Background

About The Project (Read This First)

As a homeschooling family, we wanted to provide our fourth grader with a memorable year of experiencing history, not just reading about it i...

Virginia History Timeline

Virginia Historical Society (exhibits vary) – visit included Toys of the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s

1600s


(1607) Jamestown, first permanent English settlement established; Indians attacked, killed 1, wounded 11; John Smith captured by Indians 

          Jamestown Field Trip

(1608) More settlers arrived; John Smith released; fire destroyed all the homes
(1611) John Rolfe introduces his tobacco seeds


(1612) First crop of tobacco exported
(1613) Pocahontas captured, brought to Jamestown
(1614) John Rolfe and Pocahontas married
(1619) 90 women arrived on "brides' ship"; black indentured servants arrived on Dutch ship; first meeting held of Virginia General Assembly
December 4, 1619: First Thanksgiving at Berekley Plantation


(1622) Indian massacre caused the death of 347 colonists, including women and children
(1624) King James made Virginia a royal colony
(1676) Colonists revolted (Bacon's Rebellion); capitol building and Jamestown settlement burned; Bacon died, supporters hung
(1699) Capitol building burned again; town of Williamsburg established, designated as capital


1600s English Farm can be toured at the Frontier Culture Museum

1700s



 (1732) February 22: George Washington was born in Westmoreland County


 1740s American Farm can be toured at the Frontier Culture Museum
(1747) Williamsburg capital destroyed by fire
(1754) French and Indian War began; General George Washington led militia into battle
(1763) French and Indian War ended
(1763) Hanover County Courthouse: It was here that, in 1763, Patrick Henry argued and won The Parson's Cause, a case involving religious liberty in the Colony.


(1765) Stamp Act passed by King George III, required colonists to buy stamps for newspapers, calendars, marriage licenses; Patrick Henry spoke against Act (Scotchtown)

(1771) Richmond flooded
(1773) Committees of Correspondence established
(1773) William Henry Harrison was born at Berkley Plantation. Harrison served as US President for 31 days before he died of pneumonia. He died on April 4, 1841, the first President to die in office. He was also the last president to be born as a British subject.
(1774) First Continental Congress meeting held in Philadelphia, PA; Virginians George Washington and Patrick Henry attend
(1775) March 23 - Patrick Henry delivered his inspirational speech, ending with "Give me liberty or give me death". (St. Johns Church)



(1775) April 19 – Lexington and Concord – start of the Revolutionary War (FYI - not Virginia history)
(1775) Settlers began using the Cumberland Gap to move west (Cumberland Gap National Historical Park/Wilderness Road State Park)

Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Field Trip

(1776) Virginian Thomas Jefferson wrote Declaration of Independence; Virginia adopted first constitution (June 29); Virginia declared its independence (June 12); Declaration of Independence signed July 4.


(1779) Capital moved from Williamsburg to Richmond (Capitol building)

(1781) At Yorktown, British forces under General Charles Cornwallis surrendered to the combined French and American forces serving under the command of General George Washington.

(1786) Statute of Religious Freedom passed; gave Virginians right to choose religion, church
(1788) Virginia became 10th U. S. state
(1789 - 1797) George Washington served as first U. S. President
(1799) George Washington died at Mount Vernon

   
1700s Frontier Culture Museum German Farm, Irish Forge, Irish Farm, West African Farm, Ganatastwi

1800s


(1801) Thomas Jefferson elected third U. S. President
(1804) Meriweather Lewis (born in Ivy, VA in Albemarle County) and William Clark (born in Ladysmith, VA in Caroline County) began exploration of western frontier; first Americans to cross continent all the way to Pacific Ocean 
(1809) James Madison elected fourth U. S. president; known as "Father of the Constitution" (Montpelier)

Montpelier Field Trip

(1809) James Monroe elected fifth U. S. president

Ash Lawn Highland Field Trip

(1811 – 1826) Edgar Allan Poe lived in Richmond

Poe Museum Field Trip

(1813) Executive Mansion built beside Capitol

Executive Mansion Field Trip

1820s American Farm can be toured at the Frontier Culture Museum
(1831/1837) Cyrus McCormick invented the reaper (Cyrus McCormick Farm in Raphine)

Cyrus McCormick Farm Field Trip

(1831) Nat Turner led slave rebellion against plantation owners; he was captured and hung in Southhampton County (Courtland)
(1841 – 1865) Tredegar Iron Works
(1841) John Tyler elected president (Sherwood Forest Plantation)

Sherwood Forest Plantation Field Trip

(1850s) American Farm and Early American Schoolhouse – Frontier Culture Museum
(1856) Booker T. Washington born

Booker T. Washington National Monument Field Trip

(1859) John Brown, abolitionist, led group in raid to steal weapons to fight slavery (Harpers Ferry Historical Park)

Harpers Ferry Field Trip

(1860) Meadow Farm Museum (1860s working farm)

Meadow Farm Museum Field Trip

1861 -

Richmond National Battlefield Park
American Civil War Museum
  • Virginia's state flag adopted in 1861 - The flag has a blue background with a white circle in the center. In the center are the words "VIRGINIA," and "SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS" (Latin for "thus always to tyrants").
  • Virginia secedes and joins the Confederacy; the Civil War begins
  • May 24-25 - Union troops occupy Arlington Heights and Alexandria. Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth is killed after removing a Confederate flag from the Marshall House in Alexandria.
  • June 1 - Cavalry clash at Fairfax Court House. First Confederate officer killed.
  • June 17 - Troops clash at Vienna
  • July: the Confederate Congress met in the Confederate Capitol building (video: wttw).
  • July 21 - First Battle of Manassas
  • August: Jeff Davis moved into the White House of the Confederacy.
  • Oct. 21 - Battle of Ball's Bluff
  • Dec. 21-22 - Battle of Dranesville

1862 -
  • Aug. 22 - Confederate raid at Catlett's Station
  • Aug. 29-30 - Battle of Second Manassas
  • Sept. 1 -Battle of Chantilly
  • Sept. 4-6 - Confederate army passes through Leesburg on the march to Maryland
1863 -

  • West Virginia is formed from northwestern Virginia (50 counties)
  • March 17 - Raid on Kelly's Ford
  • March 30 - Mosby raids Catlett's Station
  • June 19-21 - Stuart's cavalry fights screening action along modern Route 50
  • Oct. 14 - Battle of Bristoe Station

1864 -

  • July 13-16 - Early crosses back into Virginia after Maryland excursion
  • Nov. 6 - Mosby attacks workers on Manassas Gap Railroad at Salem

1865 -

  • April 9 - Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox; Lee and troops forced to leave Richmond; setting fire to bridges along the way
  • April 21 - Mosby disbands his Rangers, rather than surrender them

(1860s – 1880s) Valuable coal deposits discovered, connected by rail – Pocahontas Exhibition Coal Mine

1870 -
  • Virginia reenters the United States
  • Capitol Disaster. A hot debate over a case involving a mayor attracted a
    large crowd to the second floor room above the chamber of the House of Delegates. The floor collapsed because of the weight of all of the people- killing 62 and injuring 251.
  • Virginia's Constitution provides for public schools. The first public law on schooling separates the races.
  • (1877) James River flooded, many lives lost, 20 homes swept away, damages estimated at $1 million 

1900s


(1901) Jim Crow laws passed, segregation created
(1903) Maggie Lena Walker opened St. Luke Penny Savings Bank for African-Americans (Maggie Walker House)
(1913) Woodrow Wilson elected U. S. president; proclaimed second Sunday in May Mother's Day (Woodrow Wilson birthplace in Staunton)

(1914) Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Organized
       Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Field Trip

(1920) 19th Amendment passed, women received right to vote
(1927) The Carter Family released their first record, one of the earliest recordings of country music (Carter Family Fold)
(1932) Patsy Cline born in Winchester
(1936) Richmond Floods
1939-40 - Aline Black and Melvin Austin go to court to secure equal pay for Black teachers in Norfolk, Virginia.
(1941 - 1943) Pentagon built in Arlington
(1941 - 1948) African-American parents, students fought for busing, equal facilities, equal curricula
(1943) July 10 - Arthur Ashe born in Richmond, VA. Arthur Ash was the first and only African-American male tennis player to win the "Gentleman's Singles" title at Wimbledon. In 1975 Ashe was ranked No. 1 in the world.
(1944) June 6 – D-Day – Invasion of Normandy. Thirty-four Virginia National Guard soldiers from the town of Bedford were part of D-Day. Nineteen of them were killed during the first day of the invasion, and four more died during the rest of the Normandy campaign. The town and the "Bedford Boys" had proportionately suffered the greatest losses of the campaign, thus inspiring the United States Congress to establish the D-Day memorial in Bedford. (National D-Day Memorial in Bedford).
(1947) Marguerite Henry wrote Misty of Chincoteague while staying at Miss Molly’s Inn on Chincoteague Island
(1950) Desegregation began, first African-American student attended Law School at University of Virginia
(1954) Segregation declared unconstitutional
(1958) Virginia declares no integrated schools would receive funding
(1959) In an effort to refuse integration, Prince Edward County closed all schools
(1960s) Most Virginia schools integrated
(1964) Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel opened
(1964) Civil Rights Act passed
(1967) Loving v. Virginia invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage (Caroline County)
(1973) Secretariat won the Triple Crown (Meadow Farm Event Park Secretariat Tour)
(1975) May 3 – Kings Dominion opened
(1975) May 16 – Busch Gardens Williamsburg opened.
(1981) First American test tube baby born in Norfolk (Elizabeth Jordan Carr)
(1989) L. Douglas Wilder became first African-American governor of state, Mary Sue Terry becomes first female Attorney General.
(1993) 18 tornadoes struck southeast Virginia in four hours, four people killed, 259 injured, damages of $52.5 million occurred
(1995) Richmond’s Floodwall completed
(1999) September 6 -Ten year Old Enters College Gregory Smith (10), boy genius, began his first day of class at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland.

2000s

(2003) Over 1 million power customers lost electricity due to Hurricane Isabel
 (2007) 33 students at Virginia Tech massacred by fellow student
 (2007) 400th anniversary of nation's founding held at Jamestown
 (2009) Sen. Edward (Ted) Kennedy buried at Arlington beside brothers, John and Robert
 (2009) Snowstorm killed three, stranded hundreds of motorists
 (2010) 11 pirates indicted in Norfolk for attacks on U.S. Navy ships near Somalia
 (2010) Two members of suspected spy ring, living in Virginia, admitted to being Russian citizens
 (2011) Two people killed in shooting at Virginia Tech
 (2011) Earthquake in Virginia damaged buildings in Washington, DC

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