Of utmost importance to our society is the establishment of Ettrick itself. In 1765, Neil Buchanan, a merchant from Scotland, established himself on a tract of land naming his plantation Ettrick Banks after Ettrick in County Selkirk in Scotland. Mr. Buchanan served on the first Committee of Safety for Chesterfield County during the American Revolution and in 1792 he was appointed a trustee by the great Commonwealth of Virginia to oversea the extension of navigation on the Appomattox River. The Buchanans added more land and by 1795 their farm had grown to 529 acres. Ettrick Banks was a tobacco plantation. Through their association with a Scottish trading concern, the Buchanans lived a good life. After Neil Buchanans death in 1797, the property was subdivided and sold.
ABOUT US
From the Appomattox Indians to mill workers to college students, Ettrick has hosted vastly different populations during the past 400 years.
The area has seen its share of historical events through the years, including the journeys of Capt. Christopher Newport, prosperous cotton mills, a large Confederate hospital, and Virginia's first state supported black collage, founded in 1882 as Virginia Normal and Collegiate institute now Virginia State University.
The Final March
On April 2-3,1865 the most awesome event to be seen by the residents of this small mill village was the passing of the main bodies of two great armies down the main road of Ettrick after crossing Campbells Bridge from Petersburg under the orders of Robert E. Lee. This was of course the march to Appomattox Court House.
It is the mission of the Ettrick Historical Society to continue in the research and bringing to light the history and former cultures of this village through the written word, photographs and reenactments of life here at an earlier time.
Ettrick Historical Society
Ettrick Virginia
"On the Route of Lee's Retreat"
