About this property
Pocahontas Island is a peninsula in Petersburg, Virginia, once on the opposite side of the Appomattox River from Petersburg. Since 1915 a new channel for the river separated it from Chesterfield County and the former channel no longer separates it from the city. Once a warehouse and wharf-filled urban landscape initially platted in 1749, the island was devastated by a 1993 tornado before citizen involvement caused creation of the Pocahontas Island Historic District, which in 2006 achieved listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) as a historic district because of its significance in African-American history and for its prehistoric indigenous archeological assets. Archeologists found evidence of prehistoric American settlement dating from 6500 B.C. The indigenous Appomattoc people inhabited this region and encountered European colonists by the early 18th century, when the first enslaved Africans were brought to work here. In the 19th century, Pocahontas Island became a notable freedom colony, the first predominantly free black settlement in the state and, by mid-19th century, one of the largest in the nation (although enslaved people also lived on the island, and some free blacks owned slaves). In 1860 slightly more than half of Petersburg's population was black, and 3,224 or one-third of those people were free; they constituted the largest free black population of the time. During the 20th century, the island's population declined as people moved north in the Great Migration. In 1975 residents secured renewed residential zoning to protect their neighborhoods from industrial development proposed by the city.
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Pocahontas Island Historic District
This page lists Pocahontas Island Historic District. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Questions about this property
When was Pocahontas Island Historic District listed on the National Register?
Pocahontas Island Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 3, 2006.
What type of historic resource is Pocahontas Island Historic District?
Pocahontas Island Historic District is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Pocahontas Island Historic District?
The period of significance for Pocahontas Island Historic District is recorded as the colonial era, specifically around 1749.
Can I research the history near Pocahontas Island Historic District?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Pocahontas Island Historic District will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
More in Petersburg County
Historic places, battles, and census history across Petersburg County.
Explore PetersburgCounty ›More historic places in Virginia
Browse all historic places in Virginia.
View Virginiahistoric sites ›Research the history near this site
An Aubrey US report for an address near Pocahontas Island Historic District will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.