Petersburg, VA
Economic and
Municipal
By LeRoy Hodges 1917
166 pages, Illustrated, Indexed, Searchable
- Bonus Book -
The Defence
Of Petersburg
By Capt. W. Gordon McCabe, 1889
49 pages, Searchable
- Bonus Book -
Guide to
The Fortifications
and Battlefields
Around Petersburg
By Jarratt’s Hotel,
18166
27 pages, Searchable
- Bonus Book -
The Battle of
Fort Stedman
(Petersburg)
By William H. Hodgkins, 1889
49 pages, Searchable
- Bonus Book -
Charter of
The Richmond & Petersburg
Rail Road Company
1836, 28 pages, Searchable
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The location on the
Appomattox River at the fall line (head-of-navigation of the U.S. east coast
rivers) early in the history in the Colony of Virginia caused Petersburg to
become a strategic place for transportation and commercial activities, as well
as the site of Fort Henry.
As railroads emerged
beginning in the 1830s, it became a major transfer point for both north-south
and east-west competitors. The Petersburg Railroad was one of the earliest
predecessors of the modern-day CSX Transportation (CSX) system. Several of the
earliest predecessors of the area's other major Class 1 railroad, Norfolk
Southern (NS), also met at Petersburg. Both CSX and NS rail systems maintain
transportation centers at Petersburg.
Due to the railroad
network, during the American Civil War (1861–65), Petersburg was key to Union
plans for the defeat of the Confederate capital of Richmond. The city was the
site of nine months of trench warfare during the Siege of Petersburg.
Battlefield sites are located throughout the city and surrounding areas, partly
preserved as Petersburg National Battlefield.
The city is
significant for its role in African-American history. Petersburg had one of the
oldest free black settlements in the state at Pocahontas Island. In the
post-Bellum period, a historically black college which later became Virginia
State University (VSU) was established in nearby Ettrick in Chesterfield
County.
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