Charles City Shire was formed in 1634 in the

colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

. It was named for

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

, the then

King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiw ...

, and was renamed

Charles City County Charles City County is a county located in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated southeast of Richmond and west of Jamestown. It is bounded on the south by the James River and on the east by the Chickahominy River. The ...

in 1637.

History

During the 17th century, shortly after the establishment of the settlement at Jamestown in 1607, English settlers explored and began settling the areas adjacent to

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...

. On, November 18, 1618, the

Virginia Company of London The London Company, officially known as the Virginia Company of London, was a division of the Virginia Company with responsibility for colonizing the east coast of North America between latitudes 34° and 41° N. History Origins The territor ...

, proprietor of the colony, gave instructions on the formation of a laudable government for the Colony to Sir

George Yeardley Sir George Yeardley (1587 – November 13, 1627) was a planter and colonial governor of the colony of Virginia. He was also among the first slaveowners in Colonial America. A survivor of the Virginia Company of London's ill-fated Third Supply Mi ...

when he departed from London to become full governor of Virginia. As directed, in 1619, Governor Yeardley established four large corporations, termed citties (sic), which were designated to encompass the developed portion of the colony. These were

Kecoughtan In the seventeenth century, Kecoughtan was the name of the settlement now known as Hampton, Virginia, In the early twentieth century, it was also the name of a town nearby in Elizabeth City County, Virginia, Elizabeth City County. It was annexed int ...

(later renamed Elizabeth Cittie), James Cittie, Charles Cittie, and Henrico Cittie. By 1634, by order of Charles I, eight

shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...

s were formed with a total population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants. By 1643, these shires had been renamed as

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

. Charles City Shire originally extended to both sides of the James River, and Charles City Point on the south side later became known simply as City Point, in an area subdivided to form

Prince George County Prince George County is a county (United States), county located in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 43,010. Its county seat is Prince George, Virginia ...

. City Point later became part of the independent city of Hopewell in 1923. In 2005,

is considered one of only five shires in Virginia still extant, having remained essentially the same political entity as it was when originally formed.

References

{{Reflist Virginia shires 1634 establishments in Virginia Populated places established in 1634