Hopewell Virginia: Encyclopedia II - Hopewell Virginia - History

Hopewell Virginia - History

Hopewell Virginia - City Point

The city owes it existence to its site overlooking the James and Appomattox Rivers. City Point the oldest part of Hopewell, was established in 1613 by Sir Thomas Dale. It was first known as "Bermuda City", which was changed to Charles City, lengthened to Charles City Point, and later abbreviated to City Point.

"Charles City Point" and was located in Charles City Shire when the first eight shires were established in the Colony of Virginia in 1634. Charles City Shire soon became known as Charles City County in 1637. An area of the county south of the river including City Point became Prince George County in 1703.

During the American Civil War, City Point was the headquarters of General Ulysses S. Grant during the Siege of Petersburg in 1864 and 1865. The City Point Railroad, built in 1838 between City Point and Petersburg played an important role, and later became the oldest portion of the Norfolk and Western Railway, itself now a part of Norfolk Southern.

City Point was an unincorporated town in Prince George County until the City of Hopewell annexed the Town of City Point in 1923.

Hopewell Virginia - Hopewell Farm

Hopewell was developed by the DuPont Company in 1914 as Hopewell Farm, an incorporated area in Prince George County. DuPont first built a dynamite factory and then switched to the manufacture of guncotton during World War I. Nearly burned to the ground in the infamous Hopewell Fire of 1915, Hopewell prospered afterwords and became known as the "Wonder City". Unlike most cities in Virginia, Hopewell was never incorporated as a town but was incorporated as an independent city in 1916. It was abandoned by DuPont after World War I and briefly became a ghost town, until Tubize Corporation established a plant at the old DuPont site in 1923. The same year, the city of Hopewell annexed the neighboring town of City Point.

Hopewell Virginia - 1935 bus tragedy

Hopewell made national news when, on December 22, 1935, a bus plunged through the open draw of the Appomattox River Drawbridge on Virginia State Highway 10 just outside Hopewell's city limits. Of the 15 occupants of the bus, only one survived. Today, the modern twin spans of the Charles Hardaway Marks Bridges cross nearby.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki