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Deatonville, Virginia

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Coordinates: 37°19′42″N 78°10′03″W / 37.32833°N 78.16750°W / 37.32833; -78.16750
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Deatonville, Virginia
Unincorporated community
Deatonville, Virginia is located in Virginia
Deatonville, Virginia
Deatonville, Virginia
Location within the Commonwealth of Virginia
Deatonville, Virginia is located in the United States
Deatonville, Virginia
Deatonville, Virginia
Deatonville, Virginia (the United States)
Coordinates: 37°19′42″N 78°10′03″W / 37.32833°N 78.16750°W / 37.32833; -78.16750
CountryUnited States
StateVirginia
CountyAmelia
Elevation
459 ft (140 m)
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP codes
23083, 23966
Area code804
FIPS code51-21680[1]
GNIS feature ID1477253

Deatonville is a rural unincorporated community in the western part of Amelia County in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is located in Leigh District[2] along SR 616 (S. Genito Road) at its junctions with SR 617 (E. Sayler's Creek Road to the west, St. James Road east). Deatonville straddles the boundary between ZIP codes 23083 (Jetersville) and 23966 (Rice). One segment of U.S. Bicycle Route 1 runs southwest from Richmond; this segment follows the entire length of SR 616 through Amelia County and passes through Deatonville.[3]

History

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Name & post office

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For a time, in the early 1800s, the community was called Thompson's Tavern.[4] A post office, originally with the spelling "Deatonsville",[5][6] was first established in 1812 or 1813. It was one of the earliest in Amelia County, and, like many rural mail facilities of the era, operated only intermittently at first. By the late 1800s, tens of thousands of such small post offices dotted the American countryside, and Deatonville continued to be noted as a post village (often listed with the alternative spelling) in gazetteers at the turn of the 20th century[7] and even into the 1920s.[8] The latter reference likely was dated, however, since most of these "fourth class" postal facilities were closed in the early 1900s after the advent of rural free delivery.[9]

Sandy Creek Church

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Sandy Creek Baptist Church, on Route 617, claims to be the oldest Baptist church in Amelia County and one of the oldest in the state, having been established in 1771. The original one-room building survived the Civil War but burned down in 1908. The current structure was dedicated in 1910, and has been expanded since.[10] In 2022 the pastor, Tom Campbell, was killed on his way to the church when his motorcycle was struck by another vehicle.[11][12]

Civil War

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Deatonville lies along the route[13] followed by Confederate general Robert E. Lee and his army in their westward retreat during the Civil War, just days before the surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox on April 9, 1865. Some of the most desperate fighting of the war occurred near Deatonville. Numerous roadside historical marker signs line the route, including one at Deatonville that reads as follows:[14]

During this day [April 6], the entire Confederate line [marched] west on the Rice–Deatonville Road toward Farmville. Constantly pressing Lee's rearguard, Union troops [fought] a brief action at every turn. These delays would eventually lead to the Battle of [Sayler's] Creek.

A historical plaque at Deatonville provides more extensive details.[15]

Rosenwald School

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St. James School, built between 1917 and 1920, was among the first of at least a dozen Rosenwald Schools constructed between 1917 and 1928 in Amelia County. The particular design for St. James called for a building to accommodate two teachers.[16] The school was located on Route 617 (modern-day St. James Road) east of Deatonville, but is no longer standing.[17] During the early 20th century, the Rosenwald project was a collaborative effort that constructed thousands of facilities across the segregated South primarily to help improve the education of African American children. After integration, the Rosenwald model became obsolete, and many former Rosenwald properties were demolished or sold.

Historic structures

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Wootton House, built around 1850, is an I-house with Gothic Revival elements. The property, along with its associated structures, is among several sites in the Deatonville area that were studied in the 1990s for possible listing on the National Register of Historic Places.[18] Farmer House, several miles south of Deatonville, was added to the Register in 1978.[19]

References

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  1. ^ "FIPS Codes", Deatonville, Amelia County, Virginia. Roadside Thoughts: A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada, July 7, 2023. Accessed August 20, 2023.
  2. ^ "General Highway Map, Amelia County, Commonwealth of Virginia". Virginia Department of Transportation, Richmond. Republished by Vintage Aerial, Maumee, OH, 1993. Accessed July 26, 2023.
  3. ^ "Official State Bicycle Map". Bicyling in Virginia, Virginia Department of Transportation. Commonwealth of Virginia: 2018. Accessed July 26, 2023.
  4. ^ Virginius Cornick Hall Jr. "Virginia Post Offices, 1798–1859", The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 81, no. 1, January 1973, page 62. Virginia Historical Society. Accessed December 4, 2021.
  5. ^ Richard Edwards. Statistical Gazetteer of the State of Virginia – 1854. New River Notes, The Grayson County Virginia Heritage Foundation, Independence, VA. Accessed November 20, 2021.
  6. ^ Christopher M. Calkins. National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form, "Sayler's Creek Battlefield", page 4 et al. National Park Service, June 1984. Accessed November 20, 2021.
  7. ^ Henry Gannett. A Gazetteer of Virginia, U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin No. 232, Series F: Geography, 40, page 48. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1904. Accessed December 14, 2021.
  8. ^ Angelo Heilprin and Louis Heilprin, editors. Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World, page 513. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1922. Accessed August 5, 2023.
  9. ^ Rural and Urban Origins of the U.S.Postal Service. Report Number RISC-WP-19-007, pages 6ff. Office of Inspector General, U.S. Postal Service. August 26, 2019. Accessed August 20, 2023.
  10. ^ History of Sandy Creek Baptist Church in Amelia County, Sandy Creek Baptist Church website. Accessed November 20, 2021.
  11. ^ "Additional charges: Defendant facing total of 13 offenses", The Courier-Record, Nottoway County, VA, May 18, 2022. Accessed January 7, 2024.
  12. ^ "Gilley to serve 18 years for involuntary manslaughter in death of Amelia pastor". The Amelia Bulletin Monitor, April 04, 2024. Accessed July 11, 2024.
  13. ^ "From Richmond and Petersburg to Appomattox" (map), Civil War Trails, Williamsburg, VA. Accessed November 20, 2021.
  14. ^ "Deatonville: Lee's Retreat", April 6, 1865, The Historical Marker Database, J.J. Prats, editor and publisher, Powell, Ohio. Accessed November 20, 2021.
  15. ^ "Deatonville: 'Continuous Shifting Battle', Lee's Retreat", The Historical Marker Database. Accessed November 20, 2021.
  16. ^ National Register of Historic Places Multiple-Property Documentation Form, "Rosenwald Schools", Virginia Department of Historic Resources, page 8. Accessed August 6, 2023.
  17. ^ "Saint James School", The Old School House Book, Amelia County Historical Society, February 17, 2023.
  18. ^ Valerie N. Birch, Alison S. Blanton, Mary A. Zirkle. Historic Architectural Survey of Nottoway County, Virginia, pages iii, 11, 13, 23–25, & 76, and Appendix (p. 116 on pdf). Richmond: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, May 1996. Accessed December 11, 2021.
  19. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.

U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Deatonville, Virginia

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