Editing Powhatan County, Virginia (section)

===Powhatan County===

In May 1777, the [[Virginia General Assembly]] created Powhatan County out of land from the eastern portion of [[Cumberland County, Virginia|Cumberland County]] between the [[Appomattox River|Appomattox]] and James rivers. Residents named the county in honor of [[Chief Powhatan]], paramount chief of the Powhatan Confederacy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.villagesells.com/counties/|title=Community Information|website=Village Concepts Realty Group|language=en-US|access-date=September 20, 2019}}</ref> He had allied with Algonquian-speaking tribes in the Tidewater, numbering about 30,000 in population at the time of the Jamestown settlement. He was also the father of [[Pocahontas]], whom colonists perceived as friendly. While in captivity, she accepted [[Christianity]] and married English settler [[John Rolfe]]. Many of their descendants were counted among the [[First Families of Virginia]].

For the first two years after the county was formed, [[Mosby Tavern]] served as the Powhatan County courthouse. When a new courthouse was built in 1778, the immediate area was named "Scottville" after General [[Charles Scott (governor)|Charles Scott]], a [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] soldier. He was later elected governor of the [[Kentucky|Commonwealth of Kentucky]] after it was formed in 1792 as a separate state from land ceded by Virginia. The courthouse area was later named [[Powhatan, Virginia|Powhatan]].<ref>[http://www.powhatanva.gov/ "Powhatan, Virginia Official Website"], accessed August 15, 2010</ref>

During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the county became more developed with expansive [[plantations in the American South|plantations]] as the frontier moved west. Yeomen farmers moved further into the backcountry where land was more affordable. The larger planters used numerous [[African-American|Black American]] slaves to cultivate and process tobacco, and later mixed crops, including wheat. Even after [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]], Powhatan County used [[Convict lease]] workers (chiefly African American) to build roads in 1878.<ref name="Virginia1878">{{cite book|author=Virginia|title=Acts Passed at a General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P8M_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA436|year=1878|pages=436–442}}</ref>

The county continued to be organized on an agricultural economy until after World War II. It still has rural areas and historic plantations but is being developed with suburban residential housing and related retail.