Historic plantation sites along the James and its tributaries -
from the Williamsburg and Hampton Roads Area to
Greater Richmond
INTRODUCTIONThe James River Plantations of Charles City County, Virginia (organized 1993) and Virginia’s James River Plantations (organized 2000) proudly invite you to discover Virginia’s James River Plantations. The 430-mile long river, which begins west of the Blue Ridge Mountains near the western Virginia border and joins the Chesapeake Bay at Hampton Roads, was first known as Powhatan Flu by the English colonists that settled at Jamestown in 1607. The colonists renamed the river for King James (1566-1625). Major tributaries of the James River include the Appomattox River, Chickahominy River, Nansemond River, Pagan River, Rivanna River and Warwick River. Smaller tributaries of the James River include Herring Creek, Kittiewan Creek, Powhatan Creek and Tuckahoe Creek. Today the James River region, from Williamsburg and the Hampton Roads Area to the headwaters above Covington, contains an unparalleled collection of historic plantation sites that possess significant histories, as well as architectural treasurers, ranging from diminutive log structures, such as Piney Grove, to grand brick homes, such as Carter’s Grove.
Virginia’s establishment as a commercial enterprise of the Virginia Company was influential in establishing the rural settlement pattern that emerged in the seventeenth century and dominated along the James River corridor for the next three centuries. Despite the failures of the Virginia Company in administering the Colony during the first quarter of the seventeenth century, Virginia did embrace an agricultural economy. As the seventeenth century progressed, tobacco cultivation became very lucrative and the plantation emerged as the essential unit of production.
The term "plantation" originally referred to a settlement in a new country or region, although in Virginia the term became associated with a place that was planted or under cultivation and usually worked by resident labor. It is important to note that some planters owned many plantations and that plantations did not necessarily include a residence for the owner. Plantation homes, such as Margaret Mitchell’s Tara, are representative of the larger nineteenth-century residences of the Deep South and not of the James River region during any period.
Initially, the agricultural labor for Virginia’s plantations was provided by indentured servants. Poorer Englishmen traded several years of work to colonial planters in return for being provided passage to Virginia. By 1705, the racially-based hereditary system of bondage known as slavery was codified into law, thus providing plantation owners with a labor force for Virginia’s labor intensive tobacco crop. Slave quarters at several of the James River Plantations survive to illustrate the unique building form that developed to provide housing for plantation laborers.
Archaeological evidence, such as the seventeenth-century sites excavated at Kingsmill, suggest that earth-fast construction, utilizing vertical framing members set into the ground, predominated along the James River during the seventeenth century. Bacon’s Castle, Nathaniel Bacon’s impressive two-and-a-half story, brick home, is a notable exception to the earth-fast dwellings found on most plantations of that period. Bacon’s Castle and archeological sites, such as Mathews Manor and Richneck, also illustrate the post-medieval architectural traditions that Virginians utilized in the first homes. During the late seventeenth century and early eighteenth century the construction of impressive frame homes and modest brick residences, such as the Belle Air, the Matthew Jones House and Tuckahoe, utilized Georgian design elements and illustrate that frontier society was being replaced with new institutions and cultural traditions based on English precedent, but modified for use in Virginia.
During the seventeenth century many of the small outpost settlements were first known as "hundreds", although today only Flowerdew Hundred remains. Consolidation and re-establishment of the original settlements continued through the seventeenth century and culminated with the creation of large plantations on which grand brick homes were built during the eighteenth century. Berkeley, Brandon, Shirley, Wilton and Westover provide examples that illustrate both the development and diversity of the Georgian-style as employed by Virginia’s plantation elite along the banks of the James River and its tributaries. These plantation owners, the Harrisons, Carters, Byrds and Randolphs, represented the social and economic leaders of Colonial Virginia and some even provided leadership for the new United States, as illustrated by presidents William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison. Battersea, Powhatan and Weston Manor illustrate examples of substantial homes that drew their inspiration from the largest residences. Examples of more modest plantation residences illustrating the influence of the Georgian style on the vernacular building traditions include Appomattox Manor, Eppington, Mayfield, and Smith’s Fort.
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Thomas Jefferson introduced classical design to the James River region in numerous residences and public buildings. Jefferson’s homes at Monticello and Poplar Forest included sophisticated classical design elements and aspects of Palladian design not previously employed in Virginia. Neo-classical design did appear elsewhere along the James River and throughout Virginia, as evidenced by Point of Honor, Magnolia Grange and Violet Bank. The conservative nature of the architecture of the James River region during the nineteenth century can also be seen in other new homes, such as Four Square , Ashlawn-Highland, High Meadows and Warwickton, as well as in enlarged homes, such as President John Tyler’s Sherwood Forest and Oak Ridge. In the two decades before the Civil War the latest stylistic detailing was combined with the vernacular architectural traditions in the designs of the plantation homes of the area. North Bend incorporated Greek Revival treatments, Edgewood and Milton Hall included Gothic Revival design elements, and Italianate influences were introduced at Chippokes and Lee Hall.
During the Civil War many homes, such as Kittiewan and Upper Weyanoke, were the sites of Union and Confederate encampments. Few plantations experienced destruction of their homes or agricultural buildings, however, plantation owners did lose their crops, equipment and slave labor. The aftermath of the war had a devastating effect on the agricultural economy of the James River region. During Reconstruction and the early twentieth century the James River region was re-established as an active agricultural community, although the period of creating elegant country seats had come to an end. One rare example of post-war estate building was seen with the construction of Evelynton in 1937. W. Duncan Lee’s design for Evelynton and restoration of Carter’s Grove illustrates the interest in the Colonial Revival style, as well as the emergence of the historic preservation effort that continues to thrive along the banks of the James River and its tributaries. Today the plantation sites throughout the James River region survive as a remarkable legacy of Virginia’s rich historical record.
LEARN MORE
Barrow, John A. and Thomas Tileston Waterman. Domestic Architecture of Tidewater Virginia. New York, NY: DaCapo Press, 1968.
Billings, Warren M. (ed.). The Old Dominion in the Seventeenth Century – A Documentary History of Virginia, 1609-1689. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1975.
Carmody, John M. A Guide to Prince George and Hopewell. Hopewell, VA: The Hopewell News, 1939.
Coski, John M. and James P. Whittenburg (eds.). Charles City County, Virginia – An Official History. Salem, WV: Don Mills, Inc., 1989.
Dowdey, Clifford and Louis H. Manarin. The History of Henrico County. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 1984
Issac, Rhys. The Transformation of Virginia, 1740-1790. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1982.
Kornwolf, James D. The Surry County, Virginia 1776 Bicentennial Committee Guide to the buildings of Surry County and the American Revolution. Surry, VA: Surry County Bicentennial Committee, 1976.
Loth, Calder (ed.). The Virginia Landmarks Register. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 1999.
McCartney, Martha W. James City County – Keystone of the Commonwealth. Virginia Beach, VA: Donning Company, Publishers, 1997.
McCary, Ben C. Indians Seventeenth-Century Virginia. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 1957.
O’Dell, Jeffrey Marshall. Inventory of Early Architecture and Historic Sites – County of Henrico, Virginia. Richmond, VA: County of Henrico, 1978.
Roberts, Bruce. Plantation Homes of the James River. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1990.
Waterman, Thomas Tileston. The Mansions of Virginia, 1706-1776. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1946.
FOR CHILDREN
Kalman, Bobbie. Colonial Craftsmen. New York, NY: Crabtree Publishing Co., 1992.
Kalman, Bobbie. Colonial Life. New York, NY: Crabtree Publishing Co., 1992.
Kalman, Bobbie. Eighteenth Century Clothes. New York, NY: Crabtree Publishing Co., 1993.
Kalman, Bobbie. Life on a Plantation. New York, NY: Crabtree Publishing Co., 1997.
A project of "The James River Plantations - Charles City County, Virginia" - organized 1993, copyright 2000-4