Richmond Virginia Real Estate - Henrico Community Information

Lifestyle

Search Homes

Search Condos

Maps

News

Movies

Sale Prices by Zip Code

HENRICO COUNTY

O ne of the oldest political subdivisions in Virginia, Henrico was the scene of the second settlement in the colony and was established in 1634 as one of the eight original shires or counties. Its first boundaries incorporated an area from which 10 Virginia counties were later formed in whole or in part, as well as the cities of Richmond, Charlottesville, and Colonial Heights. The county was named for Henry, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of King James I of England.

The Quest Begins
I n the spring of 1607, a small band of adventurers led by Captain Christopher Newport left Jamestown on a voyage up Powhatan's River, now called the James River. Newport's company included Captain John Smith, George Percy, Esq., Captain Gabriel Archer, and about 20 others. The Virginia Company of London, a private organization chartered by the crown to settle Virginia, had authorized the exploration.

O n the third day, they sailed to a place occupied by the Arrohattoc Indians, one of the tribes ruled by the Indian chief Powhatan. The explorers became the first Englishmen to set foot on the soil that was to become Henrico County.

H aving been fed and entertained by the Indians, the adventurers departed the next morning. They explored the area, and Newport erected a cross, claiming the river and the country for God and England.
Henrico Is Settled
I n 1611, four years after Newport's early explorations, Sir Thomas Dale left Jamestown to establish a settlement upriver. Relations with the Indians had steadily deteriorated since 1607, and Dale's company suffered constant attacks. The party finally came to a peninsula on the north side of the river, now Farrar's Island, where Dale established the colony's second settlement, "Henricus ," known also as the "city" or "town" of "Henrico." In just four months the town grew to a fortified settlement. Frame houses lined three streets, and the men had built a wooden church, a brick foundation for a permanent church, storehouses, watchtowers, and huts.

L ife in the New World was hard, but the English had high hopes that their settlements would add valuable minerals and raw materials to their economy, in addition to providing strategic military outposts. They also saw this land as a new frontier for spreading Christianity.
V irginia's economy was sharply transformed by the introduction in 1612 of new strains of mild tobacco by colonist John Rolfe. Rolfe's tobacco was shipped to England, and Virginia's economy soon began to prosper.

In 1614, peace with the Indians was temporarily established, following Rolfe's marriage to Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas, who had converted to Christianity and been baptized "Rebecca."
A Representative Government
I n 1619, the Virginia Company instituted reforms in the colony that led to the establishment of a representative form of government. The colony was divided into settlements or "plantations," one being the City of Henrico. Each plantation sent representatives to Jamestown to the General Assembly of 1619, the first representative legislature in a British colony.

H enrico's settlement included a parcel of 10,000 acres for what was intended to become the University of Henricus, the first English university in America. One of the schools within the university was to be for the Indians.
A Town Under Attack
A n Indian uprising on March 22, 1622, abruptly halted plans to develop Henrico and its university. The Indians regarded the colony's rapid development as a threat.

O n Good Friday morning, Indians attacked settlements throughout the colony. Houses were burned. Men, women, and children were murdered. Henricus was almost completely demolished. Most survivors retreated to Jamestown or other nearby settlements. The city called Henrico was abandoned. The site of Henrico's first settlement was part of a large land grant made to William Farrar, Sr., and came to be known as Farrar's Island.

I n the years following the Indian uprising of 1622, the colonists engaged in regular attacks against the Indians, pushing them farther and farther westward.
Henrico Becomes A Shire
A s the Indians became less of a threat to the colonists, more settlers came to Virginia. In 1624, England assumed control of the colonies.

I n 1634, Virginia was divided into eight shires, or counties, one being Henrico. By 1640, the Henrico court was held at Varina. By 1752, the courthouse was moved to Richmond.
Bacon's Rebellion
B y 1676, many colonists had become angry over grievances against Sir William Berkeley, governor of Virginia at that time. Opposing the governor's authority, some colonists waged a campaign against the Indians, with Henrico planter Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., as one of the principal leaders. English authorities viewed his acts as rebellious and soon found themselves in combat with Bacon's men. However, Bacon died of a fever in October 1676, and, without his leadership, the colonists' revolt dissipated. England regained control. Even so, Bacon's Rebellion made an important statement about Virginians' willingness to fight what they saw as an unfair government policy.
The American Revolution
I n 1776, Henrico representatives Richard Adams and Nathaniel Wilkenson participated in the Fifth Virginia Convention, which voted to send delegates to the Continental Congress to propose separation from the British. That proposal led to the Declaration of Independence.

D uring the Revolutionary War, when Benedict Arnold's invading army occupied Richmond in January 1781, the Henrico militia was called to active duty. During the brief British occupation of Richmond, many Henrico court records were destroyed.

T hree months later when Arnold's men, now part of British forces led by General William Phillips, approached Richmond for a second time, the British were stopped by the sight of local militiamen and American Continental troops led by a young Frenchman, the Marquis de Lafayette. Outnumbered, Lafayette abandoned Richmond when General Charles Cornwallis occupied the town in June 1781. Cornwallis then retired to Williamsburg and later to Yorktown. After being surrounded there by General George Washington and his French allies, Cornwallis surrendered, effectively ending the American Revolution.
The Virginia Convention Of 1788
I n 1788, the General Assembly called a special convention to consider the ratification of the proposed United States Constitution. Henrico sent Governor Edmund Randolph, who presided over the convention, and John Marshall, future chief justice, as delegates. After 25 days of heated debate, Virginia voted 89-79 in favor of ratification. Counted among the aye votes were Randolph and Marshall.
Gabriel's Rebellion
I n the early 19th century, most Henricoans made their living by farming and related industries, such as milling. Coal mining was also important, especially in northern and western Henrico. The principal source of labor for these industries was slavery.

I n 1800, a slave named Gabriel, owned by Thomas Henry Prosser of Brookfield plantation in Henrico County, conceived and organized a widespread slave uprising. Involving several Virginia localities, it was possibly the most far-reaching slave uprising planned in the history of the South.

T he plan might have succeeded had it not been for a sudden, severe downpour and the disclosure of the plot by several slaves, including Tom and Pharoah, who belonged to Mosby Sheppard of Meadow Farm, in Henrico. The alarm went out and the rebellion was thwarted. The effects of the conspiracy were profound and as a result, county and state leaders instituted legislation to regulate the movement of slaves and free blacks.
The Civil War
M any important Civil War battles were fought on Henrico soil, including the battles of Seven Pines, Savage's Station, Glendale, Malvern Hill, Yellow Tavern, New Market Heights, and others in defense of Richmond. The National Park Service's Richmond National Battlefield Park Web site is an excellent resource for details on these battles and other topics related to the Civil War in Henrico and the Richmond metropolitan region.

I n the northern part of the county at Brook Hill plantation, an earthen fort was constructed at the recommendation of General Robert E. Lee to guard Brook Turnpike (now U.S. Route 1), a major route into Richmond. To the east on Nine Mile Road, Lee made his headquarters at Dabbs House. This historic structure is now the eastern precinct for the Henrico Division of Police .

A t New Market Heights on September 29, 1864, Union black infantry troops dislodged Confederate defenders in a heroic action for which fourteen men received Medals of Honor. Two hundred more received a special medal commissioned by their general. Click this National Park Service link to read more about these troops and the battle they fought.

T o learn more about the Civil War in Henrico and the surrounding region, be sure to visit the National Park Service's (NPS) Richmond National Battlefield Park Web site and visitor centers . Also available on the NPS site are several park maps including a driving tour map of the battlefield park areas . Our Henrico Recreation and Parks Department has an excellent listing of Civil War Trail markers located throughout the county. And don't miss the Museum and White House of the Confederacy , located in the City of Richmond.
Reconstruction
E ducation was an important part of Henrico's reconstruction after the Civil War. Notable in this effort was Virginia Estelle Randolph, a pioneer educator and humanitarian who lived from 1874 to 1958. She opened the old Mountain Road School in 1892 and was named the first Jeanes Supervisor Industrial Teacher in Henrico County Schools in 1908. She conducted the first Arbor Day program in Virginia. The Virginia Randolph Home Economics Cottage was dedicated as a museum in memory of Ms. Randolph and is a National and State Historic Landmark.

E lizabeth Holladay Elementary School is named for Miss Elizabeth Jane Holladay, a pioneer teacher who started the first public school in the Glen Allen area of Henrico at her home in 1886. In 1899 the original one-room Glen Allen School was built. "Miss Lizzie" continued to teach until 1901 and tutored for much of the remainder of her life.
Henrico County Today
B ordering the city of Richmond on the west, north, and east, the county of Henrico lies between the James and Chickahominy rivers, and constitutes approximately a third of the Richmond metropolitan area. To see a map of Henrico, click this link to our page on historical points of interest. To return here, click on your browser's "back" button.
T oday, Henrico's 260,000 residents live in a well-planned community of 244.06 square miles (635 square kilometers) consisting of beautiful residential communities, large expanses of fertile farm land, and carefully developed office, retail, and diversified industrial areas.

In 1974, a new courthouse was built as part of the Henrico Government Center at Parham and Hungary Spring Roads. In 1986, Henrico opened the Eastern Government Center near Dabbs House on Nine Mile Road.

View other communities in and around the Richmond area!