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Varina (Va-ry-nah) is a former town and current magisterial district in easternmost portion of Henrico County, Virginia, USA. It was named for Varina Farms, a plantation on the James River about 35 miles upstream from the Jamestown Settlement in the Virginia Colony, and across the river from Sir Thomas Dale's 1611 settlement at Henricus.
Varina Farms plantation In 1612, John Rolfe introduced the cultivation of a special strain of tobacco for export to England and began an enterprise that salvaged the struggling colony and formed the basis of early Virginia prosperity. A plantation estate at Varina Farms was the home of John Rolfe and Pocahontas for two years following their marriage in 1614 and was the birthplace of their son, Thomas Rolfe. Varina Farms was named for a mild variety of the tobacco from Spain which was similar to the strain from Bermuda that helped make the colony profitable. County seat and town Although Henricus was wiped out and not rebuilt after the Indian Massacre of 1622, a tiny village grew up on Rolfe's Plantation called Varina or Henrico Parish. When the shires (later renamed counties) were formed in 1634, Varina became the county seat of Henrico. Varina was established as a town in 1680. It featured a courthouse, a church for Henrico Parish, and commercial buildings, such as a tavern. The Henrico Glebe house at Varina was the location where Reverend Dr. James Blair is believed to have drawn up the plans for new school which became the College of William and Mary in 1693 after his mission to England at the request of the House of Burgesses. The royal charter for the new school resurrected one of the dreams of the colonists which had been lost at Henricus in 1622. Varina remained the county seat of Henrico County until 1752, when the seat was relocated to the growing city of Richmond, located at the head of navigation on the James River. A few years earlier, in 1741, the Henrico Parish church had also been relocated to the present location of St. John's Episcopal Church in the Church Hill section of Richmond. Modern times After the emergence of Richmond as a major community and port in the mid-18th century, and as land transportation became better, the location of Varina, which was not on any major roadway, became more isolated, gradually slipping into primarily farming use. In modern times, Varina Farm (as it is now called) is still actively cultivated as a working farm, and is privately-owned. However, the site of the former town of Varina can be seen from Interstate 295 to the east just north of the Varina-Enon Bridge. Trivia See also | ||||||||
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