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. Early ports, coal, roads, turnpikes and railroads The State Police have since built a new administrative headquarters and an academy here. This structure served as administrative headquarters and barracks. In 1939 during the Great Depression, the Virginia State Police moved their offices from downtown Richmond to a seven-room farmhouse located on 65 acres (260,000 m 2) of land 3½ miles west on route 60. One of his most frequently used sayings implies avoiding rudeness "An injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult." Many years later, Chesterfield Cigarettes were named after this county. Lord Chesterfield was famous for his "good manners and writings". The legislature named the county for the former British Secretary of State, Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield. The latter community has been subsumed by South Richmond. It has continued as county seat except for 1870–1876, during Reconstruction, when the county government was located at Manchester. The first county seat was established at Chesterfield Court House. On, the Virginia House of Burgesses separated Chesterfield from Henrico County and created the new county. One of these was Henrico County, which incorporated a large area on both sides of the James River. In 1634, the King of England directed the formation of eight shires (or counties) in the colony of Virginia. The colony did not gain a college until 1693, when the College of William and Mary was awarded a royal charter in the capital.
In the Indian Massacre of 1622, Native Americans destroyed Henrico City and the ironworks to try to drive away the English. That year Falling Creek Ironworks, the first in what is now the United States, was established slightly west on the creek near its confluence with the James River. Henrico and three other large citties (sic) were formed, one of which included what is now Chesterfield County. 1619 was a watershed year for the Virginia Colony. When finished in 1619, "Henricus Citie" contained three streets of well-framed houses, a church, storehouses, a hospital, and watchtowers. The English settlers soon built a palisade and moat-like ditch to protect entrance to the 174-yard (159 m) wide neck from the shore area.ĭale named the new settlement Henricus in honor of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, the elder son of King James I. ĭale wrote about the site: "Eighty miles up our river from Jamestown, I have surveyed a convenient, strong, healthie and sweete site to plant a new towne (according as I had instructions upon my departure) there to build whence might be removed the principal site." Today known as Farrars Island, the site was on a neck of land with 5,000 acres (20 km 2) and a shoreline of seven miles (11 km) on the James River. These veterans of the Low Country wars were heavily armed and better trained than settlers of Jamestown. Dale was accompanied by men known as the "Hammours". It was to include a college to help educate Virginia Indians, as well as the children of settlers. One of the more progressive developments in the colony was Henricus, founded under the guidance of Sir Thomas Dale. Main article: History of Virginia Part of Henrico Cittie, Henrico Shire, Henrico Countyĭuring the early 17th century, shortly after the settlement pf Jamestown in 1607, English settlers and explorers began settling other areas.