Heathsville | |
|---|---|
Census-designated place (CDP) | |
 The village green, from the porch of the Northumberland County Courthouse | |
  Heathsville Location within the state of Virginia Show map of Virginia Heathsville Heathsville (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Coordinates:37°55′3″N76°28′20″W / 37.91750°N 76.47222°W /37.91750; -76.47222 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Virginia |
| County | Northumberland |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 136 |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP Code | 22473 |
| Area code | 804 |
Heathsville is acensus-designated place (CDP) in and thecounty seat ofNorthumberland County,Virginia, United States. Heathsville is in the easternmost county of theNorthern Neck of Virginia,[1] which was the birthplace of three of the first five Presidents of the United States -George Washington,James Madison andJames Monroe. It is the county seat of Northumberland County, and has housed four county courthouses since the first was built in 1663.
It is also home to numerous historical home sites, some dating to the late 18th century.[2][3] TheHeathsville Historic District,Coan Baptist Church,Howland Chapel School,Kirkland Grove Campground,Rice's Hotel,Oakley,St. Stephen's Church,Sunnyside, andThe Academy are listed on theNational Register of Historic Places. Heathsville is named after lawyer and politicianJohn Heath.[4]
The population as of the2020 Census was 136.[5] It is located onU.S. Route 360 (the Northumberland Highway) west ofReedville and east ofWarsaw.
In 1679, the county justices of Northumberland County sought to move their courthouse from the Hull Neck area to a more central locale in the county.[6] To that end, local officials signed a contract with John Hughlett in 1680 to build a court house and attached prison upon "Mr. Hughlett's Indian Field," the future site of Heathsville. The court house would be completed the following year.
For most of its early history, Heathsville remained a small hamlet, with fewer than 12 buildings through theAmerican Revolutionary War.[6] These buildings were small, poorly maintained wooden homes that one 1784 court order described as a "public nuisance."[7]
However, the town continued to grow, and several influential residents of the county successfully petitioned theVirginia General Assembly to incorporate Northumberland Court House as a town in 1797; this group included John Heath, for whom the town was named.[6] In 1798, Anglo-American architectBenjamin Henry Latrobe surveyed the new town of Heathsville and divided it into 40 lots. By the early nineteenth century, Heathsville had continued its expansion, with one chronicler describing it as "a handsome post-village" with "a large church, an academy, and a mill."[8] It was during this time in Heathsville's history that many of its historic homes (Sunnyside,Springfield,The Academy, and others) were built and expanded.[6]
Eventually, theCivil War would dampen Heathsville's continued growth, but the town largely recovered from the conflict by 1880.[6] In 1873, an association of local women erected a new statue to the fallen soldiers of the Confederacy. Unlike many similar monuments, it did not feature a soldier, but a woman holding an anchor, symbolizing how the area's women served as an "anchor" for the community during the Civil War.[6]
Despite the area's geographical isolation, continued steamboat travel around the Northern Neck kept the town accessible during the postbellum years, but steamboat service was suspended in 1937.[6] Also during this time, the pressures ofurbanization and theGreat Depression led many young residents away from Heathsville's farms and to more populated areas for employment. As the town's grist-milling, distilling, and wagon-making industries died out, the area became increasingly reliant on its courthouse to compensate for its lack of manufacturing.[6]
Today, Heathsville's population continues to shrink, having lost over one-quarter of its population since 1980.[5] The local Chamber of Commerce describes Heathsville as "based in the 18th century but living in the 21st."[9] The area behind the old courthouse is home to a farmer's market the third Saturday of each month from April through October.[10] This area also hosts craft guilds dedicated to the preservation and use of pre-industrial skills, including iron forging, wood working, quilting, and weaving.[11]
Heathsville was first listed as acensus designated place in the2010 U.S. census.[12]
| Race / Ethnicity | Pop 2020[13] | % 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 106 | 77.94% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 18 | 13.23% |
| Native American orAlaska Native alone (NH) | 0 | 0.00% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 2 | 1.47% |
| Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 0 | 0.00% |
| Some Other Race alone (NH) | 1 | 0.74% |
| Mixed Race/Multi-Racial (NH) | 7 | 5.15% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2 | 1.47% |
| Total | 136 | 100.00% |
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 185 | — | |
| 1990 | 127 | −31.4% | |
| 2000 | 142 | 11.8% | |
| 2010 | 142 | 0.0% | |
| 2020 | 136 | −4.2% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[14] 2010[12] 2020 | |||
Municipalities and communities ofNorthumberland County, Virginia,United States | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
| International | |
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| National | |
