Chesterfield County, Virginia

Chesterfield County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Chesterfield
Year Organized: 1749
Square Miles: 426

Court House:

P.O. Box 40
County Courthouse
Chesterfield, VA 23832-0040

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Chesterfield is named for Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Chesterfield County formed from Henrico County. Other changes seem to have occurred from 1849-1850. [Virginia Counties: Those Resulting from Virginia Legislation, by Morgan Poitiaux Robinson, originally published as Bulletin of the Virginia State Library, Volume 9, January, April, July 1916, reprinted 1992 by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, MD.]

Chesterfield County was named for Philip Dormer Stanhope, forth earl of Chesterfield, British statesman and diplomat, and was formed from Henrico County in 1749. Its area is 446 square miles, and the county seat is Chesterfield.

Neighboring Counties:

Henrico County, Virginia - northeast
Richmond, Virginia - northeast
Charles City County, Virginia - east
Hopewell, Virginia - southeast
Prince George County, Virginia - southeast
Colonial Heights, Virginia - southeast
Petersburg, Virginia - southeast
Dinwiddie County, Virginia - south
Amelia County, Virginia - southwest
Powhatan County, Virginia - northwest

Chesterfield County is largely bordered by two rivers which define miles of its boundaries. The major adjoining cities each originated at the head of navigation of these river, called the fall line. There, the sandy and mostly flat eastern coastal plain region of Virginia turns into the hillier and rockier Piedmont region to the west. Portions of Chesterfield County extend across both regions.

At fall line of the James River, Richmond and Manchester were formed. Most of the northern portion of Chesterfield County accounts for what is referred to as Metropolitan Richmond's "South Side". However, due to the geography in which the James River approaches Richmond from almost due west, and turns almost due south below the fall line for about 8 miles (13 km) before turning east again, the land within Henrico County encompasses much of Metropolitan Richmond's West End, its North Side, and East End areas.

Chesterfield County also borders on the Appomattox River to its south. Much of the southern and eastern portions of the county are considered part of the Tri-Cities area, which centers on the lower Appomattox River, where the neighboring independent city of Petersburg was founded on the fall line.

Cities and Towns:

- Chesterfield (County Seat)
- Richmond

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

Penn Foster High School

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