CHESTERFIELD

Four historically significant buildings await visitors to the Chesterfield Courthouse complex: a county museum, the 1892 jail, a 1917 Colonial Revival Courthouse and a Federal-period plantation house called Magnolia Grange. They are all operated by the Chesterfield Historical Society.

The Chesterfield County Museum is housed inside a replica of the county's 1750 courthouse. This modest museum may have greater appeal for county residents than casual visitors, but it does encompass an important bit of Virginia history. The state's earliest inhabitants, Appomattox and Monocan Indians, are represented by a collection of stone implements and a 17th-century dugout canoe.

An historic document from 1749 has a fascinating past. Called the Commission of Peace, it had established the county of Chesterfield. In 1865 Edward Jeffries of the New York Infantry stole it. Then, 90 years later on April 6, 1955, a county resident saw an advertisement for the document's sale. He purchased it and had it returned to its rightful place in Chesterfield.

Three county firsts are commemorated. It was in Chesterfield in 1700 that the French Huguenots established the first commerical coal mines in America. This was also the location of the first iron mines, established in 1619 and eliminated along with the Henricus settlement (see selection) in the 1622 massacre. The first railroad in Virginia was also in this county.

Visitors to the Chesterfield County Museum can see a well-stocked country store, reflecting the years from 1900 to 1940. Old medicine jars hold long forgotten nostrums. There are such arcane items as a hog scraper, shotgun shell crimper, Cresoline lamps (the forerunners of vaporizers), cherry seeders and a device for watering baby chicks. On the counter there is a 1922 account book from the general merchandise store; some youngsters are amazed to learn that a store would "carry" a customer.

Downstairs at the jail, visitors can see police and fire department artifacts. The old cells upstairs are definitely a crime deterrent---small, dark, cold and totally inhospitable. One prisoner who was determined to escape jumped the jailer. The jailer, who was getting on in years, fortunately had been forewarned by a prison trustee. He pulled his revolver and shot the prisoner dead. He was buried on the sheriff's farm until relatives could claim the body.

The 1917 Colonial Revival Courthouse is open for tours. It houses changing exhibits, a gift shop and a local history/genealogy library that is open daily for researchers. Museum offices are also located in the courthouse.

The last part of the complex, Magnolia Grange, is across Route 10 from the Court Green. Built in 1822, it is one of the finest Federal period houses in Virginia. The building has been restored to represent the early 19th-century life-style of an affluent Virginia planter. The architecture and furnishings reflect the Greek Revival influence, except for an upstairs bedroom that is decorated in the Victorian style, popular in the 1890s.

The Chesterfield County Museum Complex is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. and on Sunday 1:00 to 4:00 P.M. Admission is charged to tour Magnolia Grange and the museum. Call the Chesterfield Historical Society at (804) 748-1026 for further information.

Directions: From Richmond take I-95 south to Route 288, Exit 62. Take Route 10 west to the Chesterfield Courthouse. The museum is on the right.

Born in 1595, Pocahontas was the favorite daughter of Chief Powhatan, a significant distinction as he fathered approximately 100 children. When the English settlers arrived in Virginia they encountered the Mattaponi tribe ruled by Powhatan’s Confederation (see Mattaponi Indian Museum selection and Jamestown Settlement).

The inquisitive Princess Pocahontas was fascinated by the English and she frequently visited their fort. Most historians believe that her 1607 “rescue” of Captain John Smith, when she was 12, was part of an adoption ritual intended to welcome a foreign captive into the tribe. It wasn’t long before Pocahontas discovered what it was like to be a captive. In 1613, two years after Captain John Smith returned to England, Pocahontas was kidnaped by Captain Samuel Argall. After ransom negotiations between Argall and Chief Powhatan broke down, Pocahontas was taken to the new Citie (sic) of Henricus.

This was the second permanent English settlement. Although John Smith claimed Jamestown was the “fittest place for an Earthly Paradise,” its low-lying terrain proved to be too swampy. Henricus was established by Sir Thomas Dale, a sea captain and temporary deputy governor of the Virginia colony, along with 350 settlers in 1611 on a bluff above the James River. The Native Americans attacked the settlement constantly and it was in hopes of securing peace that Argall took Pocahontas hostage. She was taught Christianity by Reverend Alexander Whitaker and at age 18 or 19 was baptized in Henricus’s church, taking the name Rebecca. In 1614, Rebecca (after obtaining a divorce from her Indian husband) married John Rolfe, a young English planter and had a son they named Thomas. It was John Rolfe who developed a sweeter tasting tobacco hybrid while living near Henricus. In 1616-1617 the Rolfes traveled to London where Pocahontas dazzled the English court. Pocahontas died in London in 1617 after a brief illlness. The peace achieved by Pocahontas presence at the settlement broke down and a massacre in 1622 virtually destroyed Henricus. On Good Friday, May 22, 1622, Powhatan’s warriors came to Henricus and, after entering the settlement, they used the colonists’ own weapons to slay them.

This historic site was overlooked for centuries, but in 1985 the Henricus Historical Park opened (although it wasn’t until 1995 that the access road to the park opened). This is still a work in progress. The Henricus Foundation plans to add a four-acre village with a recreation of Mt. Malady, the first hospital in North America, as well as the church where Pocahontas was baptized. Three more watchtowers and other settlement buildings will be constructed. There will also be a visitor center to provide orientation. Already in place is a fort with a watchtower and firing platforms, a wattle and daub settler’s home (intended for six men since women didn’t arrive in the colony until 1619) and a small fence-enclosed garden planted with corn and tobacco. There is also a mile-and-a-quarter walking path along the James River. A free boat dock is available for those who travel to the park by water.

The Henricus Historical Park reconstructed area is open at no charge Thursday, Friday and Sunday NOON to 5:00 P.M. and Saturday 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. The park area is open March through October from 8:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. and until 6:00 P.M. the rest of the year.

A special Publick Day is held annually on the third Sunday in September. A lively celebration includes historical reenactors, colonial crafts, children’s games and musket companies, a Native American exhibit and period food like Indian corn soup, Brunswick stew, gingerbread cookies and sassafras tea.

Directions: From I-95 take Exit 61A, and travel east on Route 10 for about one block to Old Stage Road. Take Old Stage Road north for two miles to Coxendale Road and make a right; continue on that for a ½ mile to Henricus Road.

During the American Revolution, George Washington received the rank of lieutenant general. This rank was not bestowed again until late in the Civil War when on March 9, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln made Ulysses S. Grant general-in-chief of all Union armies, which included more than a half million soldiers across the United States.

Grant lost approximately 18,000 men at the Wilderness battlefield, roughly another 19,000 at Spotsylvania, where the fiercest 24-hour period of the war occurred at the "Bloody Angle," followed by about 12,000 more at Cold Harbor near Richmond. Nevertheless, Grant decided to cross the James River and attack Petersburg, the railroad center of the Confederacy. Much of General Robert E. Lee’s supplies were brought from the deep South to his army through the Petersburg rail lines. Grant realized that if the rail lines were severed, Lee’s supply line would be restricted which might hasten Lee’s defeat.

For four days in June of 1864 Grant’s army hit hard at the southern line just outside Petersburg. When the aggressive attack did not break the city’s defenses Grant decided to dig in and start siege operations. Thus began a nine and a half-month siege, the longest siege in American history. Grant’s headquarters was located at City Point, it soon became the largest logistical and supply operations of the entire war. During the Siege of Petersburg, City Point was one of the world’s busiest ports. Enormous quantities of war materials were off-loaded at the half-mile stretch of wharves along the James River. These supplies provisioned over 100,00 Union troops and 65,000 animals. Tons of supplies were also shipped to the army by the railroad, which had supply lines leading directly to the front.

Telegraph lines linked Grant to the battlefront, Washington D.C. and other theaters of war. Seven hospitals were built at City Point, over 6,000 patients a day could be treated at the largest facility. Support facilities also included a bakery which produced more than 100,000 rations of bread each day.

President Lincoln met with Grant at his City Point headquarters on two occasions. In March and April, 1865, Lincoln spent two of the last three weeks of his life at City Point and nearby Petersburg and Richmond. When you tour City Point it is fascinating to discover that Grant refused the spacious accommodations available in the Eppes's Appomattox Manor and lived in a tent from June until a crudely constructed officers' cabin was completed in November 1864. The cabin, which for a time stood in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, has been moved back. It is located on the manor’s east lawn and you can view the interior through the front door and windows.

Appomattox Manor, the ancestral home of the Eppes family since 1763, serves as a visitor contact station. The east wing and portions of the west wing were added around the central portion before the Civil War. Although there are 23 rooms, only three are open to the public and only two decorated with original Eppes's family furnishings. At the center you can view a 15-minute video, shown every half hour, on Grant and the supply system established at City Point. The attractive porch offers a view of both the river and grounds including several of the original outbuildings. There are six interpretive markers on the grounds.

The City Point Unit, which is part of the Petersburg National Battlefield, is open daily at no charge from 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. It is closed on Christmas and New Year's Day. If you have time you may want to take the Hopewell (see selection) and City Point Historic District Walking Tour. A map will point out houses occupied by Union generals and several other homes in the community that belonged to the Eppes family.

Directions: Take I-95 to the Hopewell Exit. Take Route 10 into Hopewell. Once you cross the Appomattox River, turn left at the second traffic signal onto Main Street, which will change into Appomattox Street. Follow Appomattox Street to Cedar Lane, turn left. At the end of Cedar Lane turn left into the National Park Service parking lot.

You can explore Hopewell’s history, enjoy the city’s diverse neighborhoods and view wildlife at an island refuge. Tour options include walking tours of the City Point National Historic District, self-guiding driving tours of Crescent Hills, a ferry ride to see waterfowl and a boat excursion along the James River.

One of the newest additions on Hopewell’s City Point National Historic District Walking Tour harkens back to the region’s earliest days. The City Point Early History Museum at St. Dennis Chapel has artifacts that trace the history of regional Native Americans and colonial settlers. The story of the town, its inhabitants and illustrious visitors is examined from the past into the 20th century. Museum hours are Monday through Saturday 10:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. from April through October. A nominal admission is charged.

The town of City Point was established in 1613 by Englishman Sir Thomas Dale. City Point withstood Native American raids and Revolutionary War skirmishes. The town played a significant role during the Civil War (see City Point Unit selection). In 1923, City Point was annexed by the city of Hopewell.

St. Dennis Chapel was built in 1883 by sailors and marines who were anchored off City Point. Although the chapel was converted to a private residence in the early 1900s, restoration has restored its ecclesiastical features including a stained-glass rose window and tall steeple.

The chapel is just one of the points of interest on the walking tour of the four-block historic district located at the confluence of the Appomattox and James rivers. Along the tour route are audiovisual exhibit centers that provide architectural and historical details of the houses you pass as well as information about the activities that occurred when City Point served as the headquarters of the Armies of the United States.

After your walking tour, take a self-guided driving tour through the 1920s Crescent Hills subdivision of Hopewell. M. T. Broyhill, founder of the real estate company that bore his name, needed up-scale residences for plant executives at ANCO (now Allied Signal Corporation) and others moving to the area because the industrial upsurge creating a housing demand that could not be met by existing communities. He felt the need was too acute to wait for the normal building schedule, so Broyhill ordered an entire subdivision of homes by mail from Sears, Roebuck and Company.

Broyhill ordered the Sears homes in a variety of models and his company customized each home for the buyer---adding a porch, changing a door or window treatment, reversing a floor plan and other modifications. The 40 custom-kit homes were built of high-quality materials and the subdivision is still one of Hopewell’s most affluent and attractive neighborhoods. You can pick up a driving tour map at the Hopewell Visitor Center at Randolph Square on Route 10 (open daily, except major holidays, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.), or by calling (800) 863-8680.

There are two options that will get you out on the water. One is a pedestrian ferry to Presquile National Wildlife Refuge. (The second is a boat excursion along the James and Appomattox rivers.) The island refuge is five miles north of Hopewell in the James River. In order to visit, call the refuge manager at (804) 733-8042, the only access is by a government owned and operated pedestrian ferry that leaves from the very end of Old Bermuda Hundred Road, State Route 827..

The two-mile-long island has a rich history. Native Americans hunted and fished on the island. English settlers established Bermuda Hundred here in the early 1600s, the first settlement established after Jamestown. In 1660, William Randolph moved to the island and lived here for many years. Many notable Virginians are related to Randolph including Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall and Robert E. Lee. During the Battle of Petersburg, Union troops used the island, then called Turkey Bend, as an observation post. In 1952, the island was bequeathed to the government by Dr. A.D. Williams, who had used the property as a country estate and dairy farm.

The island is now a resting spot for between 9,000 and 11,000 migrating Canada geese. The wetlands is also the winter home of wood ducks, black ducks and mallards. A farming program on the island provides forage for the migrating and resident wildlife. Winter flocks average 3,000 Canada geese and 1,000 ducks. A small number of bald eagles have been sighted nesting along the river and in trees beside the farm fields. White-tailed deer are frequently spotted, the more elusive red fox, muskrat, beaver, opossum, eastern grey squirrel and woodchuck are only occasionally glimpsed. There is a 3/4-mile nature trail that will provide an opportunity to spot the waterfowl and wildlife. Be sure to bring binoculars. The best time to see a high population of waterfowl is from October through November (but it can be quite brisk, so bundle up). During the legal deer hunting season a portion of the refuge is open to hunters. The refuge office is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.

To take advantage of the second option, take an excursion aboard the Pocahontas II. Hopewell can claim its share of the Pocahontas legend, because the town was the home of her only granddaughter, Jane Rolfe Bolling. The original Pocahontas sailed on April 25, 1893 offering excursions on the James River between Richmond and Norfolk for $2.50. The boat nicknamed “Old Pokey” gave passengers ample time to savor the plantations along the lower James River. It was replaced in 1993 by a 65-foot cruise boat and the tradition of offering a narrated cruise through the heart of Plantation Country continues. Trips leave from Hopewell’s city marina from April through October. You can enjoy a buffet meal or a moonlight party cruise. Call (800) 405-9990 for information and reservations.

Directions: From I-95, or I-295, take Route 10 east to Hopewell. Hopewell is 20 minutes from downtown Richmond and less than an hour from Williamsburg.

Weston Manor and Flowerdew Hundred Plantation

What a Wedding Gift!

Christian Eppes Gilliam, whose mother was descended from Pocahontas and whose cousin was married to Thomas Jefferson’s daughter, was delighted with her wedding present. Who wouldn't be happy with a vast plantation overlooking the Appomattox River? By 1789 Christian and her husband William had completed Weston Manor, an elegant, formal 13-room dwelling---the very essence of the Tidewater plantation house.

The house was rich in architectural details and the land rich in history. In 1607, around the time Jamestown was settled, Captain Christopher Newport led an exploratory party 30 miles up the James River. They were entertained on the banks of the Appomattox River by Queen Opusoquoinuske and a group of Appomattox Indians. Later in 1635, the land on which they met was included in the 1,700 acres granted to Captain Francis Eppes by crown patent.

Weston Manor, the three-story colonial frame farmhouse that you see today is a classic example of Virginia Georgian architecture. The manor’s distinctive moldings, wainscoting and chair rails are 85 percent original. The central arch accented with a paneled keystone in the 28-foot entrance hall is particularly attractive. The spiral stairway features concave paneling, a walnut handrail and hand-carved supports. The old heart-of-pine floor still shines despite its long and hard use. If you look closely you can see some of the original wooden floor pegs.

Although now beautifully restored and furnished with period reproductions, the house did suffer damage during the War Between the States. The house was shelled by a Northern gunboat. In fact, a cannonball was fired through the dining room window into the ceiling. It may well have served as a reminder of the hazards of war to the officers under General Grant's command who were billeted at Weston Manor during the siege of Petersburg. General Philip Sheridan was one of the officers quartered here. A windowpane scratched with his authenticated signature is displayed in the parlor.

Before its occupation by Union troops, Weston was the temporary residence of 12-year old Emma Wood, who kept a journal. Visitors hear about little Emma’s wartime adventures and of post-war ghosts that “run rampant” in the manor.

Today this stately manor house serenely overlooks the Appomattox River. A community outdoor stage has been built on the riverbank. Sunday afternoon concerts are given during the summer months. Weston Manor is open for tours Monday through Saturday from 10:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. April through October. The tour lasts an hour and a nominal admission is charged.

Just downriver from Weston Manor on the south bank of the James is Flowerdew Hundred, one of the earliest English settlements in North America. The land originally inhabited by prehistoric people was granted to Governor George Yeardley in 1618. Secrets from the past have been uncovered by archaeologists. Artifacts dating from 9000 B.C. to the Civil War era are on display in the Flowerdew Museum.

The visitor center/museum is located in the only pre-Civil War building, originally a schoolhouse, still standing. An 1820s detached plantation kitchen has been reconstructed on the foundations of the original kitchen. The guided tour encompasses this building and the windmill. In 1978, an 18th-century style windmill was built to commemorate the 1621 windmill. It illustrates windmill technology through the Revolutionary War. Flowerdew Hundred is a 1,400-acre working farm.

Flowerdew Hundred Plantation is open April through November, Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. At other times it is open by appointment; call (804) 541-8897. Admission is charged. There are picnic facilities on the grounds.

Directions: From I-95 head south of Richmond to the Hopewell Exit, Route 10. Follow Route 10 into the city. Weston Manor is located near the Hopewell Yacht Club off 21st Avenue on the Appomattox River. There are Hopewell Historic Marker signs to direct you. For Flowerdew Hundred take Route 10 East (8 miles east of Hopewell). Turn left on Flowerdew Hundred Road, Route 639. The entrance is five miles off of Route 10.