In 1810 Major John Clarke and noted Richmond lawyer, William Wirt, established a weapons factory for the U.S. War Department on the south bank of the James River five miles north of here. Bellona Arsenal, (named for the Roman goddess of war,) was . . . — — Map (db m142322) HM
Gun and gun mold recovered by C. Merle Luck from the James River on August 18, 1962 having been put there during Col. Dahlgren's Raid during the Civil War. — — Map (db m40598) HM
In 1799 the local Baptist Society acquired this land and soon built a meetinghouse. The Bethel congregation worshiped in the meetinghouse and was constituted as a church in 1817. About 1820 the members built a brick church here--the first in . . . — — Map (db m19051) HM
Half a mile north stood Black Heath, later owned by Captain John Heth, officer in Continental Army, whose son, Henry Heth, Major-General C.S.A., was born here in 1825. Coal of high quality was mined here. — — Map (db m19043) HM
In 1829 the Virginia General Assembly chartered the Chesterfield Rail Road Company, which built the first railroad in Virginia. Moncure Robinson (1802-1891), a railroad pioneer, designed the track, which once passed by here. In 1831, the company . . . — — Map (db m142323) HM
Eleazar Clay (1744-1836) led the establishment of the first Baptist church in Chesterfield County, known as Chesterfield (Baptist) Church, Rehoboth Meeting House, or Clay's Church, in 1773. He also supported the Baptist preachers imprisoned for . . . — — Map (db m35993) HM
Just south of here are the earthen remains and stone culvert of the Chesterfield Railroad. Chartered by the Virginia General Assembly in 1829, the company in 1831 constructed the first railroad in Virginia, one of the earliest in the United States, . . . — — Map (db m35998) HM
Hallsborough Tavern
has been registered as a
Virginia
Historic
Landmark
pursuant to the authority vested in the
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
ct of 1966
Hallsborough Tavern
Built c. 1800
National Register . . . — — Map (db m171692) HM
In 1700-1701, Huguenots (French Protestant refugees) settled in this region on land provided to them by the Virginia colony. The Huguenot settlement, known as "Manakin Town" centered at the former site of a Monacan Indian town, located south of the . . . — — Map (db m31544) HM
South of here are the Midlothian Coal Mines, probably the oldest coal mines in America. Coal was first mined here before 1730, and during the Revolution, coal from these mines supplied the cannon foundry at Westham. The first railroad in Virginia . . . — — Map (db m19044) HM
First African Baptist Church of Coalfield, which stood about a mile southeast of here, opened a school for African Americans in 1866. After a fire in 1877, the congregation moved here and renamed itself First Baptist Church in Midlothian. Church . . . — — Map (db m180215) HM
Welcome to the Mid-Lothian Mines Park
The Mid-Lothian Mines Park is in the heart of Midlothian’s coal mining past and is encompassed by the Richmond Coal Basin. Mining in the Midlothian area of the Basin represents the first attempt at . . . — — Map (db m31563) HM
Local Coal Mining in the 18th and 19th Centuries
Outcroppings of coal along the south bank of the James River in what is now Powhatan County were discovered circa 1700. A hunter from the nearby Huguenot settlement, Manakintown, dislodged . . . — — Map (db m31569) HM
Early History of the Grove Shaft
1836-61
The Grove Shaft plunged 625 feet and took workmen three years to dig. The Wooldridges employed 150 men and boys. Twenty-five mules stabled underground pulled coal carts on an underground railroad. . . . — — Map (db m31570) HM
The Mid-Lothian African Church
Near the Grove Shaft, 54 free blacks, slaves and six white males at the Mid-Lothian Coal Mining Company started the Mid-Lothian African Church on February 8, 1846. Assisted by the company the 60 member . . . — — Map (db m31571) HM
Coal Mining Chronology in Chesterfield
1835 Mid-Lothian Coal Mining Company is chartered.
1836 The Company organizes with 3,000 shares valued at $100 each with 1,000 shares being sold to raise $100,000 capital. The Wooldridge family . . . — — Map (db m31572) HM
On this site stood Salisbury, built in the eighteenth century as a hunting lodge. Here Patrick Henry lived during his fourth and fifth term as Governor of Virginia. The Confederate General Edward Johnson lived here in his later years and died here. — — Map (db m46894) HM
Nearby stood Salisbury, built during the middle portion of the 18th century. It was a one-and-a-half-story frame house that had two asymmetrical brick chimneys. Patrick Henry leased Salisbury from Thomas Mann Randolph and lived there while he was . . . — — Map (db m19042) HM
Some 500 feet beyond this point along both sides of Salisbury Road, roadbed remains of the Heath Gravity Railroad are visible. The railroad ran through this area from 1838 until approximately 1850. It was used to transport coal mined from the . . . — — Map (db m46893) HM
The Schofield House was located north of Midlothian Turnpike, State Route 60, in northwestern Chesterfield County and had been owned since its construction in 1914 by members of the Watkins family. This portion of the Watkins family moved to . . . — — Map (db m170049) HM
This was the home of Lt. John Trabue, Revolutionary War soldier and patriot, and of his descendants well into the 20th century. Trabue witnessed the surrender of the British forces at Yorktown in 1781 and later became an original member of the . . . — — Map (db m19014) HM
On the first day of Union Brig. Gen. August V. Kautz's second raid (12-17 May 1864) on Confederate railroads around Richmond, 3,000 cavalrymen rode northwest from Bermuda Hundred and passed Chesterfield Court House at 1:00 P.M. Arriving about . . . — — Map (db m19045) HM
Winfree Memorial Baptist Church, constituted in 1852 as Jerusalem Baptist Church, originally stood to the west on Buckingham Pike. In September 1881, to better serve the coal mining community, the frame structure was rolled here on logs. On 3 Feb. . . . — — Map (db m35994) HM
