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Renting an Apartment in Chesterfield County
What You Should Know
Chesterfield County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a
state of the United States. As of the 2006 population estimate, the county's
population has risen to 306,000. From 2000 to 2006, the county added over 35,000
new residents and Chesterfield County is now the fourth largest municipality in
Virginia (behind Fairfax County, Virginia Beach and Prince William County
respectively). [1] Its county seat is Chesterfield6. It is located in the
Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan
Statistical Area (MSA). Much of the northern portion of Chesterfield County
accounts for what is referred to as Metropolitan Richmond's "South Side".
History
Part of Henrico Cittie, Henrico Shire, Henrico County
Prior to English colonization, the area was occupied by Native Americans.
During the 17th century, shortly after establishment of the settlement at
Jamestown in 1607, English settlers and explorers began settling other areas.
One of the more progressive developments in the colony was Henricus, founded
under the guidance of Sir Thomas Dale. It was to include a college to help
educate Indians, as well as the children of settlers.
1619 was a watershed year for the Virginia Colony. Four large citties (sic) were
formed, one of which was Henrico Cittie, and included what is now Chesterfield
County. Also beginning in 1619, Falling Creek Ironworks, the first in what is
now the United States, were established slightly west on Falling Creek from its
confluence with the James River. Both were was wiped out by the Indian Massacre
of 1622 and not rebuilt.
In 1634, the King of England directed the formation of eight shires (or
counties) in the colony of Virginia. One of these became Henrico County, which
extended to a large area on both sides of the James River.
Chesterfield County formed
On May 25, 1749, the Virginia General Assembly passed the act that separated
Chesterfield from Henrico County and created the new county. The first county
seat was established at Manchester, across the James River at the fall line from
Richmond (which remained in Henrico County.)
Chesterfield County is named for the former British Secretary of State, Philip
Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield. Lord Chesterfield was famous for his "good
manners and writings."
Many years later, Chesterfield Cigarettes were named after this county due to
the region's historical cultivation of tobacco.
Early ports, coal, roads, turnpikes and railroads
Prior to the American Revolutionary War, a thriving port town named Warwick was
located at the northwestern confluence of Falling Creek and the James River. It
was destroyed during that War, and not rebuilt. (It was near the current DuPont
facility at Ampthill, and the site is not open to the public.) Another early
port town was Port Walthall on the north shore of the Appomattox River. It was
located near the current Point-of-Rocks Park.
Coal mining in the Midlothian area of Chesterfield County began in the 18th
century. Around 1701, French Huguenot settlers to the area discovered the
existence of the coalfield. In a 1709 diary entry William Byrd II, who is
credited as the founder of Richmond, and had purchased 344 acres (1.4 km�) of
land in the area where coal was found, noted that "the coaler found the coal
mine very good and sufficient to furnish several generations." It was first
commercially mined in the 1730s, and was used to make cannon at Westham (near
the present Huguenot Memorial Bridge) during the American Revolutionary War.
The Manchester Turnpike in Chesterfield County was the first graveled roadway of
any length in Virginia in 1807. The toll road ran between the coal mining area
of Midlothian near the headwaters of Falling Creek and Manchester, generally
following the path of the current Midlothian Turnpike (U.S. Route 60}.
Created in 1816, the Virginia Board of Public Works was a governmental agency
which oversaw and helped finance the development of Virginia's internal
transportation improvements during the 19th century. In that era, it was
customary to invest public funds in private companies, which were the
forerunners of the public service and utility companies of modern times.
Claudius Crozet (1789-1864), a civil engineer and educator who helped found
Virginia Military Institute (VMI), was Principal Engineer and later Chief
Engineer for the Board of Public Works. He was involved with the planning and
construction of many of the canals, turnpikes, bridges and railroads in
Virginia, including the area which is now West Virginia.
New turnpikes, were partially engineered and funded by the Board, and operated
by private companies which collected tolls. The Manchester and Petersburg
Turnpike which generally followed the path of the current Jefferson Davis
Highway (U.S. Routes 1-301), was one of these. A canal was built in Manchester
section of Chesterfield. Portions are extant, and may be seen near the south end
of Richmond's Mayo Bridge, although it is not as well-known as the much larger
James River and Kanawha Canal which ran along the north bank at Richmond, and
extended many miles to the west.
Seeking a better method of transportation so that their markets could be
expanded, in 1825, a group of mine owners, including Nicholas Mills, Beverley
Randolph and Abraham S. Wooldridge, resolved to build a tramway. (The Wooldridge
family hailed from East Lothian and West Lothian in Scotland, and named their
mining company Mid-Lothian, the source of the modern name). In 1831, the
Chesterfield Railroad was the first railroad in Virginia, transporting coal from
mines near Falling Creek in what is now the Midlothian area to the docks at the
fall line at the head of navigation of the James River. Later railroad lines
included the Richmond and Danville Railroad (R&D) (which put the Chesterfield
Railroad out of business) and the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad, both
completed before the American Civil War in which they each played key roles.
Another small line through Chesterfield was a narrow gauge railroad. The
Farmville and Powhatan Railroad, later renamed the Tidewater and Western
Railroad, extended from Farmville in Prince Edward County to the tiny village of
Bermuda Hundred in far eastern Chesterfield, which was a port on the James River
near the mouth of the Appomattox River opposite present-day Hopewell. Although
long gone, portions of the old rail bed may been seen along Beach Road near the
entrance to Pocahontas State Park.
After the Reconstruction, the R&D eventually became part of the Southern
Railway, and is now part of Norfolk Southern Railway. The Richmond Petersburg
Railroad became part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. In 1900, a mostly
parallel line was built by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, with a branch line to
Hopewell. Through the "modern merger era of US railroads" (which began around
1960), portions of each eventually became part of the CSX Transportation system.
American Civil War
During the American Civil War (1861-1865), Drewry's Bluff became a key defensive
point for Confederate forces to block the Union's vastly superior Navy from
taking Richmond by way of the James River. During the Siege of Petersburg
(1864-65), a long defensive works through the county was part of the
Confederacy's Richmond-Petersburg line of land defenses. Railroad lines passing
through Petersburg finally proved the key to the fall of Richmond in 1865,
effectively ending the War.
A normal school founded by the state after the American Civil War primarily to
help educate freedmen eventually became Virginia State University, located in
the Ettrick area near Petersburg and Colonial Heights.
Former areas lost to new independent cities
Manchester (directly across the James River from the City of Richmond) was the
county seat of Chesterfield County until 1874, when it was moved to the present
location at Chesterfield Court House. The City of Manchester left Chesterfield
late in 19th century to become an independent city, and merged with the City of
Richmond by mutual agreement in 1910. It is now known as a part of South
Richmond.
Colonial Heights was formerly an incorporated town in Chesterfield County, and
became an independent city in 1948. Over half a century later, the two neighbors
continued to share provision of some governmental services.
Annexation issues
Chesterfield County shares borders with four independent cities, and was long
exposed to annexation suits from any of them under Virginia law. The county lost
territory to the City Richmond through several annexations in the 20th century,
one in 1944, and most notably, a highly controversial and complicated one in
1970.
The results of the 1970 annexation were exceptionally controversial because,
while the annexation lawsuit filed by Richmond in 1965 was being heard, with the
city seeking 51 square miles (132 km�) of the county, the leaders of the two
jurisdictions, Irvin G. Horner, Chairman of the Chesterfield County Board of
Supervisors, and Phil J. Bagley, Jr. the Mayor of Richmond, met privately and
agreed to a compromise.
In May 1969, the Horner-Bagley Compromise, as it came to be called, was approved
by the city and Chesterfield County and incorporated in a court decree of July
12, 1969. This effectively shut out a number of third parties attempting to
block the annexation, and felt they had been excluded from the process. An
example among these was a small commuter bus company holding an operating rights
in the county, whereas the city granted its franchise to a competitor.
The annexation agreement resulted in Richmond receiving 23 square miles (60 km�)
of the county, as well as fire stations, parks, and other infrastructure such as
water and sewer lines. Under the agreement, approximately a dozen public
schools, support buildings, and future school sites were conveyed to the City of
Richmond to be operated by Richmond Public Schools. Compounding the unhappiness
of many of the residents of the annexed area was the fact that Richmond Public
Schools was already involved in a desegregation lawsuit in the Federal courts.
The schools involved in the annexed area included Huguenot High School, Fred D.
Thompson Middle School, Elkhardt Middle School, and eight elementary schools. In
1971, these schools were included in a court-ordered desegregation busing
program, which finally ended in the 1990s.
Many of the 47,000 residents who lived in the annexed area of the 1970
compromise had been opposed to the annexation. They fought unsuccessfully for
more than 7 years afterwards in the courts to have it reversed. They ruefully
called the 23 square miles (60 km�) zone "Occupied Chesterfield."
At the same time, black plaintiffs who had lived in Richmond city prior to the
annexation claimed a violation of the National Voting Rights Act of 1965. The
claim was that their voting power had been deliberately diminished by the
attempts of city leaders to add white voters and dilute the black vote. In 1970
the pre-annexation population of the city was 202,359, of which 104,207 or 52%
were black citizens. The annexation added to the city 47,262 people, of whom
1,557 were black and 45,705 were non-black. The post-annexation population of
the city was therefore 249,621, of which 105,764 or 42% were Negroes. The
plaintiffs prevailed in court. This led to creation of a ward system to ensure
blacks did not lose their voting power. Under the ward system, four wards had a
predominantly white population, four wards had a predominantly black population,
and one ward had a population that was 59% white and 41% black.
Revisions in state annexation laws
Virginia's annexation laws have long been felt by many leaders to be a barrier
to regional cooperation among localities. The problems and hard feelings which
arose from the Richmond-Chesterfield case were used as prime examples of
obstacles to regional cooperation as the state legislators considered changes.
In 1979, the Virginia General Assembly adopted legislation that allowed any
county meeting certain population and density standards to petition the local
circuit court to declare the county permanently immune from annexation. In 1981,
Chesterfield County and several other counties in the state subsequently sought
and received such immunity from further annexation by Richmond.
In 1987, the General Assembly, recognizing the controversy surrounding
annexations in Virginia, placed a moratorium on future annexations of any county
by any city. However, even when this moratorium expires, as it is currently
scheduled to do in 2010, Chesterfield County will remain immune from annexation
by Richmond because of the 1981 grant of immunity. [3] However, unless new
legislation or revenue sharing or other agreements are reached, the county will
potentially be exposed to annexation suits by any of the smaller independent
cities of Colonial Heights, Hopewell, and Petersburg which adjoin it.
Highways, transportation, tolls
Beginning especially in the second half of the 20th century, Chesterfield grew
exponentially, most of all as a bedroom community of Richmond. The
Richmond-Petersburg Interurban Electric Railway, local streetcar service, and
commuter rail service of the Southern Railway to Bon Air had all ended by 1957.
Even though some routes extended in to the county from both cities, transit bus
service was not funded by the county as the large systems in Richmond and
Petersburg converted to governmentally-subsidized operations in the 1970s.
Privately-owned suburban bus services, such as that operated by Virginia
Overland Transportation could not operate profitably, even when funded with
start-up money through state demonstration program grants. Instead, the citizens
of Chesterfield were perceived by their county leaders as heavily committed to
automobile transportation for most local, commuter, and through transportation
of people. The issue of possible county funding for commuter bus services was
continuing as of the early 21st century. Further complicating the issue of
public transportation in Chesterfield County is that most streets in the county
do not have sidewalks, adding to the complete dependence on motor vehicles.
During this same time, the interstate, primary and secondary highways which were
built by the Virginia Department of Transportation VDOT (and its predecessor
agencies) through the customary funding sources were proving insufficient.
Additional roads were built, and funded through collection of tolls.
Opened in 1958, and funded through toll revenue bonds, the Richmond-Petersburg
Turnpike was a toll highway which paralleled U.S. Route 1 and U.S. Route 301
between the northern edge of Richmond, Virginia and the southern limits of
Petersburg, Virginia, cutting through Chesterfield which had the largest portion
of its mileage. Conceived prior to the creation of the Interstate Highway
System, tolls were removed completely in 1992. Today, the former
Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike forms a vital portion of Interstate 95 in central
Virginia, including the northernmost portion of Interstate 85 near Petersburg.
The Powhite Parkway Extension of the Powhite Parkway in Richmond, Virginia (a
toll road operated by the Richmond Metropolitan Authority) also tolled and
completed in 1973, was built and opened in 1988. The extension in Chesterfield
County is operated by and the tolls are collected by VDOT. (The entire route in
Richmond and Chesterfield is signed as Virginia State Route 76). The county
extension begins at the exit for State Route 150 (Chippenham Parkway), and
includes major exits for U.S. Route 60 west of Richmond, and State Route 288 in
the Midlothian area. The southern terminus of State Route 76 is near the
Brandermill development.
Another toll road, the Pocahontas Parkway, also known as State Route 895,
connects the junction of Interstate 95 and State Route 150 in Chesterfield
County, with Interstate 295 near Richmond International Airport in Henrico
County, forming part of a southeastern bypass of Richmond. Due to a quirk in the
evolution of the road, the long-planned designation of "Interstate 895" could
not be used. The 8.8-mile (14.2 km) roadway features the costly high-level
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge over the shipping channel of the navigable
portion of the tidal James River downstream from the deep water Port of Richmond
to allow ample clearance for ocean-going vessels to pass under.
Although Route 895 had been planned for many years, sufficient state and federal
construction funds were not available when the road was finally desired.
However, the highway was built without the use of toll revenue bonds. In 1995,
the Virginia General Assembly passed the Public-Private Transportation Act
allowing private entities to propose innovative solutions for designing,
constructing, financing and operating transportation improvements. An acceptable
proposal was submitted through an innovative public-private partnership and an
agreement was reached, with tolls collected to recover costs. The toll
collection facility features the Richmond area's only high-speed open lanes,
allowing vehicles to travel through the toll facility at highway speeds with a
Smart Tag or other compatible electronic toll collection transponder.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,132 km�
(437 sq mi). 1,103 km� (426 sq mi) of it is land and 29 km� (11 sq mi) of it
(2.57%) is water.
Chesterfield County is largely bordered by two rivers which define miles of its
boundaries. The major adjoining cities each originated at the head of navigation
of these river, called the fall line. There, the sandy and mostly flat eastern
coastal plain region of Virginia turns into the hillier and rockier Piedmont
region to the west. Portions of Chesterfield County extend across both regions.
At fall line of the James River, Richmond and Manchester were formed. Most of
the northern portion of Chesterfield County accounts for what is referred to as
Metropolitan Richmond's "South Side". However, due to the geography in which the
James River approaches Richmond from almost due west, and turns almost due south
below the fall line for about 8 miles (13 km) before turning east again, the
land within Henrico County encompasses much of Metropolitan Richmond's West End,
its North Side, and East End areas.
Chesterfield County also borders on the Appomattox River to its south. Much of
the southern and eastern portions of the county are considered part of the
Tri-Cities area, which centers on the lower Appomattox River, where the
neighboring independent city of Petersburg was founded on the fall line.
Demographics
As of the census� of 2000, there were 259,903 people, 93,772 households, and
72,110 families residing in the county. The population density was 236/km�
(610/sq mi).
A more recent 2006 estimate puts the population of Chesterfield County at
306,000 - a growth of over 35,000 people since 2000[2].
There were 97,707 housing units at an average density of 89/km� (230/sq mi). The
racial makeup of the county was 65.44% White, 32.23% Black or African American,
0.33% Native American, 2.37% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.34% from other
races, and 1.41% from two or more races. 2.93% of the population were Hispanic
or Latino of any race.
There were 93,772 households out of which 40.70% had children under the age of
18 living with them, 62.20% were married couples living together, 11.20% had a
female householder with no husband present, and 23.10% were non-families. 18.50%
of all households were made up of individuals and 4.80% had someone living alone
who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the
average family size was 3.11.
In the county, the population was spread out with 28.30% under the age of 18,
7.70% from 18 to 24, 31.20% from 25 to 44, 24.90% from 45 to 64, and 8.10% who
were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100
females there were 95.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there
were 91.30 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $58,537, and the median
income for a family was $65,058. Males had a median income of $43,030 versus
$30,518 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,286. About
3.30% of families and 4.50% of the population were below the poverty line,
including 5.60% of those under age 18 and 3.40% of those age 65 or over.
Town twinning
On 11 October 2005 the agreement will be signed to join the Borough of Gravesham
in Kent, England with Chesterfield County in a link up between the two
communities. The town of Gravesend, on the River Thames is part of the borough,
and it was here that Princess Pocahontas was buried after she had died on board
a ship in the river. The village of Matoaca is believed to be her home village.
The link is part of the 400th anniversary celebrations in 2007 to mark the
founding of Jamestown, Virginia.
Recognition
In May of 2004, Chesterfield was named the "17th Best Place to Live in America"
by the American City Business Journals.
Chesterfield County is also noted as the home town of NASCAR superstar Denny
Hamlin. He spent years racing at many local short tracks, including Southside
Speedway in Midlothian, VA.
Roy F. Hoffmann, Chairman of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, owns a home in
Chesterfield County.
Unincorporated towns and communities
* Bellwood
* Bensley
* Bermuda Hundred
* Bon Air
* Centralia
* Chester
* Chesterfield Court House
* Enon
* Ettrick
* Matoaca
* Meadowbrook
* Midlothian
* Mosley
* Winterpock
Schools
Chesterfield County Public Schools is the local school system, and has received
the U.S. Department of Education's Blue Ribbon Award.