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Claremont is an
incorporated town An incorporated town is a town that is a municipal corporation. Canada Incorporated towns are a form of local government in Canada, which is a responsibility of provincial rather than federal government. United States An incorporated town o ...
in Surry County,
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 ...
, United States. The population was 378 at the 2010 census. A granite marker is a memorial to British settlers' arrival in the area. It received its name during the colonial era from the royal residence in Surry Shire in England. The town was incorporated in 1886, had a port on the James River, and gained railroad service as a terminus for a while before being abandoned. Claremont was home to the Temperance, Industrial, and Collegiate Institute, a school for African Americans founded by a formerly enslaved person. The area includes a historical marker commemorating the institution.


History

A granite marker in a circle in the center of town commemorates the landing here on May 5, 1607, of English settlers, before the landing at Jamestown across the navigable portion of the
James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...
. English and Scotch emigrants had settled there, near the principal native American village called Quioughcohanock (probably located on what later became known as "Wharf Bluff") by 1632. In 1649, Arthur Allen patented lands in Surry County and by 1655 built Allen's Brick House in the lower part of the county. His descendants owned this property until 1882. His son
Arthur Allen II Arthur Allen II, also known as Major Allen (born ca. 1652, died June 15, 1710) was a Virginia colonial planter, merchant, military officer and controversial politician who twice served as Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses. He supported G ...
in addition to his agricultural and mercantile activities became Speaker of the House of Burgesses. By the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Claremont was a busy
port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...
town and shipped many goods, but especially hogsheads of
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 ...
. Colonel William Allen served in the American Revolutionary War. Speaker Allen's grandson John Allen lived at Claremont Manor House. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates and Virginia Ratifying Convention. His principal heir, Lt. Col. William Allen (1768–1831), also lived at Claremont and served many terms in the House of Delegates before the War of 1812 and supposedly became the largest land owner and enslaver in the Commonwealth of Virginia of his day.Bohannon p. 35 He never married and required his great-nephew and heir, William Griffin Orgain to change his surname to Allen to inherit. That William Allen became a lumber magnate, built a railroad, and in May 1861 became a Confederate officer and captain of the Jamestown Heavy Artillery (which he financed),Bohannon p. 36 Rails from his railroad were re-smelted to armor the Confederate ironclad Merrimac. However, Allen resigned his military commission in 1862. After the Civil War, Claremont became a shipping port for railroad ties cut for the Prussian government and shipped to Hamburg. Willie Allen, who inherited Claremont Manor, moved to New York and sold the property. J. Frank Mancha, a Maryland or Delaware real estate developer, began developing and subdividing the property to build a new town there in 1879. Incorporated in 1886, the town of Claremont became the eastern terminus of the new
Atlantic and Danville Railway The Atlantic and Danville Railway was a Class I railroad which operated in Virginia and North Carolina. The company was founded in 1882 and opened its mainline between Portsmouth, Virginia and Danville, Virginia in 1890. The Southern Railway le ...
(A&D), a
narrow gauge railroad A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...
, which was completed to a point near Emporia called James River Junction, where it connected with a
standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...
track towards Danville. Unfortunately for Claremont, the A&D decided to link its western leg with a new eastern terminus in West Norfolk on the harbor of
Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is 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 Point near whe ...
, and the line to Claremont, which was never standard-gauged, went into semi-abandonment. After some use for lumber transport as the Surry, Sussex and Southampton Railway, the rails were removed in the late 1930s. In the years since the area has remained a rural enclave, but some resort use has developed along the bluffs and beaches of the James River. Many homes along the riverfront were severely damaged, and Claremont's neighboring beach, Sunken Meadow, was destroyed in 2003 by
Hurricane Isabel Hurricane Isabel was a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that struck the east coast of the United States in September 2003. The ninth named storm, fifth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season, Isabel formed in the eastern Atlantic ...
. In 2006, the old A&D station at Claremont Beach (village, not the wharf) was still standing.


Geography

Claremont is located at (37.227291, -76.965458). According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the town has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.6 km2), all of it land.


Demographics

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 343 people, 147 households, and 99 families residing in the town. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was 135.3 people per square mile (52.1/km2). There were 240 housing units at an average density of 94.6 per square mile (36.5/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 73.18%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 22.74%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 2.04% Native American, and 2.04% from two or more races. There were 147 households, out of which 23.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.7% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.0% were non-families. 27.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.83. In the town, the population was spread out, with 19.8% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 31.5% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.3 males. The median income for a household in the town was $34,643, and the median income for a family was $46,667. Males had a median income of $42,250 versus $30,000 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the town was $22,741. About 6.3% of families and 7.5% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including none of those under age 18 and 10.2% of those age 65 or over.


Temperance, Industrial, and Collegiate Institute

Dr. John Jefferson Smallwood established the Temperance, Industrial, and Collegiate Institute in Claremont on October 12, 1892, with fewer than ten students. Smallwood was born enslaved in
Rich Square, North Carolina Rich Square (also known as Richsquare) is an American town of 894 people in Northampton County, North Carolina. History Quakers were some of the earliest settlers in Northampton County, being established there by the early 1750s. The congrega ...
in 1863. The school's campus covered more than 65 acres along the James River and served boys and girls from Virginia as well as other states. The ''
Richmond Planet ''The Richmond Planet'' was an African American newspaper founded in 1882 in Richmond, Virginia. In 1938, it merged with the '' Richmond Afro-American''. History The paper was founded in 1882 by thirteen former slaves - James H. Hayes, James ...
'' covered the opening of Lincoln Memorial Hall on its campus in 1912, a significant accomplishment for the Institute. Smallwood became severely ill in September of that same year and was taken to the Retreat for the Sick in
Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
. He died on September 29, 1912, at the age of 49. After Smallwood's death, a period of mergers and name changes followed. When the school closed in 1928, it had more than 2,000 alums. A marker commemorating the school is at 37° 9.931′ N, 76° 58.404′ W. in Spring Grove, Virginia at the intersection of Colonial Trail West (Virginia Route 10) and Martin Luther King Highway (Virginia Route 40), on the right when traveling east on Colonial Trail West. A prominent memorial to Smallwood may be found at the Abundant Life Church Cemetery in Spring Grove, Virginia.


References


External links


Town of Claremont History
{{authority control Towns in Surry County, Virginia Towns in Virginia Populated places on the James River (Virginia)