Charles City County

BY HOLLY PRESTIDGE - Staff Writer
Published: July 21, 2008

Charles City County is home to three American Indian tribes, beautiful plantations and a wealth of information about our country’s earliest inhabitants.

Located between Virginia’s capital city, Richmond, and Colonial Williamsburg, more than 7,000 residents call the county home. Yet unlike the suburban sprawl happening in surrounding areas, the county has retained much of its rural character.

History: Four centuries of Virginia history converge in Charles City County, incorporating the stories of American Indians who originally inhabited the area, Europeans who claimed the first permanent English settlement at nearby Jamestown in 1607, and Africans who were brought to the shores in 1619.

Fun Things to Do: Visitors to Charles City can stop by the Visitor’s Center, which opened last fall, to find things to do. They can read about the county’s historic courthouse and its use during the Revolutionary and Civil wars at four outdoor interpretive exhibits. The Visitor’s Center is located at 1901 Courthouse Road and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

You might visit any of the lovely plantations, including historic Berkeley Plantation, a Georgian-style mansion built in 1726, or Shirley Plantation, Virginia’s first plantation, built in 1613. See http://www.jamesriverplantations.org.

Government: Charles City County is governed by a three-member Board of Supervisors, which appoints a county administrator to oversee day-to-day operations. The current annual operating budget is $22.4 million.

Schools: Nearly 900 students attend Charles City County Public Schools in classes from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. The school system’s 2008-09 budget is roughly $13 million.

The system has one high school, one middle school and one elementary school, all with full wireless Internet access in classrooms and labs.

Libraries: Heritage Public Library is located at 10780 Courthouse Road in Charles City County, and a second branch is at 6215-D Chesapeake Circle in New Kent County. Between the two locations, the libraries have about 40,000 books, 1,000 movies, 500 music compact discs and 1,500 recorded books, as well as a handful of computers with Internet access. The Charles City County Center for Local History, at 10600 Courthouse Road, also serves as a reference library with archives devoted to history and genealogy. It’s open Monday through Friday. Call (804) 652-1516 or visit http://www.charlescity.org for details.
Parks: Charles City County has four public parks and many other recreation areas and wildlife refuges. Call (804) 829-9227 for more information.

The county also has recreation sites along the James River Water Trail and the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail and is part of the 54-mile Virginia Capital Trail, a scenic path for bicyclists, joggers, walkers and others linking Richmond and Williamsburg. Visit http://www.charlescity.org for more information.

Among Charles City County’s parks is Lawrence Lewis Jr. Park, located on 24 acres along the James River at state Route 618 at Willcox Wharf Road. Home to eagles, blue heron and a variety of waterfowl, the park has a fishing and birding pier, picnic area and a short swamp boardwalk leading to a wooded trail. For details, call (804) 652-1601.

Real Estate: Charles City County (Area 48) is still known for its rural charm. While you might not be able to find a plantation home for sale here, older and sometimes historic and estate homes occasionally go on the market.

Charles City County is only 155 square miles. Currently, there are no new home communities under development.