Native Americans See Native American tribes in Virginia Long before the arrival of Europeans in the 17th century, all of the territory of Virginia, including the
Piedmont area, was populated by various tribes of
Native Americans. They were the historic tribes descended from thousands of years of succeeding and varied indigenous cultures. Among the historic tribes in the Piedmont were the
Monacan, who were recorded as having several villages west of what the colonists later called
Manakin Town on the James River. They and other Siouan tribes traditionally competed with and were in conflict with the members of the
Powhatan Confederacy,
Algonquian-speaking tribes who generally inhabited the coastal
Tidewater area along the Atlantic and the rivers feeding it. They also were subject to raids by
Iroquois nations from the north, who were based south of the
Great Lakes in present-day
New York and
Pennsylvania. By the end of the 17th century, the Monacan had been decimated by warfare and
infectious diseases carried by the mostly
English colonists and traders; their survivors were absorbed into other Siouan tribes. Portions of the historic
Three Chopt Trail, a
Native American trail, run through a large portion of the county. The trail was marked by three hatchet chops in trees to show the way. The modern-day
U.S. Route 250 roughly follows this route from
Richmond to
Charlottesville.
Henrico Shire In 1634, the
colonial government organized the territory of
Virginia into eight shires, to be governed as
shires in
England.
Henrico was one of these shires.
Formation of Goochland County Among the earliest European settlers in this area of the
Piedmont were several hundred
French Huguenot religious refugees, who were given land in 1700 and 1701 by the Crown and colonial authorities about 20 miles above the falls of the James River. They settled the villages collectively known as
Manakin-Sabot in this area. Soon they moved out to farms and plantations they developed. In neighboring
Powhatan County, to the south across the James, they settled
Manakin Town, but by 1750 had mostly moved out to farms. Goochland was founded in 1728 as the first county formed from
Henrico shire, followed by
Chesterfield County in 1749. Goochland originally included all of the land from Tuckahoe Creek, on both sides of the
James River, west as far as the
Blue Ridge Mountains. the royal lieutenant governor from 1727 to 1749. The nominal governor, the
Earl of Albemarle, had remained in England. As acting
royal governor, Gooch promoted settlement of the Virginia backcountry as a means to insulate the Virginia colony from Native American and
New France settlements in the
Ohio Country. As the colonists moved into the
Piedmont west of Richmond, they first developed
tobacco plantations like those of the
Tidewater. After the
Revolution, tobacco did not yield as high profits as markets changed. In Goochland, as in other areas of Virginia, many planters switched to growing
wheat and mixed crops. This reduced their need for labor. In the early nineteenth century, some planters sold slaves in the domestic
slave trade, as demand was high in the developing Deep South where cotton plantations were developed.
Goochland Courthouse The first court was held in May 1728. The exact location of this first court is unknown, but researchers believe that the first courthouse was constructed in Goochland County between 1730 and 1737. During the August session in 1730, James Skelton, who was later commissioned to build the Second Capitol at Williamsburg, was contracted. It was to be 36 foot long and 20 foot wide. A new courthouse was built in 1763 in
Beaverdam, a short distance from the first, on the land of Alexander Baine. In the early 19th century, the courthouse was moved to its current location along Rt. 6 in central Goochland. The
Goochland County Court Square was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
Revolutionary War During the early part of 1781,
Lord Cornwallis marched his sizable army through the boundaries of Goochland. They occupied and thoroughly destroyed
Elkhill, a small estate of
Thomas Jefferson, slaughtering the livestock for food, burning barns and fences, and finally burning down the house. They took 27 slaves as prisoners of war, and 24 died of disease in the camp. One point along the
James River came to be known as Cornwallis Hill. It is said that the British general, who paused here on his way to
Yorktown, where he would be defeated and surrender, remarked that this spot with its magnificent vista of the James River Valley would make an ideal site for a house.
General Lafayette, a French hero of the Revolution, returned to the United States for a
grand tour in 1824 and 1825. On November 2, 1824, General Lafayette "left Richmond on his way to
Monticello to visit Mr. Jefferson." While there, the general met with American officers and many citizens of the county.
Civil War The county was a site of a battle late in the war. When the war broke out, James Pleasants, a native of Goochland County and descendant of the
22nd governor of the state, insisted he replace his uncle in the Goochland Light Dragoons (known during the war as Co. F,
4th Virginia Cavalry). In 1861, he was allowed to take his uncle's place. In the winter of 1864, any troops who were close to home were allowed to return to recruit more soldiers. At the same time, the young Union Colonel
Ulric Dahlgren had a plan to infiltrate central Virginia, break out nearly 12,000
Union prisoners from
Belle Isle in Richmond, the Confederate capital, and destroy the city. On March 1, 1864, Dahlgren's forces reached the plantations of Sabot Hill, Dover, and Eastwood in eastern Goochland. When convicted of minor offenses and unable to pay the fine, black men were jailed and leased out as convicts. They suffered frequent abuse under this system, as the state exercised little supervision of conditions.
Monument As part of their effort at commemoration after the war, the
Daughters of the Confederacy commissioned a monument to the
Confederate dead, to be erected on the green of the Goochland Courthouse. It was unveiled on June 22, 1918. Among those in attendance was Robert E. Lee, a grandson of
General Robert E. Lee.
Churches In 1720, there were two parishes in Henrico County, St. James and Henrico. When Goochland County was formed, St. James Parish fell within the boundaries on both sides of the
James River and westward. When
Albemarle County was formed from Goochland in 1744, the Parish was divided into three. St. Anne's Parish covered Albemarle, St. James Southam Parish covered the south side of the river (now
Powhatan County), and St. James Northam Parish covered the rest of Goochland. Other historic homes and mansions in Goochland can be found through the Goochland County Historical Society (see links below). ==Government==