Midlothian, Virginia

Midlothian (

The Village of Midlothian was named for the early 18th-century coal mining enterprises of the Wooldridge family. Incorporated in 1836, their Mid-Lothian Mining and Manufacturing Company employed free and enslaved people to do the deadly work of digging underground.^[5] Midlothian is the site of the first commercially-mined coal in the Colony of Virginia and North America.^[6]

By the early 18th century, several mines were being developed in Chesterfield County by French

The Midlothian area serves as the headwaters to a number of creeks which ultimately contribute their waters to the flow of the James River. These include Swift Creek and Falling Creek. The Swift Creek Reservoir serves as the major source of fresh water for the county.

Demographics

As of 2020, the district of Midlothian had a total population of 72,711 consisting of 26,206 households.^[11] The population was 69.6% White (50,584), 13.9% Black (10,095), 4.4% Asian (3,203), 0.3% Native American (206), 0.05% Pacific Islander (41), 4.7% of other races (3,412) and 7.1% of two or more races (5,170). People of Hispanic or Latino origin, of any race, made up 8.9% of the population (6,496).

In 2019, the median household income was $89,851.^[11]

Economy

Midlothian was ranked #37 in

Midlothian is an unincorporated area of Chesterfield County. The area is represented by an elected district supervisor on the county's board of supervisors. The position has been held by Mark S. Miller, Ph.D. since 2022.^[14]

Infrastructure

In 2004, completion of State Route 288 connected Midlothian to the circumferential highway network of greater Richmond Region. Development was controversial, and some residents wanted to avoid the scale seen in Northern Virginia. After years of discussion, in March 2006 Chesterfield County approved intensive zoning for the Watkins Centre, promoted as a large, mixed-use office complex and retail "lifestyle center" at the intersection of Route 288 and U.S. 60, 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the Village of Midlothian.

With the addition of the multimillion-dollar Bon Secours Hospital, St. Francis, Midlothian has a major hospital within five minutes of Midlothian's highest concentration of residents.

James River High School, part of Chesterfield County Public Schools located in Midlothian, won the President's Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award in 2000. In 2015, Cosby High School, also located in Midlothian, received this recognition.^[15]

History

Etymology

The origins of the name of Midlothian are subject to debate.

A prevalent story is that the name came from two brothers from East Lothian and West Lothian in Scotland who founded a village. For the name of the village they decided to name it after their respective homelands and a compromise was made, thus making the name of Midlothian.

This local legend is based in some truth. The two brothers who were said to have founded the village were likely

The village had not always been called Midlothian. In the late 1700s, the area was listed on maps simply as "Coal Mines" and later came to be known as Coalfield. The modern-day Coalfield Road is a remnant of this name. The station where the Richmond and Danville railroads cut through the village was called Coalfield Station. It was first built in 1850 later to be destroyed in 1864 during the Civil War. The second Coalfield Station was built two years later in 1866 to be finally demolished in 1957. The station stood at the intersection of Salisbury Drive and the railroad.[18] The US Post Office established at the station had the name of Midlothian. This reflected the importance of the Midlothian Coal Mining Company. By the late 1800s, the area had ceased to be called Coalfield and was referred to as Midlothian.

Early history

Before the arrival of Europeans in the 17th century, the area had been populated for thousands of years by various cultures of

In 1700 and after,

In 1846, Chesterfield County's first Black church, First Baptist Church of Midlothian, was founded. It was rebuilt in 1877 after a fire, and the reconstruction included a small one-room building to be the first public school for Black children in the area.[19]

Coal mining

The Village area of today's Midlothian started as a settlement of coal miners in the 18th century which were among the oldest mining shafts in the United States.

By 1824, an estimated 70 to 100 wagons, each of which was loaded with four or five tons of coal, made a daily trip on the turnpike, transporting to the docks near Manchester the million or more bushels (30,000 metric tons) of coal that were produced in Chesterfield County each year. The heavily loaded coal wagons tended to cut deep ruts in the turnpike, raising clouds of dust in summer and churning the road into mud in the rainy season. As there were few options for shunpiking, citizens whose faster buggies dawdled along behind the lumbering wagons urged the state legislature to do something about it—a canal, a better road, but something.

The result was the Chesterfield Railroad, a 13 miles (21 km) mule- and gravity-powered line that connected the Midlothian coal mines with wharves located at Manchester, directly across from Richmond. Partially funded by the

20th century: village becomes surrounded by suburban development

In the 20th century, coal mining declined. The area became less populated, remaining largely wooded with farms scattered along mostly rural and dirt roads. Gradually, post-war construction of the highway network and the growth of metropolitan Richmond brought subdivision residential development. When the

In 1988, an extension of the

• Bellona Arsenal
• Bethel Baptist Church
• Bellgrade Plantation, 11500 West Huguenot Road^[31]
• Dinwiddie County Pullman Car
• Trabue's Tavern
  , 11940 Old Buckingham Road
• Hallsboro Store
• Hallsborough Tavern, 16300 Midlothian Turnpike
• Ivymont Manor, 14111 Midlothian Turnpike (built in 1850)^[32]
• Southside Speedway, 12800 Genito Road
• Chesterfield Railroad, portion of roadbed (visible off Sturbridge Drive south of Midlothian Turnpike behind Pocono Green Shopping Center)

Chesterfield Museum

An exhibit on local mining history in the Chesterfield Museum includes a length of iron rail from the incline railway, the first in Virginia.

Notable people

• DaShaun Amos, professional football player^[33]
• Leslie D. Carter, U.S. Army major general^[34][35]
• Francis X. DiLorenzo, Catholic bishop^[36]
• Tori Hall, pageant and reality TV contestant^[37]
• Jason Holman, professional football player and coach^[38]
• Aimee Mann, musician^[39]
• Jesse Jefferson, former pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays.
• Edward Johnson, Confederate States Army major general^[40]
• Tyler Johnson, professional baseball player^[41]
• Richard Kelly, filmmaker^[42]
• Savannah Lane, pageant contestant^[43]
• Jake Lowery, professional baseball coach and manager^[44]
• Alex McMurtry, gymnast^[45]
• Luis Rendon, college soccer player^[46]
• Drew Romig, professional soccer player^[47]
• Shannon Taylor, Olympic field hockey player and college coach^[48]

In popular culture

Midlothian is the inspiration for the fictional town of Middlesex, Virginia in the cult film