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Historic Events and Places
Historic Events
Bacon's Rebellion
In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon formed a small army of Virginia farmers, including men from New Kent County, and rebelled against Governor William Berkeley for failing to protect them from Indian raids. At the end of Bacon's Rebellion, two of the rebel leaders, Lawrence and Drummond, fled from Brickhouse where they were stationed. Drummond was caught in a swamp in New Kent and executed for his involvement, as was Thomas Hall, New Kent's first Clerk of Courts. Hall was hung offshore on the English ship Aurora.
Green vs. School Board of New Kent County, 1968
New Kent County received national attention in 1968 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a "freedom of choice" plan adopted in 1965 by the New Kent School Board to integrate schools was ineffective. Dr. Calvin Green, New Kent resident and Richmond school teacher, together with 465 petitioners, filed a suit on the federal level after their request for relief from a racially segregated school system was not granted by Local or State government. Despite the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, 1954, that segregated schools were unconstitutional, many school districts were still being operated with separate facilities. After this case was taken to the highest level that integration in education actually took place. As a result of the May 27, 1968 decision in favor of Green, all American school districts abolished the dual system and adopted other methods such as zoning and busing for ensuring equal education for all students.
Historic Places
Orapax,The principal village of the Powhatan or chief of the Indian Confederacy.
Fort James and Fort Royal,were established after the Indian Massacre of 1644 as a mean of protecting the area.
Chestnut Grove,purchased by Co. John Dandridge around 1730. It was here that Martha Dandridge and her seven siblings were born.
White House,made famous as having been owned by Martha Dandridge Custis Washington.
Hampstead,Built in 1812 by Conrad Webb. It was the marriage site of Edward R. Stettenius, Jr. U.S. Secretary of State in 1944.
Criss Cross (c. 1704) and Foster's Castle (c. 1671),are two of the three homes in the county that share a unique cross-shaped architecture.
Cedar Lane (c.1830),served as an encampment for McClellan's army and is the site of the oldest bearing pear tree (200 years old) in Virginia.
The Ordinary (c. 1690),William Bassett, who donated the land for the new county courthouse site, built an Ordinary or tavern there.
New Kent Courthouse,built originally in 1695, burned in 1775. The new courthouse was built in 1909.
Eltham,plantation and mansion of the Bassett family were among the finest in Virginia during the colonial times. It was consumed by fire in 1875.
Cumberland,one hundred acre tract was donated by Richard Littlepage III in 1748 for the establishment of a town. It came within three votes of replacing Jamestown as Virginia's capitol. General McClellan and 130,000 Federal troops were encamped here in 1862.
St. Peter's Parish (1703),named by the Virginia General Assembly as "The First church of the First Lady".
Chestnut Grove
Cumberland
