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The history of Richmond County, Virginia is brought to life with an interactive timeline of events, periods in history, and spotlights of historical figures and places.
Hundreds of years before English settlers arrived to establish Jamestown in 1607, Native Americans had been living along the river whose name they shared; Rappahannock in the Algonquian language means rising and falling (or tidal) water. In the area that is now Richmond County, fourteen Rappahannock towns were recorded by..Read More
In 1650, Colonel Moore Fauntleroy, an emigrant from southern England, was granted a patent for 5, 350 acres on both sides of Farnham Creek and the first court for Lancaster County was held at his home there the next year. Because of the great distances to travel to court, in..Read More
A statute enacted by the Virginia General Assembly declared that children born to a Negro woman would be enslaved, in effect enabling planters to reproduce their own labor force. Subsequent Virginia laws further entrenched slavery: one passed in 1705 stated that “all Negro, mulatto and Indian slaves within this dominion…shall..Read More
Old Rappahannock County (which contained the land that is now Richmond County) straddled the Rappahannock River. In 1692, noting the inconvenience of crossing the river for court sessions, Rappahannock County justices petitioned the Virginia Assembly at Jamestown to divide the county again. The result produced two new counties, Essex on..Read More
Born at Stratford Hall, Westmoreland County, Francis Lightfoot Lee became a resident of Richmond County when he married Rebecca Tayloe of Mount Airy. Lee signed the Leedstown Resolutions against the Stamp Act in 1766 and was a member of the Virginia Convention of March 1775 in which the “Virginia Revolution..Read More
When Great Britain threatened American Shipping on the open sea, war was declared under President Madison in 1812. From early 1813, Richmond County provided infantry, artillery and cavalry for the conflict. In December, 1814 British Forces landed at Morattico on the Rappahnnock and marched to Farnham Church where a Richmond..Read More
The Northern Neck Industrial Academy, the first African American High School in Richmond County, opened on October 1, 1901. On behalf of the academy, C. H. Carter, teacher and inventor, wrote a letter to the editor ofthe Northern Neck News which in part reads: “[it] is half a mile from..Read More
Two hundred and ninety-eight men from Richmond County served in World War I: of these twelve died in the war. Patriotism was in evidence in civic programs and religious services in the county as Red Cross volunteers worked to support the soldiers, sailors and airmen in uniform. Source: Richmond County..Read More
The Civil Rights Act, adopted on July 2, 1964, ended segregation in public places, federally funded programs and banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. In addition, the act strengthened the enforcement of voting rights and the desegregation of schools. In April 1965, Richmond County Public..Read More
Under the direction of a twelve-member Tricentennial Commission, Richmond County mounted a year-long celebration that included publishing a history of the county, surveying the county’s historical sites, and celebrating with parades, concerts, games, canoe races, speeches, and a costume ball. On May 23, 1992, after opening ceremonies at Sabine Hall..Read More
Masks encouraged. Schools closed. Churches closed. Public gatherings prohibited. Stores, restaurants, and other places of businesses ordered to close early. These bans, placed into effect in the fall of 1918, were to help limit and contain the spread of the Spanish Influenza. Eerily, 100 years later, the same bans with..Read More
