Chesterfield County, VA

Settlement & growth (pre-1960)

The area now known as Chesterfield County was originally inhabited by the Appamattuck, a Powhatan-speaking tribe, who lived along the Appomattox River. English colonists began arriving in the early 1600s, establishing tobacco plantations along the river’s fertile bottomlands. The county was formally created in 1749 from Henrico County, named after the Earl of Chesterfield. Early settlers were primarily of English and Scots-Irish descent, drawn by land grants for tobacco cultivation. The town of Manchester, now part of Richmond, became a key tobacco inspection and shipping point, while Midlothian emerged in the 1700s as a coal mining hub—one of the earliest commercial coal operations in the United States. Enslaved Africans were forcibly brought to work the tobacco fields and coal mines, forming a significant portion of the population by the mid-18th century.

After the Civil War, freedmen established communities such as Matoaca and Bermuda Hundred, where they worked as sharecroppers or found employment in the region’s growing industries. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw modest industrial growth, with textile mills and ironworks drawing some European immigrants, though Chesterfield remained predominantly rural and agricultural compared to Richmond. The Great Migration brought Black families from the Deep South into the county, particularly to areas like Ettrick and Chester, seeking work in the expanding railroad and manufacturing sectors. By 1960, Chesterfield’s population was around 50,000, overwhelmingly White and Black, with a small number of families of Italian and Polish descent who had settled in the Manchester area.

Modern era (post-1965)

The 1965 Hart-Cellar Act had a limited immediate effect on Chesterfield, as the county’s foreign-born population remains just 4.8% today. However, the post-1965 era was defined by explosive domestic migration and suburbanization. The completion of Interstate 95 and the expansion of the Richmond metropolitan area turned Chesterfield into a prime destination for families leaving the city and for newcomers from the Rust Belt. The county’s population surged from 76,000 in 1970 to over 260,000 by 2000. Brandermill, a planned community developed in the 1970s, became a magnet for middle-class families, while Woodlake and Hull Street Road corridors saw rapid residential and commercial growth.

Hispanic growth, now 11.4% of the population, began accelerating in the 1990s, driven by construction and service-sector jobs. Mexican and Central American families concentrated in the Bells Road and Jefferson Davis Highway corridors, establishing small businesses and churches. The Black population, historically concentrated in older settlements like Matoaca and Ettrick, has dispersed into suburban subdivisions, particularly in the Chester and North Chesterfield areas. East/Southeast Asian communities, at 2.4%, are a more recent addition, with Vietnamese and Filipino families settling near Huguenot Road and the Midlothian Turnpike corridor, often drawn by professional opportunities in healthcare and engineering. The Indian subcontinent population, at 1.1%, is smaller but growing, with families concentrated in the Swift Creek area near the county’s top-rated schools.

Suburbanization has been the dominant force. Chesterfield’s identity shifted from a rural-agricultural county to a sprawling, car-dependent suburb with a strong emphasis on public schools and low property taxes. The county’s 42.7% college-educated rate reflects the influx of professionals from the Richmond area and beyond, while the military presence at Fort Gregg-Adams (formerly Fort Lee) in neighboring Prince George County adds a transient element to communities like Chester and Bermuda Hundred.