Through the 17th century, the
Point of Fork (near Columbia where the James and Rivanna rivers meet) was the site of
Rassawek, a major
Monacan village of the
Native Americans. By 1701, the
Seneca Iroquois had overrun the entire Virginia Piedmont, which they sold to
Virginia Colony in 1721 at the Treaty of Albany. The area which is now Fluvanna County was once considered part of
Henrico County, one of the original
shires of the
Virginia Colony. Henrico was divided in 1727 and the Fluvanna County area became a part of
Goochland County. In 1744 Goochland was divided and the area currently known as Fluvanna became a part of
Albemarle County. When
Amherst County,
Nelson County and
Buckingham County were split off from Albemarle County, the Albemarle County Seat was moved in 1762 from
Scottsville to
Charlottesville. When the Albemarle County seat was moved citizens in the Fluvanna area would now have to trek over the
Southwest Mountains to reach the new seat at Charlottesville. Fluvanna area citizens lobbied the Virginia General Assembly to create a new county. Finally, in 1777, Albemarle County was divided again, and Fluvanna County established. The county was named for the Fluvanna River, a name once given to the
James River west of
Columbia. "Fluvanna" means "Anne's River", in honor of
Anne, Queen of Great Britain, who reigned until 1714. Located in the Piedmont above the
Fall Line, the county has the James and
Rivanna rivers running through it. It was sometimes referred to as "Old Flu." Fluvanna was defended by six militia companies during the American Revolutionary War. The county was invaded by British forces in 1781 who destroyed the Point of Fork Arsenal. From an initial 882 "tithables," the population reached 3,300 by 1782. Columbia was formed in 1788 with Bernardsburg and Wilmington following soon after. Lyles Baptist Church was organized in 1774 and the formation of the Methodist denomination had its roots in a Conference held in Fluvanna in 1779. The "Brick Union" Church was built in 1825 for the use of Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians. The village of Fork Union grew up around the Church. When Palmyra was made the county seat in 1828 it quickly became a thriving town after the new courthouse was completed in 1830. In the late eighteenth century,
Thomas Jefferson improved the navigability of the Rivanna River, as he owned much property along its upper course, e.g.
Shadwell and
Monticello plantations. Improvements included in the first generation (through 1830) were
sluice cuts, small dams and
batteaux locks. Second-generation (1840–1870) improvements made by others included construction of long stretches of
canal, serviced by large locks, many of which are still visible along the river. Shortly after the completion of the initial Rivanna navigational works, Virginia requested that the river be opened to public usage. Jefferson reportedly initially refused, but the state insisted and the Rivanna became an integral part of the central Virginian transportation network. The route serviced a large community of farmsteads, plantations throughout Albemarle and Fluvanna counties. It also was lined by increasing numbers of industrial facilities, such as those at Union Mills. Construction of the larger mills prompted the great improvements to navigation. For instance, Union Mills featured a two-and-a-half-mile long canal and towpath, and one upper and two massive lower locks, all directly upon the river. Where the Rivanna meets the James River at Columbia, the
Rivanna Connexion Canal merged with a much longer canal. (The series of locks which connected the two canals lie just outside the Town of Columbia and are mostly buried by sediment today). In 1840, the
James River and Kanawha Canal was constructed adjacent to the north bank of the James River and opened to traffic. The new canal was part of a planned link between the
Chesapeake Bay and the
Atlantic Ocean via the James and the
Kanawha rivers; it was intended to connect via the
Ohio River, to the
Mississippi River and the
Gulf of Mexico. The canal was used by packet and freight boats, which replaced the earlier shallow-draft
batteau for commerce. These boats brought goods and passengers to and from Richmond and points beyond. Long a dream of early Virginians such as
George Washington, who was a surveyor early in his career, the canal was never completed as envisioned. In the batteaux era,
Milton was the
head of navigation on the river. By the early nineteenth century, horse-drawn canal boats were traveling all the way upstream to Charlottesville. The head of navigation was located at the point where the Fredericksburg Road (now
VA 20) and Three Chopt Road (
U.S. Route 250), the primary road to Richmond, met and entered the city at the Free Bridge, establishing the city as a major commercial hub. While no
Civil War battles were fought in Fluvanna, Union soldiers burned mills and bridges and damaged the
James River and Kanawha Canal to disrupt traffic and commerce. On March 10, 1865, Union forces skirmished with local home guard at Palmyra, resulting in the death of one Fluvanna man. Other minor skirmishing also took place near Columbia. During the
American Civil War more than 1,200 of the county's citizens served in the Confederate forces. Its citizens served in
infantry,
cavalry, and
artillery units during the war, including the
Fluvanna Artillery. Two companies, the Fluvanna Hornets and the Fluvanna Rifle Grays, formed as Companies F and K of the 44th Virginia Infantry. Another company, the Fluvanna Rifle Guard, formed as Company C of the 14th Virginia Infantry. Other Fluvanna men served in the 19th Virginia Infantry, 22nd Virginia Infantry Battalion, 46th Virginia Infantry, 57th Virginia Infantry, the 5th Virginia Cavalry, and the 1st Virginia Reserves Battalion, and several other regiments and battalions. The canal was repaired after the war, but traffic never returned to pre-war levels, as
railroads were being constructed throughout the state and were more efficient. After many years of trying to compete with the ever-expanding railroad network, the James River and Kanawha Canal was conveyed to a new railroad company by a deed dated March 4, 1880. Railroad construction workers promptly started laying tracks on the
towpath. The new
Richmond and Allegheny Railroad offered a water-level route from the
Appalachian Mountains just east of
West Virginia near
Jackson's River Station (now Clifton Forge) through the
Blue Ridge Mountains at
Balcony Falls to Richmond. In 1888 the railroad was leased, and later purchased, by
Collis P. Huntington's
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway.
Fork Union Military Academy (FUMA) was initially founded as Fork Union Academy in October 1898 by Dr. William E. Hatcher, a prominent local Baptist minister. The first class had 19 boys and girls. In 1902, the academy took on a military structure to provide organization, discipline, and physical development for the boys of what was a rapidly growing school. In 1913, the academy became an all-male institution and changed its name to Fork Union Military Academy. That same year, the academy began receiving support from the Baptist General Association of Virginia, which has continued into the 21st century. FUMA is known for its One Subject Plan as well as Post Graduate Football team that has many NFL players and
Heisman Trophy winners as alumni. Early in the 20th century, the C&O built a new line between the James River Line at
Strathmore and the Piedmont Subdivision on the old
Virginia Central Railroad's line at
Gordonsville. The
Virginia Air Line Railway was built to move loads that were too high or too wide to pass through the tunnels of the
Blue Ridge Mountain complex between Charlottesville and
Waynesboro. Additionally,
coal trains from West Virginia headed eastbound for
Washington, D.C., and
Northern Virginia were routed on the new line to avoid steep mountain grades. The VAL was completed on September 29, 1909. A new freight station was built at Palmyra. The tracks of the VAL were abandoned in 1975, as railroad freight traffic had declined. ==Demographics==