Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia

10/19/2026

This Weekend! Join Us!

Fall Quarterly Membership Meeting
45th Anniversary Celebration
Open House

Sunday, October 25, 2026
1pm to 4pm
Please join us for our Fall Quarterly Members Meeting. This will be a special meeting as we are celebrating our 45th anniversary with an open house from 1pm to 4pm.

Members may visit Magnolia Grange plantation house, the County Museum, the Research Library and Genealogy Library in Historic Trinity Church, and Castlewood. Each site will feature floral arrangements provided by the Chester Garden Club.

Tours will be available at the beautifully restored Magnolia Grange. On display will be the history of how Lucille Moseley, founder, and the Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia, saved this historic plantation house from destruction.

The County Museum is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and well worth a visit. Come and enjoy the ongoing exhibit “Up the Ferris Wheel, Down the Farm: The Old Chesterfield County Fair.” A special anniversary exhibit highlights the events that lead to the establishment of the County Museum.

Join us also at Historic Trinity Church and see what is available in the Research Library for your next Chesterfield County research project. This library houses old maps, an extensive photo collection, family histories, church histories, the Veterans Data Base, and a vertical file full of information about the County. We will have on display for you to purchase many books, prints, and the LaPrade 1888 map of Chesterfield County. Be sure to take a look at the resources in our Genealogy Library where you can research your family tree in Chesterfield County and beyond.

Stop by Castlewood, the former parsonage for Historic Trinity Church, for refreshments. A table will be set up for you to pay your 2027 membership dues at the present rate ahead of the dues increase in January, 2027.

SPECIAL NOTE: There will not be the usual business meeting for the Fall Quarterly Membership Meeting. Pertinent information will be available in handouts at each site.

SAVE THE DATE: Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia Open House- Sunday, October 25, 2026 1pm - 4pm

10/09/2026

Visit a replica of the 1750 Courthouse—which hosts the County Museum—during the VA250 Memorial Brick Walkway dedication ceremony on October 10th! Or, during CHSV’s 45th Anniversary Open house, happening on October 25th!

October’s DHR Highway Marker is Marker S-7, commemorating the courthouse that Chesterfield County erected in 1850. In July of 1749, the county hired John Booker to “build a courthouse, prison and pillory” for the sum of 500 pounds, “to be delivered up complete by the first day of October 1750.” Booker modeled the courthouse after the Henrico County courthouse at Varina. The 1750 courthouse building was used for a mostly continuous period of 167 years until it was demolished and replaced in 1917. Between 1976 and 1977, a replica which hosts the county museum was constructed, maintained by CHSV. Some infamous trials that took place at the original 1750 Courthouse include the trials of the seven Baptist preachers, Thomas Ritchie, Jr., John S. Wormley, and Henry Beattie. Marker S-7 is near the Chesterfield County Police Department facing Iron Bridge Road.

Text from Marker S-7:
This area, known originally as "Cold Water Run," is the site of the first Chesterfield County courthouse, erected in 1750. In 1917 it was demolished and replaced by a larger Georgian Revival brick building that served the county until the 1960s. The most famous trial here was that of seven Baptist preachers for breach of ecclesiastical law in 1773. In 1780-81, Governor Thomas Jefferson designated the courthouse village as a training post and encampment of all reinforcements for the Continental armies from the southern states.

Read more about the 1750 Courthouse:

https://www.chesterfield.gov/facilities/facility/details/Chesterfield-County-Museum-86
https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/020-0227_Chesterfield_County_Courthouse_and_Courthouse_Square_1992_Final_Nomination.pdf

Image Credits:
DHR
Chesterfield County Parks and Rec

10/07/2026

Join Us! Chesterfield Parks and Recreation has also made an announcement for this special occasion!

10/01/2026

October Events! Have a Historic Fall with Us!

Saturday the 3rd, 1-3pm, FREE
Genealogy Workshop
Historic Trinity Church

Saturday the 10th, 11am, FREE*
“SWAT: Spun, Warped and Twisted – the Process of Spinning” lecture by Mike Grant Chesterfield Historical Museum

Saturday the 10th, 10am, FREE
“Chesterfield Barracks Memorial Walkway” Dedication, Revolutionary
War 250th Event
Historic 1917 Courthouse Green

Sunday the 25th, 1-4pm, FREE, includes refreshments, book sale, and tours
“Historical Society 45 th Anniversary Open House,”
Historic Trinity Church, Castlewood, County Museum/1892 Old Jail, and Magnolia Grange

*Any marked with an asterisk, please register through the Parks and Recreation Department Website

10/01/2026

Chesterfield County Museum Photo of the Month
Texaco Petroleum Wagon, Chester, 1914
W. F. Burton, distributor

10/01/2026

Chesterfield County Museum Artifact of the Month

Vintage Folding Key
The folding key design came about in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. At this time locks became more complex and there was a need for keys to be more compact for safekeeping yet strong enough for heavy-duty use. These keys were typically made of brass or steel and sometimes hand riveted.
Folding keys fell out of everyday use in the 20th century when modern key systems and plastic or electronic locks became popular.

09/23/2026

Cheers to 45 Years was an amazing success! Thank you to Ashton Creek for hosting us and to all of the volunteers and donations that make this society the heart of Chesterfield History!

09/17/2026

Fall Quarterly Membership Meeting
45th Anniversary Celebration
Open House

Sunday, October 25, 2026
1pm to 4pm
Please join us for our Fall Quarterly Members Meeting. This will be a special meeting as we are celebrating our 45th anniversary with an open house from 1pm to 4pm.

Members may visit Magnolia Grange plantation house, the County Museum, the Research Library and Genealogy Library in Historic Trinity Church, and Castlewood. Each site will feature floral arrangements provided by the Chester Garden Club.

Tours will be available at the beautifully restored Magnolia Grange. On display will be the history of how Lucille Moseley, founder, and the Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia, saved this historic plantation house from destruction.

The County Museum is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and well worth a visit. Come and enjoy the ongoing exhibit “Up the Ferris Wheel, Down the Farm: The Old Chesterfield County Fair.” A special anniversary exhibit highlights the events that lead to the establishment of the County Museum.

Join us also at Historic Trinity Church and see what is available in the Research Library for your next Chesterfield County research project. This library houses old maps, an extensive photo collection, family histories, church histories, the Veterans Data Base, and a vertical file full of information about the County. We will have on display for you to purchase many books, prints, and the LaPrade 1888 map of Chesterfield County. Be sure to take a look at the resources in our Genealogy Library where you can research your family tree in Chesterfield County and beyond.

Stop by Castlewood, the former parsonage for Historic Trinity Church, for refreshments. A table will be set up for you to pay your 2027 membership dues at the present rate ahead of the dues increase in January, 2027.

SPECIAL NOTE: There will not be the usual business meeting for the Fall Quarterly Membership Meeting. Pertinent information will be available in handouts at each site.

SAVE THE DATE: Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia Open House- Sunday, October 25, 2026 1pm - 4pm

09/13/2026

Visit CHSV at Historic Trinity Church to see our African American History Committee’s exhibit about segregated schools—including George Washington Carver High School!

August’s DHR Highway Marker is Marker S-97, commemorating George Washington Carver High School, the only high school that Black students in Chesterfield County could attend from 1948 to 1970 due to racial segregation. After an active campaign to improve Black high schools in the county, George Washington Carver High School admitted its first class of 347 on September 8, 1948, replacing the Hickory Hill and Daniel Webster Davis schools. Students from all over the county would travel miles to Chester to pursue their education and develop a strong sense of community that flourished under principal William Albert “W.A.” Brown. The George Washington Carver High School building remained standing after 1970 and today hosts the Carver College & Career Academy. Historical marker S-97 in Chester, Chesterfield County, was unveiled in 2019 and commemorates George Washington Carver High School in front of its original building.

Text from Marker S-97:

After African American patrons campaigned for a new high school, the Chesterfield County School Board opened the consolidated George Washington Carver High School here in 1948. Carver, which replaced the old Hickory Hill and Daniel Webster Davis High Schools, was for 22 years the county's only public high school for black students. William A. Brown, Carver’s sole principal, led a dedicated faculty and staff. The building, which also housed offices for school administrators and agricultural and home economics demonstration agents, was a literary and cultural center for the African American community. Carver closed in 1970, when the county finished implementing its desegregation plan.

Read more about George Washington Carver High School in these articles:
https://richmondmagazine.com/news/richmond-history/a-place-of-kinship/

https://www.progress-index.com/story/news/2016/04/06/school-hosts-dedication-ceremony/32012421007/

https://www.facebook.com/oneccps/posts/today-was-a-lovely-day-for-the-unveiling-of-the-george-washington-carver-high-sc/10157494233064291/

Image Credits:

DHR

Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia

Hickory Hill High School Last Commencement 1948, Accession Number 96.69, CHSV. Hickory Hill High School was one out of two schools for African Americans in Chesterfield County, and closed in 1948 before George Washington Carver High School opened the same year.

Hickory Hill High School Maypole Dancing, Accession Number 96.75, CHSV

09/09/2026

Chesterfield County Invites You to the Dedication of our Memorial Walkway!

In a partnership between Chesterfield County, Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia, and The Daughters of the Revolution, we have fundraised with the general public to pave a walkway listing the names of local soldiers barracked at the "Valley Forge of the South." This site is on our very own historical courthouse grounds and we cannot wait to host you to celebrate our local connection to America's 250th.

This FREE EVENT is on October 10th
10am-12pm
1917 Historic Courthouse Green
10111 Iron Bridge Road

If you are interested in donating to this project, please see our website!