Midlothian, Virginia
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Midlothian ( ) is an
unincorporated area 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
Chesterfield County, Virginia Chesterfield County is located just south of Richmond, Virginia, Richmond in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The county's borders are primarily defined by the James River to the north and the Appomattox River to the sout ...
, U.S. Settled as a
coal town A coal town, also known as a coal camp or patch, is a type of company town or mining community established by the employer, a mining company, which imports workers to the site to work the mineral find. The company develops it and provides residen ...
, Midlothian village experienced
suburbanization Suburbanization is a population shift from central urban areas into suburbs, resulting in the formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence of the movement of households and businesses out of the city centers, low-density, peripheral urba ...
effects and is now part of the western suburbs of
Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...
south of the
James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...
in the
Greater Richmond Region The Greater Richmond Region, the Richmond metropolitan area or Central Virginia, is a region and metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Virginia, centered on Richmond, Virginia, Richmond. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines the ...
. Because of its unincorporated status, Midlothian has no formal government, and the name is used to represent the original small Village of Midlothian and a vast expanse of Chesterfield County in the northwest portion of Southside Richmond served by the Midlothian post office. The Village of Midlothian was named for the early 18th-century
coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
enterprises of the Wooldridge family. Incorporated in 1836, their Mid-Lothian Mining and Manufacturing Company employed free and enslaved people to do the deadly work of digging underground. Midlothian is the site of the first commercially-mined coal 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 ...
and
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
. By the early 18th century, several mines were being developed in Chesterfield County by French
Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
s and others. The mine owners began to export the commodity from the region in the 1730s. Midlothian-area coal from Harry Heth's
Black Heath Black Heath was a house and coal mine located along the Old Buckingham Road in the present Midlothian area of Chesterfield County, Virginia. The Black Heath coal mining enterprises were operated by the Heth family between 1785 and 1844, when the m ...
mines heated the U.S.
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
for President
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
. The transportation needs of coal shipping stimulated construction of a paved
toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...
(Virginia's first), the
Manchester Turnpike The Manchester Turnpike was a turnpike in Chesterfield County in the U.S. state of Virginia, and was the first paved or artificial roadway in that state. It stretched from Manchester (now part of Richmond's Southside) west to Falling Creek near ...
in 1807; and the
Chesterfield Railroad The Chesterfield Railroad was located in Chesterfield County, Virginia. It was a long mule-and-gravity powered line that connected the Midlothian coal mines with wharves that were located at the head of navigation on the James River just below th ...
, Virginia's first, in 1831; each traveled the from the mining community to the port of
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, just below the
Fall Line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is typically prominent where rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the coa ...
of the
James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...
. In 1850, the
Richmond and Danville Railroad The Richmond and Danville Railroad (R&D) Company was a railroad that operated independently from 1847 until 1894, first in the U.S. state of Virginia, and later on of track in nine states. Chartered on March 9, 1847, the railroad completed its ...
built Coalfield Station, a freight and later passenger depot, near the mines. In the 1920s, the old turnpike was straightened and became part of the new east-west U.S. Route 60. A few decades later, residential neighborhoods were developed in Southside Richmond near Midlothian, including the large
Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
community and the
Brandermill Brandermill is a major suburban residential and commercial development in the Southside of Richmond, Virginia. It is located near Midlothian, Virginia at the southern terminus of the Powhite Parkway and is centered on the Swift Creek Reservoir. Th ...
planned development sited on Swift Creek Reservoir. In the 21st century, Midlothian extends many miles beyond the original village area. State Route 288 connects the community with
Interstate 64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchange w ...
and the State Route 76 "Powhite Parkway" toll road, and
Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...
in the Richmond metropolitan area's southwestern quadrant. Chesterfield Towne Center Chesterfield Towne Center is an enclosed shopping mall located in the Richmond, Virginia metropolitan area in unincorporated Chesterfield County, Virginia. It opened in 1975 and features five anchor stores: At Home, JCPenney, Macy's, and a combi ...
Mall (B). According to Chesterfield County's Midlothian Community Special Area Plan, the Midlothian Community is roughly located between the Village of Midlothian and Lucks Lane to the south. " width=500 height=500 zoom=13 latitude=37.49 longitude=-77.628>


Geography

Midlothian is located in the
Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
geologic region of the state, and is made up of mainly a hilled, fertile land (it is somewhat of a
plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...
.) It is located on the
Richmond Basin The Richmond Basin was one of the Eastern North America Rift Basins. It lies over Swift Creek Reservoir from Interstate 64 to the Appomattox River. Extent The Richmond Basin is a rift basin, making a north to south double pointed oval, with the e ...
, which is one of the
Eastern North America Rift Basins The Eastern North America Rift Basins are a series of sediment-filled '' aborted rifts'' created by large-scale continental extension. Their positions closely mirror the eastern coast of North America. Sediments and volcanic material from the rift ...
. It contains some
sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...
and
bituminous Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
coal.


Watersheds

The Midlothian area serves as the headwaters to a number of creeks which ultimately contribute their waters to the flow of the
James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...
. These include Swift Creek and Falling Creek. The Swift Creek Reservoir serves as the major source of fresh water for the county.


Demographics

As of 2020, the district of Midlothian had a total population of 72,711 consisting of 26,206 households. The population was 69.6% White (50,584), 13.9% Black (10,095), 4.4% Asian (3,203), 0.3% Native American (206), 0.05% Pacific Islander (41), 4.7% of other races (3,412) and 7.1% of two or more races (5,170). People of Hispanic or Latino origin, of any race, made up 8.9% of the population (6,496). In 2019, the median household income was $89,851.


Economy

Midlothian was ranked #37 in
CNNMoney CNN Business (formerly CNN Money) is a financial news and information website, operated by CNN. The website was originally formed as a joint venture between CNN.com and Time Warner's ''Fortune'' and ''Money'' magazines. Since the spin-off of Time ...
's list of "The Best Places to Live" in 2005 and #99 in 2008. At the turn of the 21st century, a group of area business professionals formed an independent organization called the Western Chesterfield Business Alliance, which in 2013 was renamed the Midlothian Business Alliance.


Government

Midlothian is an
unincorporated area 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 ...
of Chesterfield County. The area is represented by an elected district supervisor on the county's
board of supervisors A board of supervisors is a governmental body that oversees the operation of county government in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as 16 counties in New York. There are equivalent agenc ...
. The position has been held by Mark S. Miller, Ph.D. since 2022.


Infrastructure

In 2004, completion of State Route 288 connected Midlothian to the circumferential highway network of
greater Richmond Region The Greater Richmond Region, the Richmond metropolitan area or Central Virginia, is a region and metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Virginia, centered on Richmond, Virginia, Richmond. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines the ...
. Development was controversial, and some residents wanted to avoid the scale seen in Northern Virginia. After years of discussion, in March 2006 Chesterfield County approved intensive zoning for the Watkins Centre, promoted as a large, mixed-use office complex and retail "lifestyle center" at the intersection of Route 288 and U.S. 60, west of the Village of Midlothian. With the addition of the multimillion-dollar Bon Secours Hospital, St. Francis, Midlothian has a major hospital within five minutes of Midlothian's highest concentration of residents. James River High School, part of
Chesterfield County Public Schools Chesterfield County Public Schools is the public school system of Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. As of 2020, there are about 63,000 students enrolled in 64 schools. There are 39 elementary schools (grades K-5), 12 middle schools (g ...
located in Midlothian, won the President's Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award in 2000. In 2015,
Cosby High School Cosby High School is a public high school in Midlothian, Virginia, United States. Cosby opened in 2006 and is one of the newest of eleven high schools administered by Chesterfield County Public Schools. History Cosby High School was named for it ...
, also located in Midlothian, received this recognition.


History


Etymology

The origins of the name of Midlothian are subject to debate. Many think that the name came from two brothers from East Lothian and West Lothian in Scotland who founded a village. For the name of the village they decided to name it after their respective homelands and a compromise was made, thus making the name of Midlothian. However, this story is mostly a legend based in some truth. The two brothers who were said to have founded the village were likely
Abraham Salle Abraham Salle (1670–ca. 1719) was a French Huguenot who emigrated to Colonial Virginia. He was the progenitor of the Salle family in the United States. He was a successful merchant and served in the militia and was a justice of Henrico County, Vir ...
and Dr. Archibald Logwood Wooldridge (often called A. S. and A. L. Wooldridge). They, along with their two sisters, Jane Elam and Charlotte Wooldridge, incorporated a mining company called the Midlothian Coal Mining Company in 1835. This company's lands consisted of most of the present-day land south of Midlothian Turnpike in the village of Midlothian and is thought to have given its name to the village. The name of the coal company came from the Midlothian tract of land that was one of the two tracts that made up the company's original land holdings of 404 1/2 acres. The name of the tract came from a house that was located there and was owned by the Wooldridge family. The first Wooldridge in America, and the one who had assembled most of the Midlothian area lands, John Wooldridge came in the late 17th century from England. However, his ancestors in England had connections with the region of Midlothian in Scotland, and it is from here that the name is originally derived. The village had not always been called Midlothian. In the late 1700s, the area was listed on maps simply as "Coal Mines" and later came to be known as Coalfield. The modern-day Coalfield Road is a remnant of this name. The station where the Richmond and Danville railroads cut through the village was called Coalfield Station. It was first built in 1850 later to be destroyed in 1864 during the Civil War. The second Coalfield Station was built two years later in 1866 to be finally demolished in 1957. The station stood at the intersection of Salisbury Drive and the railroad. The US Post Office established at the station had the name of Midlothian. This reflected the importance of the Midlothian Coal Mining Company. By the late 1800s, the area had ceased to be called Coalfield and was referred to as Midlothian.


Early History

Before the arrival of Europeans in the 17th century, the area had been populated for thousands of years by various cultures of Native Americans. Among these in historic times were the
Siouan Siouan or Siouan–Catawban is a language family of North America that is located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east. Name Authors who call the entire ...
-speaking Monacan tribe. They often came into conflict with the Algonquian-speaking members of the
Powhatan Confederacy The Powhatan people (; also spelled Powatan) may refer to any of the indigenous Algonquian people that are traditionally from eastern Virginia. All of the Powhatan groups descend from the Powhatan Confederacy. In some instances, The Powhatan ...
, who were generally located to the east in the Virginia Tidewater area. In 1700 and after, French
Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
settlers, who were
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
, came to the area in the Virginia Colony to escape
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
religious persecution in France. Most came from London, where they had resettled as refugees. Although the Crown had offered the French land in
Lower Norfolk County Lower Norfolk County is a long-extinct county which was organized in colonial Virginia, operating from 1637 until 1691. New Norfolk County was formed in 1636 from Elizabeth City Shire, one of the eight original shires (or counties) formed in 1634 i ...
, the governor of the colony and
William Byrd William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English composer of late Renaissance music. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native England and those on the continent. He ...
offered them the village of Manakin Town, which had been abandoned by the Monacan. Byrd and the governor intended to use the French as a buffer settlement, and thought they would be easier to control apart from the English. The location was about above the
head of navigation The head of navigation is the farthest point above the mouth of a river that can be navigated by ships. Determining the head of navigation can be subjective on many streams, as the point may vary greatly with the size or the draft of the ship be ...
on the James River at what became Richmond. The French, many of whom were artisans and merchants, struggled to survive on the isolated frontier. The terrain was hilly and largely wooded, and shipping of farm products such as
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
crops was not easy. The greater natural resource in the Midlothian area was coal, and the area was ultimately developed with coal mining and
railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
s. About west of the fall line of the James River at present-day Richmond is a basin of coal, which was one of the earliest mined in the Virginia Colony. Scots settlers with mining skills began to mine this resource in the 18th century. Many coal-related enterprises in the Midlothian area of Chesterfield County began early in the 18th century. In 1846, Chesterfield County's first Black church, First Baptist Church of Midlothian, was founded. It was rebuilt in 1877 after a fire, and the reconstruction included a small one-room building to be the first public school for Black children in the area.


Coal mining

The Village area of today's Midlothian started as a settlement of coal miners in the 18th century which were among the oldest mining shafts in the United States. In 1709, Midlothian produced the first commercially mined coal in the United States. Among other participants in the area's emerging coal business was Colonel Henry "Harry" Heth, a businessman who emigrated from England about 1759. He established offices at
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
and Manchester, where several generations of his family were also involved in the business. During the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
, coal produced in the Midlothian coal pits supplied the cannon factory on the James River at
Westham Westham is a large village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village is adjacent to Pevensey five miles (8 km) north-east of Eastbourne. The parish consists of three settlements: Westham; Stone Cross; a ...
, upstream from Richmond; it produced shot and shells for the
Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...
. By the end of the War, developers shipped Chesterfield coal to Philadelphia, New York, Boston and to every city in Virginia. Commenting on the area's coal in his ''Notes on the State of Virginia'' (1781–82), then-Governor
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
stated: "The country on James river, from 15 to 20 miles above Richmond, and for several miles northward and southward, is replete with mineral coal of a very excellent quality." During his presidency, Jefferson ordered coal from the Black Heath Mine in Midlothian for use in the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
. In 1989 the
Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors Chesterfield County is located just south of Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county's borders are primarily defined by the James River to the north and the Appomattox River to the south. Its county seat is Chesterfield Court H ...
approved a special area plan for Midlothian Mines Park, partly as a response to economic growth along
Midlothian Turnpike U.S. Route 60 (US 60) in the Commonwealth of Virginia runs west to east through the central part of the state, generally close to and paralleling the Interstate 64 corridor, except for the crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and in the Sou ...
resulting in
population explosion Overpopulation or overabundance is a phenomenon in which a species' population becomes larger than the carrying capacity of its environment. This may be caused by increased birth rates, lowered mortality rates, reduced predation or large scale m ...
. The core of the new "Special Area Plan" was based on the boundary of the plan of 1989 and extended westward to Route 288 as a
natural boundary In complex analysis, a branch of mathematics, analytic continuation is a technique to extend the domain of definition of a given analytic function. Analytic continuation often succeeds in defining further values of a function, for example in a n ...
, and a map of the Midlothian community special area plan boundary was provided by John G. Ownby for the ''
Richmond Times-Dispatch The ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' (''RTD'' or ''TD'' for short) is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond, Virginia, Richmond, the capital of Virginia, and the primary newspaper of record for the state of Virginia. Circulation The ''Times-Dispatc ...
''. Midlothian Mines Park, on the site of the first commercially-mined coal deposits 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 ...
, first opened for visitors in 2004.


Early roads, first turnpike, and railroads

In 1802, a petition to form the Manchester Turnpike Company was created by mine owners and investors. They wanted the construction of a
macadam Macadam is a type of road construction, pioneered by Scottish engineer John Loudon McAdam around 1820, in which crushed stone is placed in shallow, convex layers and compacted thoroughly. A binding layer of stone dust (crushed stone from the o ...
toll road at least 30 feet wide from Manchester to Falling Creek bridge. The toll road,
Manchester and Falling Creek Turnpike The Manchester Turnpike was a turnpike in Chesterfield County in the U.S. state of Virginia, and was the first paved or artificial roadway in that state. It stretched from Manchester (now part of Richmond's Southside) west to Falling Creek near ...
, was built in 1804 to ease traffic on what is now Old Buckingham Road. Farm and passenger wagons were allowed to only pay the toll one-way, however coal wagons were to pay half toll on return due to the wear the heavy wagons would create on the road.Burtchett, Barbara Irene, "A history of the village of Midlothian, Virginia, emphasizing the period 1835-1935" (1983). ''Master's Theses''. 479. Retrieved 2021-10-31. It was graveled in 1807, making it Virginia's first hard-surfaced road. The road's descendant is known today as
Midlothian Turnpike U.S. Route 60 (US 60) in the Commonwealth of Virginia runs west to east through the central part of the state, generally close to and paralleling the Interstate 64 corridor, except for the crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and in the Sou ...
. By 1824, an estimated 70 to 100 wagons, each of which was loaded with four or five tons of coal, made a daily trip on the
turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...
, transporting to the docks near Manchester the million or more bushels (30,000 metric tons) of coal that were produced in Chesterfield County each year. The heavily loaded coal wagons tended to cut deep ruts in the turnpike, raising clouds of dust in summer and churning the road into mud in the rainy season. As there were few options for
shunpiking Shunpiking is the act of deliberately avoiding roads that require payment of a fee or toll to travel on them, usually by traveling on alternative "free" roads which bypass the toll road. The term comes from the word ''shun'', meaning "to avoid", an ...
, citizens whose faster buggies dawdled along behind the lumbering wagons urged the state legislature to do something about it—a canal, a better road, but ''something''. The result was the Chesterfield Railroad, a mule- and gravity-powered line that connected the Midlothian coal mines with wharves located at Manchester, directly across from Richmond. Partially funded by the
Virginia Board of Public Works The Virginia Board of Public Works was a governmental agency which oversaw and helped finance the development of Virginia's transportation-related internal improvements during the 19th century. In that era, it was customary to invest public funds ...
, the railroad began operating in 1831, the first in the state. By 1852, the newer, steam-driven
Richmond and Danville Railroad The Richmond and Danville Railroad (R&D) Company was a railroad that operated independently from 1847 until 1894, first in the U.S. state of Virginia, and later on of track in nine states. Chartered on March 9, 1847, the railroad completed its ...
(R&D) began operation to Coalfield Station, later renamed Midlothian; it quickly supplanted the slower Chesterfield Railroad. In a financial reorganization in 1894, the R&D line through Midlothian became part of the Southern Railway system. It is now part of
Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...
. According to the 1895 Virginia atlas, the population of Midlothian was 375.


20th century: village becomes surrounded by suburban development

In the 20th century, coal mining declined. The area became less populated, remaining largely wooded with farms scattered along mostly rural and dirt roads. Gradually, post-war construction of the highway network and the growth of metropolitan Richmond brought subdivision residential development. When the Swift Creek Reservoir was created in 1965, the availability of water and sewer service accelerated residential growth, with
Brandermill Brandermill is a major suburban residential and commercial development in the Southside of Richmond, Virginia. It is located near Midlothian, Virginia at the southern terminus of the Powhite Parkway and is centered on the Swift Creek Reservoir. Th ...
built in 1975. In 1988, an extension of the
Powhite Parkway State Route 76 (SR 76) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Known as Powhite Parkway (first word officially pronounced , similar to Powhatan), the state highway runs from SR 652 near Midlothian north to Interstate 195 (I-195) in R ...
and widening of Midlothian Turnpike and Hull Street Road (
U.S. Route 360 U.S. Route 360 (US 360) is a spur route of US 60. The U.S. Highway runs entirely within the state of Virginia from US 58 Business, Virginia State Route 293 (SR 293), and SR 360 in Danville east to SR 644 in Reedville. US 360 connects Danvill ...
) provided much-needed highway infrastructure. The area continued to attract new residents as farm and forest lands were redeveloped into residential subdivisions. The expansion of the area assigned to the Midlothian post office caused a much larger area to be assigned to have a "Midlothian" ZIP code on their address. As a result, many address locations within Chesterfield County that are far away from the original Midlothian village on U.S. Route 60 have "Midlothian" as their preferred place name. Chesterfield County's Midlothian Community Special Area Plan defines the Midlothian community as roughly the area between the Village of Midlothian and Lucks Lane to the south.


Historic landmarks

Chesterfield County Historic Landmarks near the Midlothian Village include: *
Bellona Arsenal Bellona Arsenal was a 19th-century United States Army post in Chesterfield County, Virginia, above the fall line of the James River east of Richmond, Virginia. Ruins of a powder magazine and other buildings are still standing. The site is listed ...
* Bethel Baptist Church * Bellgrade Plantation, 11500 West Huguenot Road *
Dinwiddie County Pullman Car ''Dinwiddie County'' Pullman Car is a historic Pullman car located near Midlothian, Chesterfield County, Virginia. It was built in 1926 as the ''Mt. Angeles'' by the Pullman Company; one of thirty cars on Lot 4998, all to Plan 3521A.Madden, item ...
* Trabue's Tavern, 11940 Old Buckingham Road *
Hallsboro Store Hallsboro Store is a historic general store located near Midlothian, Virginia, Midlothian, Chesterfield County, Virginia. It was built around 1885 and is a two-story wood-frame structure set on a concrete and brick foundation in a Victorian arch ...
* Hallsborough Tavern, 16300 Midlothian Turnpike * Ivymont Manor, 14111 Midlothian Turnpike (built in 1850) *
Southside Speedway Southside Speedway (also known as "The Toughest Short Track in the South") was a short track used for stock car auto racing located just South of Richmond, Virginia in Chesterfield County. On Dec 11, 2020, the track announced it would be clo ...
, 12800 Genito Road *
Chesterfield Railroad The Chesterfield Railroad was located in Chesterfield County, Virginia. It was a long mule-and-gravity powered line that connected the Midlothian coal mines with wharves that were located at the head of navigation on the James River just below th ...
, portion of roadbed (visible off Sturbridge Drive south of Midlothian Turnpike behind Pocono Green Shopping Center)


Chesterfield Museum

An exhibit on local mining history in th
Chesterfield Museum
includes a length of iron rail from the incline railway, the first in Virginia.


In popular culture

Midlothian is the inspiration for the fictional town of Middlesex, Virginia in the cult film ''
Donnie Darko ''Donnie Darko'' is a 2001 American science fiction psychological thriller film written and directed by Richard Kelly and produced by Flower Films. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Mary McDonnell, Katha ...
''. "It’s meant to be a stylized, satirical, comic book, fantasyland version of what I remember Midlothian, Virginia to be, I guess," filmmaker Richard Kelly has explained.


See also

* Aetna Hill (Midlothian, Virginia house)


References


Further reading

* James, George Watson (1967), "Gravity plus mules equal "steam" ", ''Virginia Record'', Richmond, VA. (Apr. 1967 issue v. 89, no.4, p. 8) * Lutz, Frank E.. (1954) ''Chesterfield, An Old Virginia County'', William Byrd Press, Inc., Richmond, Virginia. * O’Dell, Jeffrey M. (1983) ''Chesterfield County: Early Architecture and Historic Sites'', Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors, Chesterfield, Virginia. * Scarburgh, George Parker, (1850), ''Opinion of Honorable George P. Scarburgh, of Accomac, Virginia, in the cases between the Chesterfield Railroad Company and the Richmond and Danville Railroad Company'', Richmond, VA: H. K. Ellyson * Weaver, Bettie W. ( Bettie Weaver)(1961—1962) "The Mines of Midlothian", in ''Virginia Cavalcade'' Winter: pages 40–47.
Chesterfield Railway Chronology
* Burke Davis (1985) ''The Southern Railway: Road Of The Innovators'' Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press


External links


Midlothian Business AllianceMidlothian Mines and Rail Road FoundationWalton Park Community AssociationThe Village of Midlothian WebsiteMidlothian Rotary ClubKiwanis Club of Midlothian-Chesterfield
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Chesterfield County, Virginia Unincorporated communities in Virginia Geography of Richmond, Virginia Populated places on the James River (Virginia) Midlothian, Virginia (orginally called Coalfield, Virginia)