Jarratt's Station

The Petersburg Railroad, one of the first railroads in Virginia, acquired land from Capt. John Jarratt in this area in 1832 and was in full operation by 1833. The railroad, which linked Petersburg to Weldon, NC, opened a depot here known as Jarratt’s Station, around which a town developed. During the Civil War, Union forces raided the depot several times to stem the flow of Confederate supplies to Petersburg and Richmond. After a skirmish on 8 May 1864, Union Brig. Gen. August V. Kautz’s cavalry burned the station, houses, a church, and a nearby railroad bridge. The community rebuilt, grew in the 20th century, and incorporated as the Town of Jarratt in 1938.