Chesterfield County recently unveiled plans to turn 30 acres of land along the Appomattox River into a riverfront park complete with picnic shelter, walking trails and boat launch.
“Acquiring this property will provide opportunities for our growing, active community to enjoy the water, accommodate the park we’ve planned there and preserve both the beauty and historical significance of an important gateway area,” Matoaca Supervisor Kevin Carroll said in a prepared statement.
Chesterfield acquired the site from the nonprofit Capital Region Land Conservancy, which bought 42 acres of land in 2022 for $2.4 million. It comprises 16 islands and industrial ruins dating back as far as the 18th century, including four former mill complexes and the factory where the Seward Trunk and Bag Company (now known as Seward Trunks) was founded in 1878.
The area enjoyed an industrial heyday in the mid-1800s, CRLC executive director Parker Agelasto told VPM News, with “some of the biggest factories of that time” using the river to generate electricity.
“I think it’s exciting we’ve been able to preserve this property,” he said in a telephone interview.
Chesterfield spent $1.7 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act money on the acquisition, with the remaining $725,000 coming from Virginia Land Conservation Foundation and Virginia Outdoors Foundation grants and private donations to CRLC.
CRLC transferred the remaining 12 acres along the former Battersea Canal in Petersburg to the Friends of the Lower Appomattox River. It will be used to connect a missing half-mile link in the Appomattox River Trail network and intersects with the under-construction Fall Line Trail, which will span 43 miles between Petersburg and Ashland.
Agelasto said in a statement that the park will provide “future generations with access to the outdoors,” adding that “the Falls of the Appomattox River is a uniquely beautiful site where nature’s resilience is on display.”
