Urbanna, Virginia

Urbanna, Virginia. . , Welcome to Urbanna, Virginia , Along this walking tour you will find illustrated panels presenting many lively stories and facts about the town, its buildings, its residents and their lives. Urbanna's origin goes back to June 1680, when Virginia's Colonial Assembly's Act of Cohabitation encouraged the establishment of 19 tobacco port-of-entry towns throughout the colony. The act specified that each county set aside 50 acres for a port and market town and authorized payment of 10,000 pounds of tobacco for payment for the land to Ralph Wormeley of Rosegill. The establishment of Urbanna, however, was delayed as Wormeley accpeted for the land but discouraged development by sending his slaves across the creek to dissuade surveyors and settlers. After 25 years, on October 23, 1705, the Assembly in Williamsburg officially created a town in Middlesex County, naming it Urbanna, meaning "City of Anne" in Latin to honor the reigning Queen Anne of England. Within the town a custom house and public tobacco warehouses were established and built to inspect, register and store tobacco. The town prospered during the Colonial period as tobacco trade brought Scottish factors (businessmen) from Great Britain. Middlesex County moved its seat to Urbanna in 1848 and it remained here for 104 years. Throughout its history, Urbanna's citizens experienced our nation's journey through wartime and peace., The British raided and pillaged the town during the Revolutionary War and the War of 18 12. During the Civil War, Union gunboats and troops occupied Urbanna. After the war, a new economy grew. New York, Connecticut and New Jersey oystermen came south to harvest and purchase oysters to feed the population centers of the North. Urbanna's deepwater harbor was ideal for large oyster boats and an oyster based economy evolved, which lasted for nearly 100 years. This sparked industrial growth along the towns waterfront as broom factories, tomato and vegetable canning factories, oyster shucking houses, an ice plant, flour mills and other businesses grew. Throughout the years, Urbanna Creek and the Rappahannock River have attracted tourists and those seeking to enjoy water recreational activities. Fishing, crabbing, boating, and swimming have added to the economic life of the community for generations and defined the quality of life for the people who have made Urbanna their home. Over the centuries, the towns people have survived national, social and economic upheavals, and, today, the town is one of the oldest surviving English settled colonial towns in North America.