On Christanna Highway (Virginia Route 46) at New Hope Road, on the right when traveling north on Christanna Highway.
In June 1864, to deny Gen. Robert E. Lee the use of the South Side R.R. and the Richmond and Danville R.R., Gen. Ulysses S Grant sent Gen. James H. Wilson and Gen. August V. Kautz south of Petersburg on a cavalry raid to destroy track and rolling . . . — — Map (db m20168) HM
On Boydton Plank Road (U.S. 1) at Christanna Highway (Virginia Route 46), on the right when traveling north on Boydton Plank Road.
Nearby to the south stood Fort Christanna, a wooden structure built in 1714 under the auspices of Alexander Spotswood and the Virginia Indian Company. Members of the Meiponsky, Occaneechi, Saponi, Stuckenock, and Tutelo Indian tribes lived within . . . — — Map (db m20181) HM
On Boydton Plank Road (U.S. 1) at Christanna Highway (Virginia Route 46), on the right when traveling north on Boydton Plank Road. Reported permanently removed.
Here the first courthouse of Brunswick County was built about 1732. In 1746, when the county was divided, the county seat was moved east near Thomasburg. In 1783, after Greensville County had been formed, the courthouse was moved to Lawrenceville. — — Map (db m20180) HM
On Boydton Plank Road (U.S. 1) 0.1 miles north of Christanna Highway (Virginia Route 46), on the right when traveling north.
The Virginia General Assembly established Brunswick County in 1720 to encourage English settlement between the fall line and French outposts west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Until 1732, when Brunswick’s court was constituted, residents attended . . . — — Map (db m180055) HM
Near Campus Drive (County Route 378) near Chritanna Highway (Virginia Route 46). Reported permanently removed.
Southside Virginia Community College has two campuses: the Christanna Campus in Alberta, which opened in 1970, and the John H. Daniel campus in Keysville, which opened in 1971. The college is part of the statewide system of community colleges . . . — — Map (db m30868) HM
Near Campus Drive (County Road 378) 0.1 miles west of Christanna Highway (State Route 46), on the left when traveling west.
Southside Virginia Community College has two campuses: the Christanna Campus in Alberta, which opened in 1970, and the John H. Daniel Campus in Keysville, which opened in 1971. The college is part of the statewide system of community colleges . . . — — Map (db m180538) HM
On Boydton Plank Road (U.S. 1) 0.2 miles north of Poor House Road (County Route 642), on the right when traveling south.
A branch of the Nottoway, named for the huge fish once caught in it. William Byrd, returning from the expedition to survey the Virginia-North Carolina boundary line, camped on this stream in November, 1729. — — Map (db m62406) HM
On Christanna Highway (Virginia Route 46) south of Jonesboro Church Road (County Road 645), on the right when traveling south.
According to local tradition, while Dr. Creed Haskins and several friends were on a hunting trip in Brunswick County in 1828, his camp cook, Jimmy Matthews, hunted squirrels for a stew. Matthews simmered the squirrels with butter, onions, stale . . . — — Map (db m107700) HM
On Tobacco Heritage Trail, 0.6 miles east of Evans Creek Road (County Route 623), on the left when traveling east.
While wooden trestle bridges were numerous in Brunswick County, the Meherrin River Bridge was one of a few truss bridges on the A&D between Pinners Point (at Portsmouth) and Danville. Built in 1893, the 150-feet long, through truss pin-connected . . . — — Map (db m94363) HM
Near Railroad Street, 0.5 miles east of High Street when traveling east.
A community of mills, warehouses, homes and stores sprang up with the construction of the Atlantic and Danville Railway in the 1890s. A combination freight and passenger station was located at Brodnax shown here in 1948. Bales of cotton, timber and . . . — — Map (db m94357) HM
On Pleasant Grove Road (County Road 681) 0.2 miles west of Governor Harrison Parkway (U.S. 58), on the right when traveling west.
Though many freed African Americans continued after the Civil War to work the same farms on which they had been slaves, many also left their homes in search of better opportunities elsewhere. Often the sick, elderly, and very young were left . . . — — Map (db m180524) HM
On Tobacco Heritage Trail, 1.3 miles east of Railroad Street, on the left when traveling east.
Until about 1967, the U.S. Postal Service used the railroads to handle mail on designated routes. The mail was handled in special railroad cars usually moved on passenger trains, designated as Railway Post Office (RPO) cars. The RPOs were actually . . . — — Map (db m94359) HM
On Tobacco Heritage Trail, 1.9 miles east of Railroad Street, on the left when traveling east.
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed synonymous with racing. All modem Thoroughbreds trace back to three stallions imported into England from the Middle East in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. English Thoroughbreds were imported into North . . . — — Map (db m94361) HM
Near Evans Creek Road (County Route 623) 1 mile north of Governor Harrison Parkway (U.S. 58), on the right when traveling north.
Tobacco has long held a sacred and prominent role among the Indian tribes in the southeast. Well before Christopher Columbus returned with tobacco seeds from the Caribbean or Sir Walter Raleigh made smoking fashionable in Europe when he returned . . . — — Map (db m94362) HM
On Tobacco Heritage Trail, 0.8 miles east of Evans Creek Road (County Route 623), on the right when traveling east.
Did you know… A raindrop falling in the Meherrin River Watershed will travel over 200 miles before reaching the Atlantic?!
Watersheds are the collective web of tributaries and surrounding land draining to a common waterbody, such as a major . . . — — Map (db m94364) HM
On Boydton Plank Road (U.S. 1) 0.6 miles south of Tanner Town Road, on the right when traveling north.
According to local tradition, while Dr. Creed Haskins and several friends were on a hunting trip in Brunswick County in 1828, his camp cook, Jimmy Matthews, hunted squirrels for a stew. Matthews simmered the squirrels with butter, onions, stale . . . — — Map (db m20188) HM
On Pleasant Grove Road (County Route 681) 0.3 miles north of Governor Harrison Parkway (U.S. 58), on the right when traveling north. Reported permanently removed.
Though many freed African Americans continued after the Civil War to work the same farms on which they had been slaves, many also left their homes in search of better opportunities elsewhere. Often the sick, elderly and very young were left . . . — — Map (db m30873) HM
On Piney Pond Road (U.S. 58) 0.1 miles west of Main Street (County Route 659), on the left when traveling west.
Mecklenburg County. Formed in 1764 from Lunenburg, and named for Princess Charlotte, of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, queen of George III. A small army under the command of rebel Nathaniel Bacon destroyed the town of the Occaneechee Indians near . . . — — Map (db m30875) HM
On Christanna Highway (Virginia Route 46) at Boydton Plank Road (U.S. 1), on the right when traveling south on Christanna Highway.
Nellie Pratt Russell, educator, attended Howard
University and was one of six incorporators of
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the first Greek
letter organization founded by African American
women. The sorority, established in 1908, . . . — — Map (db m107412) HM
On Liberty Road at Old Stage Road, on the left when traveling east on Liberty Road.
In June 1864, to deny Gen. Robert E. Lee the use of the South Side R.R. and the Richmond and Danville R.R., Gen. Ulysses S. Grant sent Gen. James H. Wilson and Gen. August V. Kautz south of Petersburg on a cavalry raid to destroy track and rolling . . . — — Map (db m20171) HM
On Old Stage Road, 0.4 miles south of Smoky Ordinary Road.
The ordinary that stood on this site catered to travelers on the north-south stage road as early as 1750. During the American Revolution local warehouses were burned by British Colonel Tarleton, and legend says that it was from that occurrence that . . . — — Map (db m20164) HM
On Pleasant Shade Drive / Governor Harrison Parkway (U.S. 58) at 5 Forks Access Road, on the right when traveling west on Pleasant Shade Drive / Governor Harrison Parkway.
Brunswick County. Formed in 1720 from Prince George, Surry, and Isle of Wight. Named for the House of Brunswick, which came to the throne of England in 1714, when George I was crowned king. Colonial Fort Christanna was in this county. . . . — — Map (db m60468) HM
On Pleasant Shade Drive / Governor Harrison Parkway (U.S. 58) at 5 Forks Access Road, on the right when traveling west on Pleasant Shade Drive / Governor Harrison Parkway.
According to local tradition, while Dr. Creed Haskins and several friends were on a hunting trip in Brunswick County in 1828, his camp cook, Jimmy Matthews, hunted squirrels for a stew. Matthews simmered the squirrels with butter, onions, stale . . . — — Map (db m60633) HM
On North Main Street (Business U.S. 58) south of Bank Street, on the left when traveling south.
Late in the afternoon of May 15, 1864, Union Gen. August V. Kautz and his cavalry division rode into Lawrenceville, the Brunswick County seat. They were on the second leg of a two-part, two-week-long expedition to destroy railroad bridges and depots . . . — — Map (db m62400) HM
On Fort Hill Road, 1.1 miles west of Christanna Highway (Virginia Route 46), on the right when traveling west. Reported permanently removed.
In 1714, at Governor Alexander Spotswood’s urging, the Virginia General Assembly funded the Virginia Indian Company, charged with building a fort on the banks of the Meherrin River in what would become Brunswick County. The fort would provide . . . — — Map (db m20197) HM
On Christanna Highway (Virginia Route 46) 0.7 miles south of Iron Bridge Road (County Road 715), on the right when traveling south.
Nearby to the south stood Fort Christanna, a wooden structure built in 1714 under the auspices of Alexander Spotswood and the Virginia Indian Company. Members of the Meiponsky, Occaneechi, Saponi, Stuckenock, and Tutelo Indian tribes lived within . . . — — Map (db m20184) HM
On Fort Hill Road (County Road 686) 1.2 miles west of Christanna Highway (State Route 46), on the right when traveling west.
In 1714, working through the Virginia Indian Company, Gov. Alexander Spotswood initiated the construction of First Christanna on a bank of the Meherrin River. This fort served several important purposes. The Indian Company received a monopoly . . . — — Map (db m180523) HM
Near Fort Hill Road, 1.1 miles west of Christanna Highway (Virginia Route 46), on the right when traveling west.
A Fort Called Christ-Anna
You are standing at the site of Fort Christanna, a colonial fort laid out in 1714 by Virginia’s Governor Alexander Spotswood. The fort was built on a tract of land set aside in 1714 for a trading post, as well as a . . . — — Map (db m20199) HM
Near Fort Hill Road, 1.1 miles west of Christanna Highway, on the right when traveling west.
Alexander Spotswood (1676-1740) was Governor of Virginia from 1710 to 1722. Born in Africa of a Scottish family, he had distinguished himself at the Battle of Bleinheim and was wounded. He was appointed to the governor’s position in Virginia in . . . — — Map (db m20200) HM
Near Fort Hill Road, 1.1 miles west of Christanna Highway (Virginia Route 46), on the right when traveling west.
The story of Native Americans after Jamestown's founding in 1607 is a tragic one. At that time the Siouan Indians of Virginia probably numbered 6,300 people. By 1714, when Fort Christanna was established, they were in difficult circumstances, being . . . — — Map (db m20198) HM
On Christanna Highway (Virginia Route 46) 0.1 miles east of Walkers Wood Lane, on the right when traveling east.
Oak Grove School was originally a one-room log building located here on the grounds of Oak Grove Baptist Church. Between 1923 and 1924, for the sum of $3,000, a new, three-room school was built on the same site. The school is an example of . . . — — Map (db m180530) HM
On Christanna Highway (Virginia Route 46) 0.1 miles east of Walkers Wood Lane, on the right when traveling east.
Erected in loving memory of the Rev. Jesse C. Byrd D.D. as builder of present structure and pastor of Oak Grove 1943 - 1964 by the members. — — Map (db m180531) HM
On College Drive, 0.1 miles north of Windsor Avenue (Virginia Route 46), on the right when traveling north. Reported permanently removed.
Saint Paul’s College began as a small parochial school founded by a newly ordained Episcopal deacon, the Rev. James Solomon Russell. Born into slavery, Russell attended seminary school in Petersburg. Within a year of graduation he had managed . . . — — Map (db m30870) HM
On North Main Street (Business U.S. 58) at Athletic Field Road, on the right when traveling west on North Main Street.
Saint Paul's College was established in 1883 by the Venerable James Solomon Russell (1857-1935) as an Episcopal mission school to serve the black community of Southside Virginia. Born into slavery in Mecklenburg County, Russell was educated at . . . — — Map (db m20187) HM
On Athletic Field Road at Lawrenceville Plank Road (Business U.S. 58), on the right when traveling north on Athletic Field Road.
Saint Paul's College began as a small parochial school founded by a newly ordained Episcopal deacon, the Rev. James Solomon Russell. Born into slavery, Russell attended the Bishop Payne Divinity School in Petersburg. Within a year of graduation, . . . — — Map (db m180528) HM
Near Fort Hill Road, 1.1 miles west of Christanna Highway (Virginia Route 46), on the right when traveling west.
In 1924 the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Virginia acquired three and three-quarters acres of land on which the fort was presumed to have been built, then erected a monument of concrete embedded with . . . — — Map (db m20202) HM
On North Main Street (Business U.S. 58) just south of Bank Street, on the right when traveling north.
Dedicated to all the men from Brunswick County, VA. who made the supreme sacrifice while serving their country and to all who served with honor.
World War I
Wright, Thomas L. Sgt. •
Bland, Charlie Pvt. •
East, John W. Pvt. • . . . — — Map (db m180526) WM
On Brunswick Drive (County Route 644) at Exit 24 (Interstate 85) on Brunswick Drive.
Among the earliest of the more than a dozen
Julius Rosenwald Schools built in Brunswick
County, Saint Paul’s Chapel School was constructed
as a one-teacher standard plan in 1920 under
the initial wave of Tuskegee Institute-administered building . . . — — Map (db m107433) HM
On Christanna Highway (Virginia Route 46) 0.5 miles north of Gasburg Road (County Road 626), on the right when traveling north.
The Brunswick Circuit, established in 1773 by Robert Williams, is likely the oldest Methodist circuit in America. It extended from Petersburg south into North Carolina, and became known as “the cradle of Methodism in the South.” By 1776, the . . . — — Map (db m60671) HM
On Christanna Highway (Virginia Route 46) near Dromgoole Road (County Road 669), on the right when traveling north.
According to local tradition, while Dr. Creed Haskins and several friends were on a hunting trip in Brunswick County in 1828, his camp cook, Jimmy Matthews, hunted squirrels for a stew. Matthews simmered the squirrels with butter, onions, stale . . . — — Map (db m60672) HM
On Christanna Highway (Virginia Route 46) 0.1 miles south of Gasburg Road (County Road 626), on the left when traveling north.
Near here stood Mason's Chapel, one of the earliest Methodist churches in southern Virginia. The first Virginia conference, May, 1785, was held here or nearby; Bishop Asbury presided. The conference of 1801 was held here. The present Olive Branch . . . — — Map (db m60673) HM
On Boydton Plank Road (U.S. 1) at Old Stage Road (County Route 712), on the right when traveling north on Boydton Plank Road.
At Birch's Bridge (very near this bridge) the second William Byrd and his party crossed the river, in September, 1733, on their way to inspect Byrd's land holdings in North Carolina. Byrd wrote an account of this trip which he called “A . . . — — Map (db m62403) HM
On Boydton Plank Road (U.S. 1) at Old Stage Road, on the right when traveling south on Boydton Plank Road.
According to local tradition, while Dr. Creed Haskins and several friends were on a hunting trip in Brunswick County in 1828, his camp cook, Jimmy Matthews, hunted squirrels for a stew. Matthews simmered the squirrels with butter, onions, stale . . . — — Map (db m20186) HM
On Boydton Plank Road (U.S. 1) at Old Stage Road (County Route 712), on the right when traveling north on Boydton Plank Road.
Dinwiddie County. Area 521 Square Miles. Formed in 1752 from Prince George, and named for Robert Dinwiddie, Governor of Virginia 1751-1756. General Winfield Scott was born in this county, and in it took place the battle of Five . . . — — Map (db m62404) HM
On Boydton Plank Road (U.S. 1) 0.1 miles south of Flat Rock Road (County Route 643), on the right when traveling north.
A few hundred yards east is the site of Ebenezer Academy, founded in 1793 by Bishop Asbury, the first Methodist school established in Virginia. It passed out of the hands of the church but remained a noted school for many years. — — Map (db m62405) HM