City of Petersburg
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia located on the Appomattox River and 23 miles south of Richmond. The population was 33,740 as of the 2000 census. It is in the Tri-Cities area of the Richmond - Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Petersburg (along with Colonial Heights) and neighboring Dinwiddie County for statistical purposes. Other nearby counties include Prince George and Chesterfield County.
The city's unique industrial past created wealth for Virginia. Among the city's significant properties is Battersea, a Palladian-style house built in 1767-1768 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Also on the NRHP is Petersburg National Battlefield of the American Civil War. Numerous historic properties and districts are associated with downtown. The Pocahontas Island National Historic District is the location of the largest free black population in 1860. Among the oldest black churches in the nation are two Baptist churches, established as the first of that denomination in the city in the early 19th century. The black churches were leaders in the national Civil Rights Movement of the mid 20th century that achieved historic legislation for civil and voting rights.
It is hard to look at the Petersburg area without recognizing the region's critical role in the close of the Civil War. Before the war, Petersurg was a key economic and transportation center in Virginia, which made it an obvious target during the course of the war. It was near the end of the war that Petersburg became the center of the conflict in the East between the two leading generals - Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Petersburg was at the center of the nine-and-a-half month siege leading up the Army of Northern Virginia's retreat and eventual surrender at Appomattox Court House 100 miles to the west.
One of the most popular tourist attractions is the site of the Crater where Union troops botched an elaborate plot to blow up a Confederate stronghold. In an effort to end the siege of Petersburg, which saw the introduction of trench warfare decades before World War I, Union soldiers tried to mine under the Confederate fortifications. After weeks of digging furiously by hand, Union troops were ready to execute and elaborate attack. Commanded by Lt. Col. Henry Pleasants, a Pennsylvania mining engineer in civilian life, Union troops had slowly tunneled their way 500 feet to the Confederate stronghold of Elliott's Salient. Using old cracker boxes to pack and remove the dirt, they had dug the secret mine as a tool to blow up the camp and overtake Lee's defensive position in Petersburg. Above ground rumors were circling among southerners that the Federals were planning an attack, but evidence of the mine was never discovered in time. Even as Pleasants himself lit the fuse on 8,000 pounds of underground explosives, neither side knew what to expect in the dark morning hours of July 30, 1864. Of all the battles waged in what we now call the Tri-Cities area, none saw more bloodshed that the Battle of the Crater. The monstrous blast immediately killed 361 Confederate troops and left a hole in the ground that measured 170 feet long, 30 feet deep and nearly 80 feet wide. It became an instant death trap when Union soldiers blindly charged into it and were met with a spiteful Confederate counter attack. When the violent hand-to-hand battle had ended, an estimated 3,800 Union troops were reported killed, wounded or missing. The Confederate suffered 1,612 casualties.
More than 140 years later, the giant cavity left over from the explosion, known simply as "The Crater", is little more than a shallow, grass-covered depression in the ground. This earthen monument is still visible on the well-preserved grounds of Petersburg National Battlefield, where thousands of tourists come each year to view it. They also can explore the earthworks and trenches as soldiers might have seen them and take a look inside a reconstruction of the Union's secret mine.
The Crater is just one piece of Civil War history that can be found in the Tri-Cities and surrounding counties. Only a few miles to the east of the Crater site, visitors can tour Hopewell's historic district of City Point where Gen. Ulysses S. Grant directed numerous assaults on Petersburg and Richmond.
General Information
Founded: December 17, 1748
Elevation: 134 ft.
Population (2004): 32,757
Time Zone: EST
Zip Codes: 23803, 23805, 23804
Area Code: 804
City: 23.2 Sq. Mi.
Land: 22.9 Sq. Mi.
Water: 0.3 Sq. Mi.
Median Household Income: $28,851
Median Family Income: $33,955
Petersburg City Public Schools
High School(s)-
: Petersburg High School
Middle School(s)-
: Vernon Johns Jr. High
: Peabody Middle School
Elementary School(s)-
: A.P. Hill Elementary
: Robert E. Lee Elementary
: Walnut Hill Elementary
: Blandford Academy K-5
Charter/Tech
: Appomattox Regional Governor's School for the Arts and Technology
Schools closed because of enrollment:
: Virginia Avenue Elementary School- Closed
: Peabody Middle School- Closing
Medical/Health Facilities
- Southside Regional Medical Center
- HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Petersburg
Adjacent Counties/Independent City
- Chesterfield County, Virginia- Northwest
- Colonial Heights, Virginia- North
- Dinwiddie County, Virginia- West, Southwest
- Prince George County, Virginia- East, Southeast
National Protected Area
- Petersburg National Battlefield Park (part)