Arvonia is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Buckingham County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

founded mainly by Welsh immigrants during the mid-19th century. The town derives its name from the county of

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

(until the 1970s two Englished spellings were in use - Carnarvon and Caernarvon). The county is known popularly simply as Arfon (in English spelling, Arvon). "Arvonia" is the Latin form of the name. Its major industry has been

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

mining. The slate is known primarily for its color and durability, and is featured on many prominent American buildings, such as the

Smithsonian Castle The Smithsonian Institution Building, located near the National Mall in Washington, D.C. behind the National Museum of African Art and the Sackler Gallery, houses the Smithsonian Institution's administrative offices and information center. The ...

, the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

, Virginia's Executive Mansion, and

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...

homes across the country. Buckingham slate quarried in Arvonia earned gold medals at the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876, the 1893 World's Columbia Exposition, and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at the 1904 Saint Louis World's Fair. Arvonia-Buckingham Slate Corporation was incorporated in 1913 and its operations continue in the present day. Arvonia is also home to Hi-Test Labs, which has provided testing, research, and design to the U.S. government and private industry since 1975. In 188
Arvon Presbyterian Church
was founded to serve the many Welsh miners in the Slate Quarry. The sanctuary portion of the church was destroyed by fire in 2009 and after being rebuilt to its original design, it reopened on Palm Sunday, April 12, 2012. Slate-faced house in Arvonia

Bryn Arvon and Gwyn Arvon, in Arvonia, are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. Guerrant House and Seven Islands Archeological and Historic District, also NRHP-listed, are both near Arvonia.

References

External links

Slate from Arvonia
Unincorporated communities in Buckingham County, Virginia Welsh-American culture in Virginia {{BuckinghamCountyVA-geo-stub