History of New Kent County, Virginia

1607

Captain John Smith was captured by the Powhatan Indians in New Kent and taken to the Tribal Village of Orapax on the Chickahominy River near the present day Hanover County line.(History and Driving Tour)

1654

By act of the House of Burgesses, New Kent became the twelfth county in Colonial Virginia. Its western boundary was described as “the frontier.”

1654

Foster’s Castle, the first plantation on the Pamunkey River, was established.

1662

Cumberland Plantation was established on the Pamunkey River at the site of the ferry from King William County.

1678

St. Peter's Church was established at Talleysville and built in 1701. The Church, where Martha Dandridge Custis worshipped and married General George Washington continues to hold regular services today.

1680

Brick House became the first town in New Kent however; it was the Seat of the County Courts prior to that time.

1681

The village of New Kent became, and remains today, the County Seat.

1731

Martha Dandridge Custis Washington was born at Chestnut Grove.

1748

Cumberland, a colonial town on the Pamunkey River in New Kent, lost to Williamsburg by three votes to replace Jamestown as the capitol of the Virginia Colony.

1748

James Armistead, the New Kent slave who spied on the British for Lafayette and later took his surname, was born.

1759

Martha Dandridge Custis marries George Washington on January 6th.

1770

The Reverend Charles Smith establishes a Presbyterian settlement at Providence Forge.

1781

With a much smaller force, Lafayette harassed Cornwallis and his troops through New Kent causing them to withdraw to Yorktown. (History and Driving Tour)

1781

Washington and Rochambeau came through New Kent on their way to Victory at Yorktown. (History and Driving Tour)

1787

Most of the County's colonial records were destroyed when John Price Posey burned the Clerk's Office and Jail. Posey was later convicted and hanged.

1790

Letitia Christian Tyler was born at Cedar Grove. In 1813 she married John Tyler from neighboring Charles City County. John Tyler went on to become the 10th President of the United States.

1830-
1856

Several more of the County’s existing churches were established and built.

1861

In April the citizens met to prepare to arm and defend themselves for the Civil War. (History and Driving Tour)

1862

JEB Stuart’s Ride around the Union Army. (History and Driving Tour)

1882

The C&O Railway is constructed through New Kent.

1930

The New Kent High School, now a National Historic Landmark,
is built.

1935

The New Kent Training School (for African American children) is built. The School, now a National Historic Landmark, was later named the George W. Watkins School in honor of its first principal.

1955

The New Kent County Airport is established.

1968

Charles C. Green vs. the County School Board of New Kent County, Virginia became the most important school desegregation case since Brown in 1954. (History and Driving Tour)