Varina, Virginia

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Varina (Va-ry-nah) is a former town and current magisterial district in easternmost portion of Henrico County, Virginia, USA. It was named for Varina Farms, a plantation on the James River about 35 miles upstream from the Jamestown Settlement in the Virginia Colony, and across the river from Sir Thomas Dale's 1611 settlement at Henricus.

Contents

1 Varina Farms plantation
2 County seat and town
3 Modern times
4 Trivia
5 See also
6 External links

Varina Farms plantation

In 1612, John Rolfe introduced the cultivation of a special strain of tobacco for export to England and began an enterprise that salvaged the struggling colony and formed the basis of early Virginia prosperity. A plantation estate at Varina Farms was the home of John Rolfe and Pocahontas for two years following their marriage in 1614 and was the birthplace of their son, Thomas Rolfe. Varina Farms was named for a mild variety of the tobacco from Spain which was similar to the strain from Bermuda that helped make the colony profitable.

County seat and town

Although Henricus was wiped out and not rebuilt after the Indian Massacre of 1622, a tiny village grew up on Rolfe's Plantation called Varina or Henrico Parish. When the shires (later renamed counties) were formed in 1634, Varina became the county seat of Henrico.

Varina was established as a town in 1680. It featured a courthouse, a church for Henrico Parish, and commercial buildings, such as a tavern. The Henrico Glebe house at Varina was the location where Reverend Dr. James Blair is believed to have drawn up the plans for new school which became the College of William and Mary in 1693 after his mission to England at the request of the House of Burgesses. The royal charter for the new school resurrected one of the dreams of the colonists which had been lost at Henricus in 1622.

Varina remained the county seat of Henrico County until 1752, when the seat was relocated to the growing city of Richmond, located at the head of navigation on the James River. A few years earlier, in 1741, the Henrico Parish church had also been relocated to the present location of St. John's Episcopal Church in the Church Hill section of Richmond.

Modern times

After the emergence of Richmond as a major community and port in the mid-18th century, and as land transportation became better, the location of Varina, which was not on any major roadway, became more isolated, gradually slipping into primarily farming use. In modern times, Varina Farm (as it is now called) is still actively cultivated as a working farm, and is privately-owned. However, the site of the former town of Varina can be seen from Interstate 295 to the east just north of the Varina-Enon Bridge.

Trivia

There is a common misconception that Varina was named in honor of Varina (née Howell) Davis, who was the wife of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. That could not be possible because Varina Howell was born more than 200 years after Rolfe established Varina Farms in 1614. However, Mrs. Davis was admired in the Richmond area. It is likely that after the American Civil War, the further and wider use of the name "Varina" locally may be partially attributed to her reputation as the First Lady of the Lost Cause.

External links

[Maps and aerial photos] Coordinates: [37.3818148° -77.3360907°]
* Street map from [Google Maps] or [Yahoo! Maps]
* Topographic map from [TopoZone]
* Aerial image or topographic map from [TerraServer-USA]
* Satellite image from [Google Maps] or [Microsoft Virtual Earth]

	The Greater Richmond Region Richmond, Virginia \| Richmond Neighborhoods	[edit]
Regional Divisions	The West End \| The Fan \| Downtown \| Southside \| North Side \| Mechanicsville \| The East End \| Tri-Cities / Petersburg \| Varina-Enon
Surrounding Counties:	Chesterfield \| Hanover \| Henrico \| Goochland
Other Counties:	Amelia \| Caroline \| Charles City \| Cumberland \| Dinwiddie \| King and Queen \| King William \| Louisa \| New Kent \| Powhatan \| Prince George \| Sussex