Chesterfield County’s history is vast. Chesterfield can trace its past to the Native Americans who lived here for thousands of years prior to the arrival of the first English settlers in 1611 to establish the second permanent settlement in the New World.
Among Chesterfield’s major historic moments are many firsts. Travel through time with this snapshot of major moments in Chesterfield’s history.
1612 – MOUNT MALADY
Chesterfield is home to the first hospital in North America. Mt. Malady, the first English hospital established in the New World, opened in 1612 with just 40 beds. Today, visitors can learn about what it was like to be a patient at Mt. Malady at Henricus Historical Park.
1612 – TOBACCO CULTIVATION
Tobacco was first cultivated scientifically in America at Bermuda Hundred by John Rolfe in 1612. Rolfe, experimenting with local Native American tobacco and tobacco from Spanish Trinidad, produced a variety suitable for English tastes. This tobacco was commercially grown in the Bermuda Hundred area and evolved as the first cash crop for the settlers. By 1700, several tons of tobacco were being exported from the Chesterfield area and other parts of Virginia each year.
1614 – BERMUDA HUNDRED
The town of Bermuda Hundred was first settled by English colonists in 1613 by Thomas Dale. In 1614, Bermuda Hundred became the first incorporated town in America. In 2006, the village of Bermuda Hundred was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.
1619 – FALLING CREEK IRONWORKS
America’s iron and steel industry began in Chesterfield County! In 1619, the Virginia Company of London established the first iron furnace and smelting works. Chesterfield’s Falling Creek Ironworks Park is the site of the first American Ironworks, and the beginning of the iron and steel industry in the New World. Situated along the Falling Creek Greenway, the unique features of the falls and the natural scenic beauty of the area attract fisherman, birders, hikers and photographers.
1709 – MID-LOTHIAN MINES
Following the beginning of the steel and iron industry in America, the first commercial coal mine opened at what is today known as Mid-Lothian Mines Park. The cut stone ruins of the mines surrounded by the beautiful woodland testifies to the courage, innovation and sacrifice of those who started the U.S. industrial revolution. The 44-acre park includes a new 450-seat rustic amphitheater and a large artistic representation of a coal mining headstock.
1804 – MIDLOTHIAN TURNPIKE
Manchester and Falling Creek Turnpike was a toll road built in 1804 to ease traffic. It was graveled in 1807, making it Virginia’s first hard-surfaced road. The road is known today as Midlothian Turnpike.
1811 – COMMERCIAL TRAMWAY
Around 1811, the Falling Creek Railroad was the first commercial tramway to be state chartered in Virginia. It connected the Brown, Page and Burr gunpowder mill to a storage magazine at Falling Creek, a mile away. The Falling Creek “railroad” was made with wood, not iron, for the rails and the wheels. The tram relied on gravity and a hand brake to move instead of a locomotive engine.
1815 – COBBS SCHOOL
The Cobbs School was the first permanent school for the deaf in the United States. More than 200 years later in 2022, OB Gates Elementary School became the first elementary school in the nation to offer American Sign Language as a dual immersion program.
1831 – MIDLOTHIAN TO MANCHESTER RAILROAD
Chesterfield County is home to Virginia’s first railroad! The Midlothian to Manchester Railroad was completed in 1831 to haul coal from the Midlothian mines to Manchester’s wharves on the James River. Moncure Robinson, a railroad pioneer, designed the track on which the cars were powered by gravity, horses and mules.
1882 – VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Originally named the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, Virginia State University was Virginia’s first state-supported school of higher learning for African Americans and the first state-supported historically black school in the United States to offer both a college program and a normal program. Today, VSU invites visitors to explore the historic campus. Begin your visit at the Welcome Center.
History is all around us in Chesterfield County. Be sure to follow @ExperienceChesterfield and facebook.com/ExperienceChesterfield to learn more about the History that Happened Here.