Beaverdam is a small
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in
Hanover County
Hanover County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 109,979. Its county seat is Hanover.
Hanover County is a part of the Greater Richmond Region.
History
Located in the western Tidewater ...
in the central region of the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
. The community was named after the
beaver dam
A beaver dam or beaver impoundment is a dam built by beavers; it creates a pond which protects against predators such as coyotes, alligators, cougars, foxes, eagles, wolves and bears, and holds their food during winter. These structures modify th ...
s in the area.
It is the location of four historic locations listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
:
Scotchtown, a residence of
, the
Beaverdam Depot,
Dewberry
The dewberries are a group of species in the genus '' Rubus'', section ''Rubus'', closely related to the blackberries. They are small, trailing (rather than upright or high-arching) brambles with aggregate fruits, reminiscent of the raspbe ...
, and
Trinity Church.
It was also the childhood home of
Thomas Nelson Page
Thomas Nelson Page (April 23, 1853 – November 1, 1922) was an American lawyer, politician, and writer. He served as the List of United States ambassadors to Italy, U.S. ambassador to Italy from 1913 to 1919 under the administration of Presiden ...
, a notable author and American diplomat in the 20th century.
Consisting primarily of farmland, today it is an outlying
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
of
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, a city in the United States
* Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
. The railroad still passes through, operated by the
Buckingham Branch Railroad
Buckingham Branch Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad operating over 275 miles (443 km) of historic and strategic trackage in Central Virginia. Sharing overhead traffic with CSX and Amtrak, the company's headquarters are in Dill ...
, a Virginia-based
short line railroad
A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. The term is used primarily in the United States and Canada. In the former, railroads are ...
.
Beaverdam Elementary School of
Hanover County Public Schools
Hanover County Public Schools is a school division headquartered in Ashland, Virginia. It serves approximately 17,000 students across 25 schools in Hanover County, Virginia, Hanover County, including 14 elementary, four middle, and four high sc ...
celebrated their centennial anniversary in 2006.
The former
New York Jet,
Damien Woody
Damien Michael Woody (born November 3, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard for the New England Patriots, Detroit Lions, and New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college fo ...
, lives here.
U. S. Racing Hall of Fame jockey
Ted Atkinson
Theodore Frederick Atkinson (June 17, 1916 – May 5, 2005) was a Canadian-born American thoroughbred horse racing jockey, inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1957.
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His sister was ...
(1916-2005) made his home in Beaverdam.
References
External links
Hanover County Economic Development
Unincorporated communities in Hanover County, Virginia
Unincorporated communities in Virginia
Suburbs of Richmond, Virginia
{{HanoverCountyVA-geo-stub