The CHSV is a well-established repository for primary and secondary historical documents related to the physical and social history of the fourth largest county in Virginia. We are located in historic Trinity Church (1879) and open M-F 10:00am – 4:00pm to serve the public. Our collection of photographs, maps, property transactions, marriages, births, and deaths are amplified by a comprehensive collection of books, newspaper articles and reports.

Our volunteer representatives will welcome you and support your journey/research needs/genealogy objectives. They are a friendly, seasoned group with a passion for the details of our 400-year history. Many have deep roots in the county. It is an incredible feeling to converse with visitors, too, whose family were colonial, antebellum or current civic leaders, as well as those whose family were humble farmers, coal miners or enslaved individuals.

The doorway to the future is through our foundational past. Society volunteers can open the door and guide your journey! Understanding both your personal and our county’s history is key to understanding where you came from and the values that have guided who you are.

Chesterfield County’s colonial history begins in 1611 at the Henricus settlement where Pocahontas lived for a year and where ancient planters relocated from Jamestown. As it established itself as a county in 1749, its history continues through its Revolutionary War roots and many Civil War engagements to present activities. The Historical Society brings these events to life, showing us in many formats how the County history continues to impact our lives. You can join us and help preserve our rich history.

Located on Iron Bridge Road in the seat of Chesterfield’s government offices, Trinity Church is among half a dozen historically significant buildings and sites within walking distance: Castlewood, 1917 Courthouse and historic Courthouse Green, the historic Clerk’s Office the Chesterfield Museum and historic 1892 Jail; the district immerses you in living history and reminds you how important it is to record and maintain for future generations’ an accurate understanding of the history of our County.

We invite you into our most interesting Historical Society world of people, events, and civic education which shapes our past, present and future! Please join us!

Historic Trinity Church:
10111 Ironbridge Road, Chesterfield, VA. 23832

The Historical Society has events for all ages! Separately and in conjunction with the County Department of Parks and Recreation, the Historical Society offers many events and programs each year for adults and children. Our events calendar includes an annual winter lecture series, genealogy workshops, rotating exhibits, tours of historical homes and early education sites, elegant Magnolia Grange teas, paranormal events in historical buildings on Halloween, and summer archaeology weeks for children.

CHSV is a not-for-profit organization. The Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia is a 501(c)(3) charity. Your tax-deductible donations funds the continued projects, programs, exhibits, and collections of the Society. Donations helps us to keep our county history active. The Society fund raising was severely restricted making it difficult to compete during the COVID mandates of the Federal, State and County restrictions. For more information, please call our office at (804) 796-7121. Donations may be mailed to the Chesterfield Historical Society of VA, PO Box 40, Chesterfield, VA 23832, by an on-site visit with us, or you may donate on our donation page.

The Society has fourteen active volunteer committees, including Research, Genealogy, Military, Cemeteries, Photographs and other Committees. It is a wonderful meeting place in which to enjoy companionship while learning or contributing your efforts to our commitment to honor, disseminate and record stories of our county’s history.

Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia

Chartered on September 23, 1981, to meet the growing demand for genealogical and historical research, the Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia traces its origins to a Museum Society, organized in 1961. The Museum Society was responsible for the first County Museum which opened in 1980. The original CHSV office was in the historic Historic1892 Old Jail, granted for use by the Society in May 1982. CHSV moved into the 1917 Chesterfield County Courthouse in 1990 where it operated a small research library and opened its first Museum Gift Shop. In 1998, the Society’s main office and research library were relocated to historic Castlewood (1817) on the corner of Iron Bridge Road and Krause Road in Chesterfield. The restoration of this structure started in 2013. Currently, the CHSV office and research library are housed in the Historic Trinity Church Building (1887) located one block west on Iron Bridge Road. In addition to its operations at the Trinity Church Building, the Chesterfield Museum, the Historic 1892 Jail and Magnolia Grange House Museum, the Society also helps maintain the preservation of eight Civil War battlefields, an integral part of the 1864-65 Bermuda Hundred Campaign.

CHSV is a 501(c) 3 non-profit membership organization supported by dedicated volunteers and governed by by-laws and all volunteer Board of Directors.

Chesterfield County – The Early Years

On March 22, 1622, Native Americans attacked in a coordinated offensive throughout the Virginia colony. The ironworks were destroyed, Henricus was severely damaged and most settlers in Bermuda Hundred were slain or wounded. The entire economic structure of the region was halted by this attack and recovery was slow. As a result, King James revoked the Virginia Company’s Charter in 1624. By 1700, settlement in the region had regained momentum and westward expansion was secured by setting aside 100,000 acres along the James River for the Huguenots, peaceful religious refugees from France who settled at Manakin and Huguenot Springs.

An eight-million-year-old coalfield was discovered in this same area in 1701. Originally dug for local use from open shafts in Midlothian, this became the first commercially mined coal in North America to be shipped to England. In the early 1800s, coal mines in the Winterpock area were opened. By 1829, gravity-propelled carts using draft animals carried Midlothian coal to the James. This was the first ‘railroad’ in Virginia.

In May 1749, the House of Burgesses established Chesterfield County, naming it after Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, an English statesman, essayist and philanthropist. During the Revolutionary War, the Chesterfield County Courthouse played a key role as a recruitment and training center for the Continental Army. After the war, Thomas Jefferson left his youngest daughter Mary with her aunt, Elizabeth Epps, at “Eppington” in southwest Chesterfield County when he was posted to Paris.

The Civil War came to Chesterfield County twice: in 1862 with the Battle of Drewry’s Bluff, also known as Ft. Darling, and again in 1864-65 with the Bermuda Hundred Campaign. Throughout the war, the county’s railroads carried vital supplies to Richmond, capital of the Confederacy, and its coal fueled the ironworks at Bellona Arsenal and Tredegar.