Warwick was an unincorporated town and port 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 ...

, located on the navigable portion 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 ...

about 5 miles south of downtown

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 ...

(and east of 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 ...

). Due to a sandbar in the river, although the falls did not begin until the river reached Richmond and

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 ...

, Warwick was as far upriver as many ships of the day could safely navigate. Regarding navigation on the James River, in his ''Notes on the State of Virginia'', written in 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 "Vessels of 250 tons may go to Warwick

In 1619,

Falling Creek Ironworks Falling Creek Ironworks was the first iron production facility in North America. It was established by the Virginia Company of London in Henrico Cittie (sic) on Falling Creek near its confluence with the James River. It was short-lived due to ...

was established in the Virginia Colony near the future site of Warwick. The first in what became the United States, the facilities were destroyed and most of the colonists there killed during the

Indian Massacre of 1622 The Indian massacre of 1622, popularly known as the Jamestown massacre, took place in the English Colony of Virginia, in what is now the United States, on 22 March 1622. John Smith, though he had not been in Virginia since 1609 and was not an ey ...

Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...

, March 22, 1622. Warwick, just west of where a local tributary, Falling Creek, has its confluence with the river, was in existence from 1730 to 1781. It was an important port and manufacturing center. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, Warwick's craftsmen turned out clothing and shoes, and its mills ground flour and meal for the Continental troops stationed at

Chesterfield Courthouse Chesterfield is an unincorporated community that is the county seat of Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. It was a census-designated place (CDP) at the 2020 census. It was not delineated as a CDP for the 2010 census. The Chesterfield ...

. It was also an important center for manufacturing of naval equipment for Virginia's

Continental Navy The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War and was founded October 13, 1775. The fleet cumulatively became relatively substantial through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron John Adams ...

fleet.. Stewart, Robert A. (1934). The History of Virginia's Navy of the Revolution. The University of Virginia: Mitchell & Hotchkiss, p. 136. Retrieved April 21, 2014 from http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?q1=mathews;id=uc1.%24b727189;view=1up;seq=140;start=1;size=10;page=search;num=136#view=1up;seq=140 On April 30, 1781, General

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold ( Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American military officer who served during the Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defect ...

's British troops burned the town, destroying ships, warehouses, mills, tannery storehouses, and ropewalks. The town of Warwick no longer exists, but its place in history is noted on a Virginia Historical Marker nearby. In modern times, the

Port of Richmond The Port of Richmond, also known as the Richmond Deepwater Terminal, is located on the James River in Richmond, Virginia, United States, inland from Cape Henry and approximately northwest of Newport News, Virginia. It is located at 77° 25' w ...

's facility known locally as Richmond Deepwater Terminal includes part of the former site of Warwick.

Warwick Road

Portions of the original Warwick Road extended from the port town of Warwick through Colonel

Archibald Cary Col. Archibald Cary (January 24, 1721February 26, 1787)Tyler, ''Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography'', 8. was a Virginia planter, soldier, politician, and major landowner. He was a political figure from the colony of Virginia. Early life Col. Ar ...

's Ampthill Plantation (which is now part of the large DuPont Plant), annexed areas of Chesterfield which are now part of South Richmond, and back into Chesterfield County to reach the Bon Air area. Much of the original Warwick Road was intact as a through route until around 1960.

References

External links

Port of Richmond - Richmond (VA) website
Geography of Chesterfield County, Virginia Ghost towns in Virginia {{ChesterfieldCountyVA-geo-stub