Manchester, Virginia

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Richmond is often subdivided into North Side, Southside, East End and West End

Manchester, Virginia was an incorporated town in Chesterfield County, Virginia in the United States from 1769 to 1874. Originally known as Rocky Ridge, it was located on the south bank of the James River at the fall line opposite Richmond on the north side of the river, which is the state capital of Virginia.

In 1874, Manchester became an independent city, and merged with Richmond by mutual agreement in 1910, assuming the capital city's better-known name. Manchester was the first of several of Virginia's independent cities to lose its identify and become one of the Lost counties, cities and towns of Virginia, although many of its vestiges are clearly visible in portions of Richmond south of the James River.

1 Rocky Ridge, seaport, mills and railroads
2 County seat of Chesterfield County
3 Manchester agrees to consolidate with Richmond
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Rocky Ridge, seaport, mills and railroads

Factories at Manchester, Virginia, looking across James River, circa 1865

First known as "Rocky Ridge", Manchester became a major seaport in the 17th through 19th centuries, as did its neighbor Richmond on the north bank of the river. Both were located at the head of navigation of the tidal James River at the fall line. Above that point, the river consists of seven miles of rapids before become more navigable again with sallower craft.

In 1769, Manchester became an incorporated town in Chesterfield County. Before the American Revolutionary War, tobacco industries made the town their home. It was also known as a major slave market. Manchester was commercially successful primarily due to its agricultural mills and docks.

From northwestern Chesterfield County, coal from the Midlothian area 13 miles west was transported to the docks at Manchester, first on the Manchester and Falling Creek Turnpike, Virginia's first graveled road of any length completed in 1804. Later, beginning in 1831, the congested turnpike was supplemented by the gravity and mule-powered Chesterfield Railroad, the first railroad in Virginia, partially engineered and funded by the Virginia Board of Public Works. For its final several miles, the line followed present-day Maury Street, which was the southern border of Manchester for many years. It crossed over the steam-powered Richmond and Petersburg Railroad (later Atlantic Coast Line Railroad) tracks (now abandoned) on a high trestle between what is now Clopton Street and Jefferson Davis Highway. When the new Richmond and Danville Railroad (R&D) was completed between Manchester and Coalfield Station (now Midlothian) in 1851, the older Chesterfield Railroad was unable to compete and portions were acquired by the R&D, with the remainder dismantled before the Civil War took place.

[edit] County seat of Chesterfield County

Manchester was the original county seat of Chesterfield County when it was formed from a portion of Henrico County in 1749, and remained so until it became an independent city in 1874 (and was therefore no longer located in Chesterfield County). The county seat was then relocated to the current location at Chesterfield Court House, Virginia. The former courthouse complex on Hull Street is now the Manchester Division of the Richmond City courts.

[edit] Manchester agrees to consolidate with Richmond

For over 250 years, the James River divided Richmond on the north bank from its sister, Manchester, located on the south bank. A major issue for Manchester and Richmond residents in the 19th and early 20th century were the toll ferrys and toll bridges over the James River. The latter were subject to frequent destruction by ice flows and flooding on the river.

There were periodic talks and negotiations for over 35 years between the cities before, in 1910, Manchester agreed to a political consolidation with the much larger independent City of Richmond. Richmond's better-known name was used for both areas as it contained the location of Virginia's state capital. Two of the key features of the consolidation agreement were requirements that a "free bridge" across the James River be built and that a separate courthouse remain in Manchester was be maintained indefinitely. Instead of barrier between neighboring cities, under the consolidation, the James River became the centerpiece of the expanded Richmond.

Today, Manchester is recognized as a historic district in state and national registers. Although Manchester is extinct as an independent city, vestiges can be found in the Manchester Bridge, Manchester Slave Trail, and the Manchester Courthouse. Manchester and other areas of the City of Richmond south of the James River are locally referred to as "South Richmond", "Southside Richmond" or simply "Southside."