mile . There were 4,926 housing units at an average density of 19 per square mile...
and Richmond CountyRichmond County, VirginiaRichmond County is a county located on the Northern Neck in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state in the United States. As of 2010, the population was 9,254. Its county seat is Warsaw. The rural county should not be confused with the large city and state capital Richmond, Virginia, which is over...
(not to be confused with the current capital city of the same name located elsewhere in Virginia) (also not to be confused with the current Rappahannock CountyRappahannock County, VirginiaAs of the census of 2010, there were 7,373 people, 2,788 households, and 2,004 families residing in the county. The population density was 26 people per square mile . There were 3,303 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile...
, founded in 1833, located in the northwestern portion of the state) - Upper Norfolk County (1637–1646) became Nansemond County
- Warwick CountyWarwick County, VirginiaWarwick County was a county in Southeast Virginia that was created from Warwick River Shire, one of eight created in the Virginia Colony in 1634. It became the City of Warwick on July 16, 1952...
(1643-1952) became the independent City of WarwickWarwick, VirginiaWarwick is an extinct independent city which was located in the State of Virginia in the United States from 1952 until 1958. Formed by a political conversion of the former Warwick County, Virginia , it is now part of the independent city of Newport News, Virginia.-History:Warwick River Shire, named...
(later consolidated with Newport News)
Six extinct independent cities
Six Virginia cities are now considered extinct. These should not be confused with many small developments in the 17th century that were called "cities," but in modern terminology were towns.Virginia laws enacted late in the 20th century enabled smaller independent cities to revert (or convert) to town status, which included rejoining a county. Advocates considered this option as a potential way to streamline local governmental structure. As of 2007, two small independent cities had done so and several others were reported considering it.
The "lost" independent cities of Virginia (alphabetically) were:
- City of Clifton ForgeClifton Forge, VirginiaClifton Forge is a town in Alleghany County, Virginia, United States which is part of the Roanoke Region. The population was 3,884 at the 2010 census. The Jackson River flows through the town, which as a result was once known as Jackson's River Station....
(1906–2001) reverted to become an incorporated town in Alleghany CountyAlleghany County, VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 12,926 people, 5,149 households, and 3,866 families residing in the county. The population density was 29 people per square mile . There were 5,812 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile... - City of ManchesterManchester, VirginiaManchester, 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...
(1874–1910) consolidated with the independent City of RichmondRichmond, VirginiaRichmond 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... - City of NansemondNansemond, VirginiaNansemond is an extinct independent city which was located in the State of Virginia in the United States from 1972 until 1974. It was created from Nansemond County, Virginia, and is now part of the independent city of Suffolk, Virginia.-History:...
(1972–1974) consolidated with the independent City of SuffolkSuffolk, VirginiaSuffolk is the largest city by area in Virginia, United States, and is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 84,585. Its median household income was $57,546.-History:... - City of South BostonSouth Boston, VirginiaSouth Boston is a town in Halifax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,142 at the 2010 census.- History :On December 8, 1796, the General Assembly authorized eight commissioners to establish at Boyd's Ferry on the south side of the Dan River the town of South Boston, named for...
(1960–1995) reverted to become an incorporated town in Halifax County - City of South NorfolkSouth Norfolk, VirginiaSouth Norfolk was an independent city in the South Hampton Roads region of eastern Virginia and is now a section of the City of Chesapeake, one of the cities of Hampton Roads which surround the harbor of Hampton Roads and are linked by the Hampton Roads Beltway.-History:Located a few miles south of...
(1919–1963) boundaries extended to include Norfolk County and name changed to independent City of ChesapeakeChesapeake, VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 199,184 people, 69,900 households, and 54,172 families residing in the city. The population density was 584.6 people per square mile . There were 72,672 housing units at an average density of 213.3 per square mile... - City of WarwickWarwick, VirginiaWarwick is an extinct independent city which was located in the State of Virginia in the United States from 1952 until 1958. Formed by a political conversion of the former Warwick County, Virginia , it is now part of the independent city of Newport News, Virginia.-History:Warwick River Shire, named...
(1952–1958) consolidated with the independent City of Newport NewsNewport News, VirginiaNewport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
Lost incorporated towns
Many of Virginia's incorporated townIncorporated town
-Canada:Incorporated towns are a form of local government in Canada, which is a responsibility of provincial rather than federal government.-United States:...
s grew to become independent cities. In fact, most of Virginia's current independent cities began that way. Towns that became cities of the same name include the current cities of Charlottesville
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
, Danville
Danville, Virginia
Danville is an independent city in Virginia, United States, bounded by Pittsylvania County, Virginia and Caswell County, North Carolina. It was the last capital of the Confederate States of America. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Danville with Pittsylvania county for...
, Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia located south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,286...
, Norfolk, Poquoson
Poquoson, Virginia
Poquoson is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula, in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 12,150 according to the 2010 Census...
, Portsmouth, Richmond, and Williamsburg, to name only a few. Not to be confused with Roanoke County, the town and then city of Roanoke made its two step transition in only a couple of years, the fast growth earning the nickname "Magic City."
It is actually rare in Virginia to find a city not previously incorporated as a town or, in a few instances, as a county. Only two, Hopewell and Newport News, are known to have begun directly as a city without previously incorporating as a town or county. Thus, if an incorporated town became a city of the same name, it is not listed here as extinct or lost.
The lost incorporated towns of Virginia were:
- Town of Barton Heights (incorporated 1896) in Henrico County was annexed by the City of Richmond in 1914.
- Town of Basic CityBasic City, VirginiaBasic City was an incorporated town located in Augusta County, Virginia, in the United States. Formed in 1890, it was named after a process for steel manufacture. This process was to be implemented in Basic City, and gave rise to land speculation...
(1890–1923) consolidated with town and later the independent City of WaynesboroWaynesboro, VirginiaWaynesboro, deriving its name from General Anthony Wayne, is an independent city surrounded by Augusta County in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 21,006 in 2010..... - Town of BerkleyBerkley, VirginiaBerkley was an incorporated town in Norfolk County, Virginia. Chartered by an Act of Assembly in 1890, the Town of Berkley was located directly across the eastern branch of the Elizabeth River from the City of Norfolk in the South Hampton Roads area....
(unknown-1906) became part of City of Norfolk by annexation in 1906 - Town of Big Lick (1874–1882) became town and later the independent City of RoanokeRoanoke, VirginiaRoanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...
(name change) - Town of CastlewoodCastlewood, VirginiaCastlewood is a census-designated place in Russell County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,036 at the 2000 census. Castlewood was an incorporated town from 1991 to 1997, when it reverted to unincorporated status.-Geography:...
(1991–1997) became a town on 20 March 1991. Voted for annulment of the town charter on November 4, 1997 and was disincorporated on December 31, 1997. - Town of Central City (1885–1890) became town, later City of Radford (name change)
- Town of City PointCity Point, VirginiaCity Point was a town in Prince George County, Virginia that was annexed by the independent city of Hopewell in 1923. It served as headquarters of the Union Army during the Siege of Petersburg during the American Civil War.- History :...
(1826–1923) became part of the independent City of HopewellHopewell, VirginiaHopewell 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...
by annexation in 1923 - Town of CloverClover, VirginiaClover is a census-designated place in Halifax County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2010 Census was 438. Clover was an incorporated town from 1895 until 1998, when it reverted to unincorporated status.Clover is located at ....
(1895–1998) became a town on December 14, 1895. Voted for annulment of the town charter on November 3, 1998 and was disincorporated on December 31, 1998. - Town of Fairmount (incorporated 1902) in Henrico County was annexed by the City of Richmond in 1914.
- Town of Ginter Park in Henrico County was annexed by the City of Richmond.
- Town of Goodson (1856–1890) became the independent City of BristolBristol, VirginiaBristol is an independent city in Virginia, United States, bounded by Washington County, Virginia, Bristol, Tennessee, and Sullivan County, Tennessee....
(name change) - Town of Highland Park in Henrico County was annexed by the City of Richmond in 1914.
- HollandHolland, VirginiaHolland, Virginia was an incorporated town in the southwestern section of Nansemond County, Virginia. Since 1974, it has been a community in the independent city of Suffolk, Virginia following a [political consolidation which formed Virginia's largest city in geographic area.-History:Holland is...
in Nansemond County was consolidated with the rest of the former county and the former county seat town and small city of Suffolk to form the present large independent city known as Suffolk. - Town of KecoughtanKecoughtan, VirginiaKecoughtan in Virginia was originally named Kikotan , the name of the Algonquian Native Americans living there when the English colonists arrived in the Hampton Roads area in 1607....
in Elizabeth City County was annexed by the City of Newport News in 1927, though the original site settled under that name is in an adjacent area that became the Town and later City of Hampton. - Town of North Richmond was in Henrico County, annexed by the City of Richmond.
- Town of PhoebusPhoebus, VirginiaPhoebus was an incorporated town located in Elizabeth City County on the Virginia Peninsula in eastern Virginia. Upon incorporation in 1900, it was named in honor of local businessman Harrison Phoebus , who is credited with convincing the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway to extend its tracks to the...
(1900–1952) agreed to consolidation with Elizabeth City County into City of Hampton in 1952 - Town of Portlock (1947?-1952) in Norfolk County was annexed by City of South Norfolk in 1952.
- Town of PotomacPotomac, VirginiaPotomac, Virginia, is an extinct incorporated town formerly located in Alexandria County. A planned community, its proximity to Washington D.C. made it a popular place for employees of the U.S. government to live...
(1908–1930) in Arlington County became part of City of AlexandriaAlexandria, VirginiaAlexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
by annexation in 1930. - WhaleyvilleWhaleyville, VirginiaWhaleyville, Virginia is a former incorporated town which was located in southern Nansemond County, Virginia. It is located midway between the former county seat at downtown Suffolk and the North Carolina border along U.S. Route 13....
in Nansemond County was consolidated with the rest of the former county and the former county seat town and small city of Suffolk to form the present large independent city known as Suffolk.
Lost unincorporated towns and communities
There are currently hundreds of communities in Virginia that could be considered unincorporated towns. Most of these simply lost their identity through name changes, or growth and absorption into other municipal entities. However, while many earlier ones have disappeared in name, and are therefore "lost" as defined in this article, some really are entirely gone. One of those was the first settlement in Fairfax county, the town of Colchester.A few of the lost towns of Virginia have very dramatic stories, and, somewhat like the early settlers of Jamestown, the residents experienced much hardship. While natural factors doomed Jamestown, they also literally wiped out Boyd's Ferry, which was virtually entirely destroyed by flooding of the Dan River
Dan River
The Dan River flows in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Virginia. It originates in Patrick County, Virginia, and crosses the state border into Stokes County, North Carolina. It then flows into Rockingham County. From there it goes back into Virginia. It reenters North Carolina near the...
in Halifax County around 1800. That town was rebuilt across the river in a better location, and grew to become the Town of South Boston, which was even an incorporated independent city for over 25 years before the citizens decided to rejoin Halifax County as an incorporated town again in 1995.
Conflicts with American Indians doomed several other early Virginia towns. 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...
(also known as "Henricopolis") is now a historic site in Chesterfield County
Chesterfield County, Virginia
Chesterfield County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. In 2010, its population was estimated to be 316,236. Chesterfield County is now the fourth-largest municipality in Virginia . Its county seat is Chesterfield...
. In the early 17th century, it was a boom town with an emerging school system until 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...
wiped it out, along with Wolstenholme Towne
Wolstenholme Towne
Wolstenholme Towne was a fortified settlement in the Virginia Colony begun with a population of about 40 settlers of the Virginia Company of London which was located about 7 miles downstream from Jamestown. Named for Sir John Wolstenholme, one of the investors, it was established about 1618 on a...
on Martin's Hundred Plantation
Martin's Hundred
Martin's Hundred was an early 17th century plantation located along about ten miles of the north shore of the James River in the Virginia Colony east of Jamestown in the southeastern portion of present-day James City County, Virginia...
downriver from Jamestown in James City County
James City County, Virginia
James City County is a county located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. Its population was 67,009 , and it is often associated with Williamsburg, an independent city, and Jamestown which is within the...
. In addition, virtually all Indigenous American towns and communities were eventually wiped out by the ever-expanding English settlements in the Virginia Colony.
Taken by the government
Not all the destruction of communities that are completely gone occurred in earlier times. The state and federal government each had a hand in some major actions of this type, albeit theoretically at least for the public safety or good.Shenandoah National Park
For example, in the creation of Shenandoah National Park
Shenandoah National Park
Shenandoah National Park encompasses part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the U.S. state of Virginia. This national park is long and narrow, with the broad Shenandoah River and valley on the west side, and the rolling hills of the Virginia Piedmont on the east...
and the Skyline Drive
Skyline Drive
Skyline Drive is a 105-mile road that runs the entire length of the National Park Service's Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, generally along the ridge of the mountains. The scenic drive is particularly popular in the fall when the leaves are changing colors...
between 1924 and 1936, a number of families and entire communities were required to vacate portions of the Blue Ridge Mountains
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
, mostly by actions of the Commonwealth of Virginia, which then ceded land to the federal government. Many residents in the 500 homes in eight affected counties of Virginia were vehemently opposed to losing their homes and communities. Most of the families removed came from Madison County
Madison County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 12,520 people, 4,739 households, and 3,521 families residing in the county. The population density was 39 people per square mile . There were 5,239 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile...
, Page County
Page County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 23,177 people, 9,305 households, and 6,634 families residing in the county. The population density was 74 people per square mile . There were 10,557 housing units at an average density of 34 per square mile...
, and Rappahannock County
Rappahannock County, Virginia
As of the census of 2010, there were 7,373 people, 2,788 households, and 2,004 families residing in the county. The population density was 26 people per square mile . There were 3,303 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile...
. U.S. President Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
selected a spot on the Rapidan River
Rapidan River
The Rapidan River, flowing through north-central Virginia in the United States, is the largest tributary of the Rappahannock River. The two rivers converge just west of the city of Fredericksburg...
for what would become a 164-acre (66-hectare) presidential retreat, Rapidan Camp
Rapidan Camp
Rapidan Camp in Shenandoah National Park in Madison County, Virginia, was built by U.S. President Herbert Hoover and his wife Lou Henry Hoover, and served as their rustic retreat throughout Hoover's administration from 1929 to 1933...
.
The Commonwealth of Virginia, initially led by efforts of Harry Flood Byrd, used 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...
and access to jobs and modern amenities such as indoor plumbing and public schools to help justify the controversial dislodging of the mountain residents. It is true that the development of the Park and the Skyline Drive created badly needed jobs for many Virginians during the Great Depression. Nearly 90% of the inhabitants of the land taken by the government worked the land for a living. Many worked in the apple orchards in the valley and in areas near the eastern slopes. The work to create the National Park and the Skyline Drive began following a terrible drought in 1930 that destroyed the crops of many families in the area who farmed in the mountainous terrain, as well as many of the apple orchards where they worked picking crops. Nevertheless, it remains a fact that they were displaced, often against their will, and even for the very few who managed to stay, their communities were lost.
A little-known fact is that, while some families were removed by force, a few others (who mostly had also become difficult to deal with) were allowed to stay after their properties were acquired, living in the park until nature took its course and they gradually died. The last to die was Annie Lee Bradley Shenk who died in 1979 at age 92. Most of the people displaced left their homes quietly. According to the Virginia Historical Society
Virginia Historical Society
The Virginia Historical Society , founded in 1831 as the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a major repository, research, and teaching center for Virginia history...
, 85-year-old Hezekiah Lam explained, "I ain't so crazy about leavin' these hills but I never believed in bein' ag'in the Government. I signed everythin' they asked me." http://www.vahistory.org/shenandoah.html. Small family cemeteries were allowed to remain on the parkland, however. The lost communities and homes were a price paid for one of the country's most beautiful National Parks and scenic roadways. Seven new communities were created for the dislocated mountain people of the northern Blue Ridge
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
. The Library of Virginia
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia, its archival agency, and the reference library at the seat of government. The Library moved into a new building in 1997 and is located at 800 East Broad Street, 2 blocks from the Virginia State...
and Shenandoah National Park each have created exhibits that chronicle these mountain people and their lost homes.
Virginia Peninsula
In the eastern Virginia Peninsula
Virginia Peninsula
The Virginia Peninsula is a peninsula in southeast Virginia, USA, bounded by the York River, James River, Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay.Hampton Roads is the common name for the metropolitan area that surrounds the body of water of the same name...
region, during World War I, Mulberry Island
Mulberry Island
Mulberry Island is located along the James River in the city of Newport News, Virginia, in southeastern Virginia at the confluence of the Warwick River on the Virginia Peninsula.- History:...
in Warwick County
Warwick County, Virginia
Warwick County was a county in Southeast Virginia that was created from Warwick River Shire, one of eight created in the Virginia Colony in 1634. It became the City of Warwick on July 16, 1952...
became part of Camp Abraham Eustis, later expanded and renamed Fort Eustis. Nearby, a large tract of land in York County
York County, Virginia
York County is a county located on the north side of the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. Situated on the York River and many tributaries, the county seat is the unincorporated town of Yorktown...
and a smaller portion of James City County
James City County, Virginia
James City County is a county located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. Its population was 67,009 , and it is often associated with Williamsburg, an independent city, and Jamestown which is within the...
property occupied by many primarily African American
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...
s along the former Yorktown-Williamsburg Road in the unincorporated town of Lackey
Lackey, Virginia
Lackey was a small unincorporated community near Yorktown in York County, Virginia, United States...
(locally known informally as "the Reservation") was taken to create a military base now known as Naval Weapons Station Yorktown
Naval Weapons Station Yorktown
Naval Weapons Station Yorktown is a United States Navy base in York County, James City County, and Newport News in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia...
. Assisted by self-educated farmer and county magistrate, John Roberts, (born approximately 1860), and known locally as "Judge Roberts," many of the displaced residents of this area, which included landowners and tenants who were farmers and watermen were who able to obtain financial compensation and relocated to the community of Grove
Grove, Virginia
Grove is an unincorporated community in the southeastern portion of James City County in the Peninsula subregion of Virginia in the United States. It is located in the center of the Historic Triangle of Colonial Virginia, communities linked by the Colonial Parkway; the area is one of the busiest...
in nearby James City County
James City County, Virginia
James City County is a county located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. Its population was 67,009 , and it is often associated with Williamsburg, an independent city, and Jamestown which is within the...
, as well as other nearby communities. Also taken was the community of Halstead's Point
Halstead's Point, Virginia
Halstead's Point was an unincorporated community in York County, Virginia. In 1918, during World War I, a large tract of land in the area including Halstead's Point was taken by the U.S. Navy to create a military base initially known as a mine depot, where ordnance for military shifts was handled...
.
During World War II, the U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
took over a large area in York County and a smaller area in James City County which became known as Camp Peary
Camp Peary
Camp Peary is a military reservation in York County near Williamsburg, Virginia. Officially it is referred to as the Armed Forces Experimental Training Activity under the auspices of the Department of Defense, but it is widely believed to be the location of a covert CIA training facility known...
. All residents of the entire towns of Magruder
Magruder, Virginia
Magruder was a small unincorporated town in Virginia near Williamsburg in York County. Now extinct, it once had its own church, post office, cemetery, lodge, and homes. Magruder is considered one of the many lost towns of Virginia. The land on which it stood is now part of the US military...
and Bigler's Mill
Bigler's Mill, Virginia
Bigler's Mill was a small town in Virginia near Williamsburg in York County which is now extinct. It is now considered one of the many lost towns of Virginia....
were removed. Magruder had been named for Civil War 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...
General John B. Magruder
John B. Magruder
John Bankhead Magruder was a career military officer who served in the armies of three nations. He was a U.S. Army officer in the Mexican-American War, a Confederate general during the American Civil War, and a postbellum general in the Imperial Mexican Army...
, and a Civil War field hospital had occupied the site of Bigler's Mill. At Magruder, entire families and a church were compensated and relocated, with many again choosing Grove in nearby James City County. The Mt. Gilead Baptist Church on U.S. Route 60 in the Grove Community maintains cemeteries at both the old location (now on the closed base of Camp Peary) and the newer one.
Camp Peary later became well known as "The Farm," a training facility for joint forces in the U.S. military. Though the roads and structures are still there and occupied, access to the base is still restricted. It would be fair to say that the two towns are "lost" to Virginia, albeit for purposes of national defense. Also in 1943, the site of another nearby town, Penniman
Penniman, Virginia
Penniman was an unincorporated town in northwestern York County, on the south bank of the York River six miles northeast of Williamsburg in the Virginia Peninsula area of the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia in the United States...
, disappeared into the Cheatham Annex complex, which adjoins Camp Peary, and is part of the Naval Weapons Station Yorktown.
Northern Virginia
Likewise, in Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
, a Resettlement Administration
Resettlement Administration
The Resettlement Administration was a U.S. federal agency that, between April 1935 and December 1936, relocated struggling urban and rural families to communities planned by the federal government....
program was begun to turn an area in Eastern Prince William County into a park for the nearby city of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
that resulted in the loss of three towns: Batestown, Hickory Ridge
Hickory Ridge, Virginia
Hickory Ridge is an extinct unincorporated town in Prince William County, Virginia. The town was located on land that is now part of Prince William Forest Park, a National Park Service property located adjacent to Marine Corps Base Quantico...
, and Joplin
Joplin, Virginia
Joplin is an extinct unincorporated town in Prince William County, Virginia. The town was located on land taken to form Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area and is now part of Prince William Forest Park, a National Park Service property located adjacent to Marine Corps Base Quantico. The...
. Though some residents persisted, this changed with the onset of World War II, with the parkland becoming an Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
spy training facility. Similarly, nearby Marine Corps Base Quantico
Marine Corps Base Quantico
Marine Corps Base Quantico, sometimes abbreviated MCB Quantico, is a major United States Marine Corps training base located near Triangle, Virginia, covering nearly in southern Prince William County, northern Stafford County, and southeastern Fauquier County...
expanded for the war effort, engulfing the town of Kopp
Kopp, Virginia
Kopp is an extinct unincorporated town located in Prince William County, Virginia. The town began in 1885 and consisted, at one time, of a country store, school, post office, and Bellehaven Baptist Church, and was the home to about 100 local farming families. The town ceased to exist in 1942 when...
.
Listing
The following is a partial (alphabetically) listing of "lost" unincorporated towns and communities in Virginia, and in some instances, their dispositions:- Algonquin Park was in Norfolk County
- Batestown became part of Prince William Forest ParkPrince William Forest ParkPrince William Forest Park was established as Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area in 1936 and is located in southeastern Prince William County, Virginia, adjacent to the Marine Corps Base Quantico. The park is the largest protected natural area in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region at...
- Bayville was in Princess Anne County
- Beahm near Thornton GapThornton GapThornton Gap is a wind gap located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia separating the Shenandoah Valley from the Piedmont region of the state.-History:...
became part of Shenandoah National Park - Beldore Hollow became part of Shenandoah National Park
- Belfield became part of Town and later the independent City of EmporiaEmporia, VirginiaEmporia is an independent city located within the confines of Greensville County, Virginia, United States. The population was estimated to be 5,927 in 2010. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Emporia with surrounding Greensville county for statistical purposes...
- Belhaven became Town and independent City of Alexandria
- Bermuda City became Town of City Point (extinct; annexed by City of Hopewell)
- Big MeadowsBig MeadowsBig Meadows is a recreational area of the Shenandoah National Park in Madison County and Page County, in the US state of Virginia. The meadow is located on the Skyline Drive at Milepost 51 and contains the park's Harry F. Byrd Visitor Center, a lodge, camp store, and camping area...
became part of Shenandoah National Park - Big Ran became part of Shenandoah National Park
- Bigler's MillBigler's Mill, VirginiaBigler's Mill was a small town in Virginia near Williamsburg in York County which is now extinct. It is now considered one of the many lost towns of Virginia....
in York County was taken into a U.S. Navy reservation during World War II and is now part of Camp PearyCamp PearyCamp Peary is a military reservation in York County near Williamsburg, Virginia. Officially it is referred to as the Armed Forces Experimental Training Activity under the auspices of the Department of Defense, but it is widely believed to be the location of a covert CIA training facility known... - Blacks and Whites became town of Blackstone
- Blandford became part of independent City of PetersburgPetersburg, VirginiaPetersburg 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...
in 1784 - Bonaparte became the independent City of GalaxGalax, VirginiaGalax is an independent city in the southwestern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is bounded to the northeast by Carroll County and to the southwest by Grayson County. The population was 7,042 as of 2010...
- Boyd's Ferry (1796) became Town of South Boston
- Bridgeport in Rockingham County became BridgewaterBridgewater, VirginiaBridgewater is an incorporated town in Rockingham County, Virginia, United States. The population was 5,644 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Harrisonburg, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bridgewater is home to the Reds of the Rockingham County Baseball League...
- Broadwater was located on Hog Island on the Eastern Shore
- Brown Cove became part of Shenandoah National Park
- Burnt Ordinary became ToanoToano, VirginiaToano is an unincorporated town in James City County, Virginia, United States.-History:Toano was established in the late 19th century in western James City County at the former site of Burnt Ordinary, which was named in the 18th century for a roadside tavern that had burned down...
- Buzzard's Roost was in Elizabeth City County
- Camden Mills was in Norfolk County
- Carvins CoveCarvins Cove, VirginiaCarvins Cove was a community in both Botetourt and Roanoke County, Virginia, United States, that was abandoned and subsequently inundated in order to create the Carvins Cove Reservoir by the City of Roanoke in the mid–1940s.-History:...
was flooded to create the Carvins Cove ReservoirCarvins Cove Natural ReserveCarvins Cove Natural Reserve is the second largest city park in the United States, at . It is located in Botetourt County, Virginia and Roanoke County, Virginia.... - Central Depot became the independent City of RadfordRadford, VirginiaRadford is a city in Virginia, United States. The population was 16,408 in 2010. For statistical purposes, the Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Radford with neighboring Montgomery County, including the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg, calling the combination the...
- Charles City Point became Town of City Point (extinct; annexed by City of Hopewell in 1923)
- Chesapeake CityChesapeake City, VirginiaChesapeake City, Virginia was an unincorporated town in Elizabeth City County, Virginia on the north side of Hampton Roads on the Virginia Peninsula from 1871 to 1900...
(not to be confused with the independent City of Chesapeake in South Hampton RoadsSouth Hampton RoadsSouth Hampton Roads is a region located in the extreme southeastern portion of Virginia in the United States, and is part of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA with a population about 1.7 million....
area formed in 1963) became Town of PhoebusPhoebus, VirginiaPhoebus was an incorporated town located in Elizabeth City County on the Virginia Peninsula in eastern Virginia. Upon incorporation in 1900, it was named in honor of local businessman Harrison Phoebus , who is credited with convincing the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway to extend its tracks to the...
in 1901 - City PointCity Point, VirginiaCity Point was a town in Prince George County, Virginia that was annexed by the independent city of Hopewell in 1923. It served as headquarters of the Union Army during the Siege of Petersburg during the American Civil War.- History :...
is now a neighborhood in HopewellHopewell, VirginiaHopewell 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... - CobhamCobham, VirginiaCobham was a small town in Surry County, Virginia. It was established by an Act of the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1691, when each county in the Virginia Colony was directed set aside of land for a town. Storehouses were to be built for products imported and tobacco to be exported. It was...
in Surry County. - Cockletown was in York County
- Cohoon's Bridge was in Nansemond County and was county seatCounty seatA 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....
for a time - Cole was in Princess Anne County
- Conrad's Store became Town of ElktonElkton, VirginiaElkton is an incorporated town in Rockingham County, Virginia, United States. It is included in the Harrisonburg, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,042 at the 2000 census. Elkton was named for the Elk Run stream.It is located along the south fork of the Shenandoah River...
- Constance's Warehouse became the town of and later independent city of SuffolkSuffolk, VirginiaSuffolk is the largest city by area in Virginia, United States, and is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 84,585. Its median household income was $57,546.-History:...
- Creeds was in Princess Anne County
- Cross Roads became SurrySurry, VirginiaSurry is an incorporated town in Surry County, Virginia, United States. The population was 262 at the 2000 census...
- Cumberland was a colonial town on the south side of the Pamunkey RiverPamunkey RiverThe Pamunkey River is a tributary of the York River, about long, in eastern Virginia in the United States. Via the York River it is part of the watershed of Chesapeake Bay.-Course:...
in New Kent County that came within three votes of replacing Williamsburg as the capitol of the Virginia Colony after the Williamsburg Capitol building was burned in 1748. - Cypressville was a town in Princess Anne County
- Dabb's became town of South Boston
- Dam Neck Mills was located south of Rudee Inlet in Princess Anne County, later part of the independent City of Virginia BeachVirginia Beach, VirginiaVirginia 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...
- Davis Creek was in Nelson County
- Dearborn became AmherstAmherst, VirginiaAmherst is a town in Amherst County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,251 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Amherst County.Amherst is part of the Lynchburg Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, in the county of the same name. - DenbighDenbigh, VirginiaDenbigh was a small unincorporated community in Warwick County, Virginia, and was long the county seat. After a municipal consolidation in 1958, it became a neighborhood of the independent city of Newport News.-History:...
in Warwick County became part of the independent City of Warwick, later part of the independent City of Newport News - Delaware became the Town of West PointWest Point, VirginiaWest Point is an incorporated town in King William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,867 at the 2000 census.-Geography:West Point is located at...
- Dinkletown became Town of Bridgeport, and later BridgewaterBridgewater, VirginiaBridgewater is an incorporated town in Rockingham County, Virginia, United States. The population was 5,644 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Harrisonburg, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bridgewater is home to the Reds of the Rockingham County Baseball League...
- Doncastle became Barhamsville
- English Ferry became the independent City of Radford
- Euclid was in Princess Anne County
- EwellEwell, VirginiaEwell was an unincorporated town in James City County west of Williamsburg, in the U.S. state of Virginia.Ewell was named for Benjamin Stoddard Ewell who was a U.S. and Confederate army officer, and civil engineer...
was in James City County - Fairfax in Culpeper CountyCulpeper County, VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 34,262 people, 12,141 households, and 9,045 families residing in the county. The population density was 90 people per square mile . There were 12,871 housing units at an average density of 34 per square mile...
changed its name and became the incorporated Town of CulpeperCulpeper, VirginiaCulpeper is an incorporated town in Culpeper County, Virginia, United States. The population was 9,664 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Culpeper County. Culpeper is part of the Culpeper Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Culpeper County. Both the Town of Culpeper and...
(The name was quickly reused by the former Town of Providence in Fairfax CountyFairfax County, VirginiaFairfax 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...
.) - Flack, formed in 1800 in Augusta County, became the independent city of Waynesboro.
- Frederick's Town became the independent City of WinchesterWinchester, VirginiaWinchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 26,203 according to the 2010 Census...
- Fourway became part of Shenandoah National Park
- Frazier Hollow became part of Shenandoah National Park
- Gayton was a small mining town in western Henrico County
- Glen Rock was in Princess Anne County
- Goose Pond Hollow became part of Shenandoah National Park
- Grand Contraband CampGrand Contraband CampGrand Contraband Camp was located in Elizabeth City County on the Virginia Peninsula near Fort Monroe during and immediately after the American Civil War. The area was a refuge for escaped slaves who the Union forces refused to return to their former Confederate masters, by defining them as...
was in Elizabeth City County - Granite became part of the independent City of Richmond
- Greenwich was in Princess Anne County
- Grove Station was in James City County
- GrovetonGroveton, Prince William County, VirginiaGroveton is an extinct unincorporated Civil War era village in Prince William County, Virginia. The village is located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 29 and Groveton Road on land that is now part of Manassas National Battlefield Park, a National Park Service property. The only remnant of the...
became part of Manassas National Battlefield ParkManassas National Battlefield ParkManassas National Battlefield Park, located north of Manassas, in Prince William County, Virginia preserves the site of two major American Civil War battles: the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861, and the Second Battle of Bull Run which was fought between August 28 and August 30, 1862... - Gum Grove in Warwick County was renamed MorrisonMorrison, VirginiaMorrison was a small unincorporated community in Warwick County, Virginia. After a municipal consolidation in 1958, it became a neighborhood of the independent city of Newport News.-History:...
, now a neighborhood of Newport News - Halstead's PointHalstead's Point, VirginiaHalstead's Point was an unincorporated community in York County, Virginia. In 1918, during World War I, a large tract of land in the area including Halstead's Point was taken by the U.S. Navy to create a military base initially known as a mine depot, where ordnance for military shifts was handled...
became part of the US Naval Weapons Station YorktownNaval Weapons Station YorktownNaval Weapons Station Yorktown is a United States Navy base in York County, James City County, and Newport News in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia... - Hans Meadows became the Town of ChristiansburgChristiansburg, VirginiaChristiansburg is a town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States. The population was 21,041 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Montgomery County...
- Hart's Bottom became the City of Buena VistaBuena Vista, VirginiaBuena Vista is an independent city located within the confines of Rockbridge County, Virginia. The population was 6,650 in 2010. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Buena Vista with Rockbridge county for statistical purposes.-Geography:Buena Vista is located at...
- Hazel became part of Shenandoah National Park
- HenricusHenricusThe "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...
was wiped out by the Indian Massacre of 1622Indian massacre of 1622The 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...
and not rebuilt. - Henry TownHenry TownHenry Town, Henry Towne, or Henries Towne was an early English colonial settlement in Virginia, now in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in the United States...
, 17th century colonial settlement, later part of the independent City of Virginia BeachVirginia Beach, VirginiaVirginia 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... - Hickory RidgeHickory Ridge, VirginiaHickory Ridge is an extinct unincorporated town in Prince William County, Virginia. The town was located on land that is now part of Prince William Forest Park, a National Park Service property located adjacent to Marine Corps Base Quantico...
became part of Prince William Forest ParkPrince William Forest ParkPrince William Forest Park was established as Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area in 1936 and is located in southeastern Prince William County, Virginia, adjacent to the Marine Corps Base Quantico. The park is the largest protected natural area in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region at... - Hicksford, also known as Hick's Ford, became part of Town and later the independent City of Emporia
- Holland became part of City of Nansemond, later the independent City of Suffolk
- Holly Creek became Town of ClintwoodClintwood, VirginiaClintwood is a town in Dickenson County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,549 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Dickenson County....
- Hungary in Henrico County became Glen Allen
- Hunting Creek Warehouse became Town and independent City of Alexandria
- Ingle's Ferry became the independent City of Radford
- Isle of Wight Plantation was a town in what is now Isle of Wight County
- Jeffs was in York County
- Jerusalem became Town of CourtlandCourtland, VirginiaCourtland is an incorporated town in Southampton County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,270 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Southampton County....
- JoplinJoplin, VirginiaJoplin is an extinct unincorporated town in Prince William County, Virginia. The town was located on land taken to form Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area and is now part of Prince William Forest Park, a National Park Service property located adjacent to Marine Corps Base Quantico. The...
became part of Prince William Forest ParkPrince William Forest ParkPrince William Forest Park was established as Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area in 1936 and is located in southeastern Prince William County, Virginia, adjacent to the Marine Corps Base Quantico. The park is the largest protected natural area in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region at... - KecoughtanKecoughtan, VirginiaKecoughtan in Virginia was originally named Kikotan , the name of the Algonquian Native Americans living there when the English colonists arrived in the Hampton Roads area in 1607....
(settled 1610) became part of the Town and later independent City of Hampton, though a nearby area incorporated as a town under the same name became part of the city of Newport News in 1926. - Kelton became LightfootLightfoot, VirginiaLightfoot is an unincorporated community which straddles the James City–York county border, west of Williamsburg, in the U.S. state of Virginia....
in James City County - Keyser Run became part of Shenandoah National Park
- KoppKopp, VirginiaKopp is an extinct unincorporated town located in Prince William County, Virginia. The town began in 1885 and consisted, at one time, of a country store, school, post office, and Bellehaven Baptist Church, and was the home to about 100 local farming families. The town ceased to exist in 1942 when...
became part of Marine Corps Base QuanticoMarine Corps Base QuanticoMarine Corps Base Quantico, sometimes abbreviated MCB Quantico, is a major United States Marine Corps training base located near Triangle, Virginia, covering nearly in southern Prince William County, northern Stafford County, and southeastern Fauquier County... - LackeyLackey, VirginiaLackey was a small unincorporated community near Yorktown in York County, Virginia, United States...
in York County was taken into a U.S. Navy reservation during World War I and is now part of the Naval Weapons Station YorktownNaval Weapons Station YorktownNaval Weapons Station Yorktown is a United States Navy base in York County, James City County, and Newport News in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia...
facility - Lamb's Mill became part of Shenandoah National Park
- Liberty became Town and later the independent City of BedfordBedford, VirginiaBedford is an independent city located within the confines of Bedford County in the U.S. state of Virginia. It serves as the county seat of Bedford County. As of 2010, the city had a total population of 6,222. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Bedford with surrounding Bedford...
- Little Island Station was located in Princess Anne County
- LorraineLorraine, VirginiaLorraine was an unincorporated community in Henrico County, Virginia.Lorraine was named for Edward Lorraine who was the 19th century chief engineer of the James River and Kanawha Canal. According to the Library of Virginia, he was born in 1818. In 1842, he first worked as a rod man doing surveying...
was located in Henrico County - Lovely Mount became the independent City of Radford
- MagruderMagruder, VirginiaMagruder was a small unincorporated town in Virginia near Williamsburg in York County. Now extinct, it once had its own church, post office, cemetery, lodge, and homes. Magruder is considered one of the many lost towns of Virginia. The land on which it stood is now part of the US military...
in York County was taken into a U.S. Navy reservation during World War II and is now part of the Camp PearyCamp PearyCamp Peary is a military reservation in York County near Williamsburg, Virginia. Officially it is referred to as the Armed Forces Experimental Training Activity under the auspices of the Department of Defense, but it is widely believed to be the location of a covert CIA training facility known...
facility - McIntosh's Cross Roads became SurrySurry, VirginiaSurry is an incorporated town in Surry County, Virginia, United States. The population was 262 at the 2000 census...
- Mellen was located in Warwick County
- Middle PlantationMiddle PlantationMiddle Plantation in the Virginia Colony, was the unincorporated town established in 1632 that became Williamsburg in 1699. It was located on high ground about half-way across the Virginia Peninsula between the James River and York River. Middle Plantation represented the first major inland...
(1632) was renamed in 1699 became Town and later the independent City of WilliamsburgWilliamsburg, VirginiaWilliamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city... - Mill Place in Augusta County became town and City of Staunton
- Millwood became the incorporated Town of Phoebus, later part of the independent City of Hampton
- MinnievilleMinnieville, VirginiaMinnieville is an extinct unincorporated town that was once located in Prince William County, Virginia. The Minnieville post office stood at the corner of what is now known as Minnieville Road and Cardinal Drive from 1884 to 1924...
became part of Dale CityDale City, VirginiaDale City is an unincorporated community in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. Recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census designated place , the community had a total population of 63,616 according to the 2006 American Community Survey....
in Prince William County - MorrisonMorrison, VirginiaMorrison was a small unincorporated community in Warwick County, Virginia. After a municipal consolidation in 1958, it became a neighborhood of the independent city of Newport News.-History:...
was in Warwick County, now a neighborhood of Newport News - Mt. Pleasant became the town of Mt. Jackson
- Mulberry IslandMulberry IslandMulberry Island is located along the James River in the city of Newport News, Virginia, in southeastern Virginia at the confluence of the Warwick River on the Virginia Peninsula.- History:...
was a farming and fishing community in Warwick County. It became part of a U.S. Army Camp during World War that is now Fort Eustis. - Negro Foot was in Hanover County
- Newmarket Corners was in Elizabeth City County
- New Fincastle (1756) in Craig CountyCraig County, VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 5,091 people, 2,060 households, and 1,507 families residing in the county. The population density was 15 people per square mile . There were 2,554 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile...
became incorporated town of New CastleNew Castle, VirginiaNew Castle is the only town in Craig County, Virginia, United States. The population was 153 at the 2010 census...
in 1911. - New Hope Village in Caroline County became Bowling GreenBowling Green, VirginiaBowling Green is an incorporated town in Caroline County, Virginia, United States. The population was 936 at the 2000 census.The county seat of Caroline County since 1803, Bowling Green is best known as the "cradle of American horse racing", the home of the second oldest Masonic Lodge, and the...
in 1803. - New Market was a village in eastern Henrico County
- New Market in southeastern Nelson County became Norwood
- Newtown was the county seatCounty seatA 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 Princess Anne County before the American Revolutionary WarAmerican Revolutionary WarThe 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... - Nicholson Hollow became part of Shenandoah National Park
- Nutmeg Quarter in Warwick County became Hidenwood, now a neighborhood area in the City of Newport News
- Ocean View became part of the independent City of Norfolk
- Odd was in York County
- Old Rag became part of Shenandoah National Park (the mountain of the same name is still there)
- Opequon became the independent City of Winchester
- Osborne (or Osborne's) was located on the James River at the mouth of Proctor's Creek
- PennimanPenniman, VirginiaPenniman was an unincorporated town in northwestern York County, on the south bank of the York River six miles northeast of Williamsburg in the Virginia Peninsula area of the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia in the United States...
in York County became part of Cheatham Annex (military reservation) - Persimmon Orchard in Nansemond County became DriverDriver, VirginiaDriver is a neighborhood in the independent city of Suffolk, Virginia, United States. It is located at the junction of State Route 337, State Route 125, and State Route 627....
. - Peter's Point in 1784 became part of Town and later the independent City of Petersburg
- Pocahontas (not to be confused with the current incorporated Town of PocahontasPocahontas, VirginiaPocahontas is a town in Tazewell County, Virginia, named for the Algonquian Indian woman Pocahontas. The population was 441 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bluefield, WV-VA micropolitan area which has a population of 107,578...
in Tazewell CountyTazewell County, VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 44,598 people, 18,277 households and 13,232 families residing in the county. The population density was 86 people per square mile . There were 20,390 housing units at an average density of 39 per square mile...
) became part of the independent City of Petersburg in 1784 - Port Conway was across the Rappahannock RiverRappahannock RiverThe Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length. It traverses the entire northern part of the state, from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west, across the Piedmont, to the Chesapeake Bay, south of the Potomac River.An important river in American...
from Port RoyalPort Royal, VirginiaPort Royal is an incorporated town in Caroline County, Virginia, United States. The population was 170 at the 2000 census.Port Royal was established in the mid-17th century in the Colony of Virginia primary as a port on a navigable portion of the Rappahannock River for export of tobacco, Virginia's... - Port WalthallPort WalthallPort 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....
was located in Chesterfield County on the Appomattox RiverAppomattox RiverThe 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... - Port Warwick was a town in Chesterfield County on the James River at Falling Creek (destroyed during the American Revolutionary WarAmerican Revolutionary WarThe 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...
and not rebuilt) - Town of PotomacPotomac, VirginiaPotomac, Virginia, is an extinct incorporated town formerly located in Alexandria County. A planned community, its proximity to Washington D.C. made it a popular place for employees of the U.S. government to live...
was annexed by the City of Alexandria - Prince's Flats became the independent City of NortonNorton, VirginiaNorton is an independent city within the confines of Wise County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 Census, the city population was 3,958, making it the smallest city in the state by population...
- Princess Anne became part of the independent City of Virginia Beach
- Providence changed its name to become the Town of Fairfax and later the independent City of FairfaxFairfax, VirginiaThe City of Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City is nevertheless the county seat....
- Punch Bowl (aka Punch Bowl Hollow) became part of Shenandoah National Park
- Ravenscroft became part of the independent City of Petersburg in 1744
- Rio Vista was in Henrico County on the Westham Plank Road
- Rocklin became part of Shenandoah National Park
- Rocky Ridge became Town of and later City of ManchesterManchester, VirginiaManchester, 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...
, now part of City of Richmond - Roseland Farms became the incorporated Town of Phoebus, and later part of the independent City of Hampton
- Schoolfield became part of Danville
- Scuffletown became SurrySurry, VirginiaSurry is an incorporated town in Surry County, Virginia, United States. The population was 262 at the 2000 census...
- Scuffletown is still the name for an area of SR 746 in Charlotte County.
- Six Mile Ordinary became LightfootLightfoot, VirginiaLightfoot is an unincorporated community which straddles the James City–York county border, west of Williamsburg, in the U.S. state of Virginia....
in James City County - Skyland ResortSkyland ResortSkyland Resort is a hotel and resort in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.The Skyland Resort, originally called Stony Man Camp, was built in 1895 at what later became the highest point on the Skyline Drive, with a sweeping view of the Shenandoah Valley at 3,680 feet...
was a privately owned resort established in 1895 that became part of Shenandoah National Park. - Slabtown was in Elizabeth City County.
- Slash Cottage in Hanover County became the incorporated town of AshlandAshland, VirginiaOriginally known as Slash Cottage, Ashland is located on the Old Washington Highway U.S. Route One and the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, a busy north-south route now owned by CSX Transportation...
. - Sleepy Hole in Nansemond County became the town and later City of Suffolk
- Smithville became SurrySurry, VirginiaSurry is an incorporated town in Surry County, Virginia, United States. The population was 262 at the 2000 census...
- Spring Hill became part of the independent City of Manchester, later part of the independent City of Richmond
- Strawberry Banks became the incorporated Town of Phoebus, later part of the independent city of Hampton
- Sydney became part of the independent City of Richmond
- Taskinas Plantation became CroakerCroaker, VirginiaCroaker is an unincorporated community in James City County, Virginia, United States on the south bank of the York River 10 miles downstream from West Point. The York River is formed from the confluence of the Mattaponi River and the Pamunkey River at West Point...
- Teasville became WaynesboroWaynesboro, VirginiaWaynesboro, deriving its name from General Anthony Wayne, is an independent city surrounded by Augusta County in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 21,006 in 2010.....
- Tinkling became town of KenbridgeKenbridge, VirginiaKenbridge is a town in Lunenburg County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,253 at the 2000 census. It is in a tobacco farming area. The area is home to noted folk artist Eldridge Bagley.-Geography:Kenbridge is located at ....
- Titustown was in Norfolk County
- Tottem-Down-Hill was in Culpeper County
- Trone in Frederick County, west of Gore, VirginiaGore, VirginiaGore is an unincorporated town in western Frederick County, Virginia, United States located off the Northwestern Turnpike on Gore Road west of Winchester. The community is nestled in the Back Creek valley....
on Hollow Road - Upper Pocosin became part of Shenandoah National Park
- Town of VarinaVarina, VirginiaVarina is a former unincorporated town and current magisterial district in the easternmost portion of Henrico County, Virginia, United States....
was county seat of Henrico County, now just a historic farm - Walker's Mill in Nelson County became SchuylerSchuyler, VirginiaSchuyler is a census-designated place in Nelson County, , Virginia, United States, close to Scottsville...
- Wangle JunctionWangle Junction, VirginiaWangle Junction is an unincorporated community in Floyd County, Virginia, United States....
- Warwick Towne was in Warwick County, later part of the independent City of Newport News
- Wash Woods was located at today's False Cape State ParkFalse Cape State ParkFalse Cape State Park is a state park in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia. It is a mile-wide barrier spit between Back Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The park adjoins the state border with North Carolina and lies shortly north of Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge...
in the City of Virginia Beach - Wayland Crossing was renamed CrozetCrozet, VirginiaCrozet is a census-designated place in Albemarle County in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is situated along the I-64 corridor approximately west of Charlottesville and east of Staunton. Originally called "Wayland's Crossing", it was renamed in 1870 in honor of Colonel Claudius Crozet, the...
for Claudius CrozetClaudius CrozetBenoit 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,...
in 1870 - WesthamWestham, VirginiaWestham was an unincorporated town in Henrico County, Virginia. It is located in the present day area of Tuckahoe, Virginia.-History:Westham was established on land that had been owned by William Randolph II. When Randolph died, his son Beverley, inherited Westham Plantation and planned to create...
was in Henrico County on the Westham Plank Road - Westville became Mathews, Virginia
- WhaleyvilleWhaleyville, VirginiaWhaleyville, Virginia is a former incorporated town which was located in southern Nansemond County, Virginia. It is located midway between the former county seat at downtown Suffolk and the North Carolina border along U.S. Route 13....
became part of the independent City of Nansemond, later the independent City of Suffolk - White House Landing was located on the Pamunkey River in New Kent County.
- Willard (also known as Willard Crossroads) was an unincorporated community demolished in 1958 to make room for Dulles International Airport.
- Williamson Station became the Town of Clifton Forge.
- Wolstenholme TowneWolstenholme TowneWolstenholme Towne was a fortified settlement in the Virginia Colony begun with a population of about 40 settlers of the Virginia Company of London which was located about 7 miles downstream from Jamestown. Named for Sir John Wolstenholme, one of the investors, it was established about 1618 on a...
was wiped out by the Indian Massacre of 1622Indian massacre of 1622The 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...
and not rebuilt. - Yorke was a town in York County that no longer exists.
- Yorkville was in York County.
Walton's Mountain
Virginia has also hosted a number of fictional sites. Among these are those used in the family television series The WaltonsThe Waltons
The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on a family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television...
, created by Virginian Earl Hamner, Jr. The fictional Walton's Mountain was patterned after Hamner's hometown of Schuyler
Schuyler, Virginia
Schuyler is a census-designated place in Nelson County, , Virginia, United States, close to Scottsville...
in Nelson County
Nelson County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 14,445 people, 5,887 households, and 4,144 families residing in the county. The population density was 31 people per square mile . There were 8,554 housing units at an average density of 18 per square mile...
near Charlottesville
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
, all of are still there.
Shunpiker
Shunpiking
The term shunpiking comes from the word shun, meaning "to avoid", and pike, a term referring to turnpikes, which are roads that require payment of a toll to travel on them...
s leaving Interstate 64
Interstate 64
Interstate 64 is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. 40, and U.S. 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchange with I-264 and I-664 at Bowers Hill in Chesapeake, Virginia. As I-64 is concurrent with...
or U.S. Highway 29 a few miles away will be able to find Schuyler and the Walton's Mountain Museum, however. John Boy Walton's alma mater, Boatwright University, does not exist, though it bears a striking resemblance to the University of Richmond
University of Richmond
The University of Richmond is a selective, private, nonsectarian, liberal arts university located on the border of the city of Richmond and Henrico County, Virginia. The University of Richmond is a primarily undergraduate, residential university with approximately 4,000 undergraduate and graduate...
.
Valleyville
Valleyville is a fictional town in Virginia created in the blog "'Little-Known' Attractions of Lynchburg." Upon publication of the website, many people fell for this and other amusing stories about fake tourist destinations in Lynchburg and the rest of Southwest Virginia. Valleyville is described as an "Area 51" like area with extreme security and peculiar government activity, perhaps as a "political detainment center." Supposedly, all airspace within 3 miles (4.8 km) of the town is restricted.See also
- Hampton RoadsHampton RoadsHampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
- South Hampton RoadsSouth Hampton RoadsSouth Hampton Roads is a region located in the extreme southeastern portion of Virginia in the United States, and is part of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA with a population about 1.7 million....
- Virginia PeninsulaVirginia PeninsulaThe Virginia Peninsula is a peninsula in southeast Virginia, USA, bounded by the York River, James River, Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay.Hampton Roads is the common name for the metropolitan area that surrounds the body of water of the same name...
- List of extinct U.S. counties
Publications
- Hiden, Martha W. How justice grew : were Virginia counties, an abstract of their formation (1957), University Press of Virginia; Charlottesville, Virginia
- Salmon, Emily J., and Edward D. C. Campbell, Jr., Hornbook of Virginia History 4th edition (1994), Library of Virginia; Richmond. ISBN 0-88490-177-7
- Temple, David G. Merger Politics: Local Government Consolidation in Tidewater Virginia (1972), University Press of Virginia; Charlottesville, Virginia
- McCartney, Martha W. (1977) James City County: Keystone of the Commonwealth; James City County, Virginia; Donning and Company; ISBN 089865999X
Websites
- "Cast Down Your Buckets Where You Are" An Ethnohistorical Study of the African-American Community on the Lands of the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station 1865-1918
External links
- Virginia Places
- Shenandoah National Park
- Illinois Facts
- Kentucky geography and history
- Yohogania County
- Isle of Wight Plantation
- "Little-Known" Attractions of Lynchburg and Central Virginia Lynchburg's infamous "alternate reality" web site