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York County was originally named Charles River County, for Charles I, and was one of the eight shires formed in 1634. The present name was given in 1643, probably in honor of James, duke of York, the second son of Charles I. Its area is 106 square miles, and the county seat is Yorktown. The population is 56,297 according to the 2000 census.
The Official County Website is located at http://www.yorkcounty.gov/ . Cities, Towns and Communities include Tabb, Yorktown, Lackey, Grafton, Seaford and Queens Lake
PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.
York County Poquoson County Clerk of the Circuit Court has Marriage Records from 1772 , Land Records from 1633 , Probate Records from 1833 and Court Records from 1633 and is located at the County Courthouse on 224 Ballard Street, P. O. Box 532, Yorktown, Virginia 23690-0532; 757.890.3300 .
Includes records from Charles River County The Clerk of the Circuit Court is a constitutional official that is elected by the voters of York County. The Clerk is charged with responsibilities that include judicial and non-judicial duties.
The Clerk provides administrative support for Circuit Court by preparing, recording, and maintaining court orders, subpoenas, and pleadings. The Clerk's Office also manages juries, disposal of evidence, collection of criminal fines and costs. Inquiries concerning the Court's procedures and policies and the records should be directed to the Clerk's Office, which serves as a repository for the Court's records.
Non-judicial duties include the authority to probate wills, grant administration of estates, appoint guardians, issue marriage licenses.
The Clerk acts as the Register of Deeds by recording all deeds, deeds of trust, real estate liens, releases and powers of attorney.
The Clerk acts as the county archivist by maintaining records of the Court, real estate, probate and numerous other county records.
Records management is an immense and critical responsibility of the Clerk's Office due to the volume and types of records.
Below is a list of online resources for York County Court Records. Email us with websites containing York County Court Records by clicking the link below:
Virginia Immigration & Emigration Records - Immigration records help the family historian to understand the movements of their ancestry as they relocated to different parts of the world.
Click Here to Search Virginia Birth, Marriage & Death Records! - Birth, marriage, and death records are connected with central life events. They are prime sources for genealogical information. Look also for baptism, christening, and burial records in this collection.
Vital Statistics include the official recordation of marriages, births, and deaths. Bible records, cemetery records, and church records are private sources that may supplement the official records.
A law requiring the systematic statewide recording of births and deaths was passed by the General Assembly on April 11 1853. Every commissioner of revenue registered births and deaths in his district annually and forwarded the information to the clerk of court, who then supplied the information to the state Auditor of Public Accounts. This law continued in effect until 1896. The Auditor turned the lists over to the Bureau of Vital Statistics in 1918 and the registers were later transferred to the state archives. The Library of Virginia has copies of surviving birth and death records for the period 1853 to 1896 and marriage records prior to 1936.
Virginia Department of Health, Office of Vital Records is located at The Shops at Willow Lawn, 1601 Willow Lawn Drive, Suite 275, Richmond, VA 23220; Ph: (804) 662-6200. The mailing address is VDH, Office of Vital Records, and Health Statistics, P.O. Box 1000, Richmond, Virginia, 23218-1000. They have the following records:
Births and Deaths: 1853-1896 and June 1912 to present. Birth cards are no longer available. Only the cities of Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk and Richmond have records between 1896 and June 14, 1912.
Marriage Records: 1853 to the present. If the records are not available from the State office, they should be available from the Clerk of Court in county where the marriage license was issued.
Divorce Records: 1918 to the present. If the records are not available from the State office, they should be available from the Clerk of Court in county where the marriage license was issued.
Order Online: You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering below
Birth records are public information 100 years after the date of the event; death, marriage, and divorce records, 50 years after the event. Due to limited resources they are unable to conduct geneology searches. Contact the Library of Virginia for assistance at http://www.lva.lib.va.us/.
For all birth records, please allow 10 business days. All marriage records, death records, divorce records, non-automated birth records and documents requiring amendments, please allow a delivery time of 4 to 6 weeks. Marriage and divorce records are available at the Circuit Court in which the event took place. Recent death records are available at the local health department where the death certificate was filed. You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering HERE
The fee to search for a birth, Marriage or Death certificate is $12.00, which includes one certified copy of the certificate or a "Certificate of Failure to Find." Make checks and money orders should be made payable to "State Health Department ". Please do not send cash. Credit Cards may be uses by using VitalChek services. Fees are non refundable. Additional fees are required for expedited service. Mail all Applications to:Vital Records,
VDH, Office of Vital Records, and Health Statistics, P.O. Box 1000, Richmond, Virginia, 23218-1000 . You can download an application online for Birth, Death, Marriage or Divorce Certificates. You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering HERE
Below is a list of online resources for York County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing York County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE - Search over 82 million death records and get genealogical information crucial to your family research. New content added weekly! Most comprehensive SSDI site online!
Research Death records In The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of historical Virginia newspaper articles about deaths. Search for local articles about an old family friend that died many years ago or a celebrity that committed suicide. Historical newspapers contain a wealth of information about the deceased.
Death Records Indexing Project - partially completed cooperative project with the Virginia Genealogical Society; goal is to create a statewide index to the 1853-1896 locality death registers.
Click Here to Search Virginia Voter Lists & Census Records! - Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do government census records. Substitute records can be used when the official census is unavailable.
Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for York County, Virginia are 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your family tree in York County, Virginia are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Slave Schedules exist for 1850 & 1860. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880.
Below is a list of online resources for York County Census Records. Email us with websites containing York County Census Records by clicking the link below:
Virginia Antique Maps & Atlases has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Virginia and other states.
You can view rotating animated maps for Virginia showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
You can view rotating animated maps for Virginia showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries . You can view a list of maps for other states and State Department of Transportation Maps at County Maps.
Below is a list of online resources for York County Maps. Email us with websites containing York County Maps by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Virginia Military Records! - Military and civil service records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served their country at home and abroad.
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design. A list of Wars fought on American. Read more detailed information on Virginia Military Records and the various wars.
Below is a list of online resources for York County Military Records. Email us with websites containing York County Military Records by clicking the link below:
Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 from the State of Virginia (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
Southern Claims Commission from the State of Virginia (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
Virginia's tax records are a rich—and largely untapped—resource. During the Colonial period, there were three basic forms of taxation: the quitrent, the parish levy, and the poll tax.
The quitrent was a land tax that had its roots in English manorial society where “the land obligations due the manor, such as plowing and haying the lord's land, were computed to an annual money payment. Upon payment, the obligations were `quit' for the year.” Those living south of the Rappahannock River paid a quitrent to the Crown. An original, incomplete list of land owners for the region in 1704 is in the Public Record Office in London and has been published several times, not always reliably.
Residents of the Northern Neck, between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers, paid quitrents to the agents of Lord Fairfax. Many original rent rolls of the Fairfax proprietary are housed at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Extant original rent rolls and facsimiles for Virginia are available at The Library of Virginia.
The parish levy was an annual tax paid by all tithables for support of their ministers, maintenance of the parishes' glebe lands (the parsonage and lands producing income for the parish), and support of the poor of the parish.
The poll tax, except for a brief period from 1645 to 1648, was the main source of revenue for the colony of Virginia. The annual poll tax was computed by dividing the total expenses of the colony and individual counties by the total number of tithables. The result was levied on each tithable.
Tithables were variously defined during the colonial period. The first definition, in 1624, was “every male head above sixteen years of age.” All agricultural workers were added in 1629. In 1643 all males and black females aged sixteen or over were tithables. Imported male servants of any age were added in 1649.
The definition of “tithable” was rewritten in 1658. Tithables included free males aged sixteen or over, imported blacks of either sex, imported white male servants, and Indian servants of either sex; white women employed in agriculture were added in 1662. Complaints from planters with increasing numbers of indentured servants and slaves led to a revision in 1680 that declared Virginia-born male slaves taxable at age twelve and imported male servants taxable at age fourteen; nonwhite women and free males remained taxable at age sixteen.
The laws of Virginia were revised in 1705. From then until 1782, all males and nonwhite females aged sixteen or over were tithables. Wives of free nonwhite males were added in 1723.
Virginia's tax system changed after the Revolutionary War to include taxing land and personal property in 1782, with further revision in 1787. The bulk of those tax lists prior to 1850 survive and are available on microfilm at The Library of Virginia.
Below is a list of online resources for York County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing York County Tax Records by clicking the link below:
The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be more generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.
Below is a list of online resources for York County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing York County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
York County Historical Society,
P.O. Box 770,
Yorktown, VA 23692
York Historical Committee,
P.O. Box 1345,
Yorktown, VA 23692
York County Public Library,
8500 George Washington Memorial Highway,
Yorktown, VA 23092,
(757) 890-3377
Tabb-York Public Library,
100 Long Green Blvd.,
Yorktown, VA 23693,
(757) 890-5100
Virginia Genealogical Society, 5001 West Broad Street, Suite 115, Richmond, Virginia 23230-3023; Telephone (804) 285-8954 Please note that because of our close proximity to the Library of Virginia and the Virginia Historical Society, the Virginia Genealogical Society does not maintain a research facility or surname material.
Virginia Historical Society, 428 North Boulevard, Richmond, Virginia 23220, Phone: 804.358.4901 Mail: P.O.Box 7311, 23221-0311;Hours: Monday-Saturday 10-5 / Sunday 1-5 (galleries only)
Virginia Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Click Here to Search Virginia Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.
Unlike New England, colonial Virginia left few early church records. The first Virginians were members of the Church of England, or Anglican church, which became the Episcopal Church in 1786. Early parish registers are incomplete and challenging to use. Parish boundaries changed rapidly and are hard to pinpoint.
Since colonial times, many religious groups have established congregations in Virginia, including Baptist, Catholic, Jewish, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Quaker or Friends, to name a few. Except for the Quakers, few of these groups kept records containing such genealogical information as birth, marriage, and death dates. A number of church vestry books and registers have been published and are available at The Library of Virginia and the FHL.
The list of published tombstone inscriptions for Virginia, if a comprehensive list existed, would be lengthy. The DAR has compiled an extensive collection of Virginia tombstone inscriptions. The collection, along with other cemetery record publications, can be found at the DAR Library in Washington, D.C., The Library of Virginia, the Virginia Historical Society, and the FHL.
Cemetery interment registers and gravestone inscriptions may often be sources of useful information for Virginia researchers. The state government does not have a long, uninterrupted, centralized file of birth and death records that are readily accessible to researchers. Wars, floods, and fires have destroyed the vital record of many of Virginia's counties. Oftentimes, information found in cemetery records and on gravestones cannot be found anywhere else. When looking for a specific cemetery in Virginia, you may wish to start with the following comprehensive resource.
Below is a list of online resources for York County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing York County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
Find Obituaries in The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of Virginia obituaries to help you research your family history. Search for a Virginia newspaper obituary about your ancestor or a celebrity. Begin your search today and find death notices and funeral announcements printed in newspapers from Virginia.
J. Henry Brown Monuments Inc., Order Book - a searchable database indexing tombstone inscriptions covering the period 1899-1907. Many of the individuals listed were born before Virginia began keeping vital statistics in 1853.
Click Here to Search Virginia Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.
When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for York County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information . Email us with websites containing York County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
Virginia Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
Yorktown’s proudest claim to national importance is that America won its independence here. Although the intent was declared at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, it was only after five difficult years of effort and loss of thousands of lives that the ephemeral idea of independence came to fruition by victory at Yorktown on October 19, 1781.
Yorktown’s history considerably precedes 1781. The present location of the charming town today was occupied by the native-American population for at least 10,000 years prior to European arrival. It is located at the narrowest crossing point of the York River, and natives likely used this point to travel from "the Peninsula" to the "Middle Peninsula". Little, however, is documented about these early inhabitants and travelers and no exhibits presently tell their story.
1600
In 1620, Captain Nicholas Martiau, was sent by King James I to build forts in Virginia, specifically at York, and to complete the great log palisade between College and Queen Creeks.
York’s fort was initially built just a short distance down river from the present Yorktown, and a small settlement developed there because of the fort’s guarantee of safety. This village also became a receiving port and mercantile center for the growing population. The site is now part of the United States Coast Guard Reserve Training Center .
Martiau’s early settlement and bringing of other settlers had qualified him to receive several grants of land, one of which is the present location of Yorktown. Sadly, Martiau did not live to see the town develop on his personal landholdings. He died in 1657, but his grandson sold 50 acres of the land for the establishment of “York Town” in 1691. The town's creation established Yorktown as the principal location for securing tobacco, good, wares and other merchandise. The port, wharves, warehouses and other appropriate buildings for the conduct of commerce were situated at the riverfront.
Surprisingly, the town’s original 50 acres did not include the land immediately adjacent to the river--land that today features a park, several restaurants, a motel, beaches, a museum, and a few residences. That land became valuable as the town developed and in 1738 was purchased and added to the town. This parcel was overseen by the Yorktown Trustees, a board created in 1738 which still administers this land's affairs today.
1700
The town continued to grow, and by the passage of the Tobacco Inspection act of 1734, nearly all of Yorktown’s 85 town lots had been purchased and development begun. With high quality Virginia tobacco established as the main money crop and Yorktown named as a tobacco inspection port, the town’s growth potential for the future seemed secure.
Virginia’s planters who lived in Yorktown or had second homes here, lavished themselves and their homes with luxury and expensive items from England. In 1764, an English visitor commented that he perceived “a great air of opulence amongst the inhabitants...every considerable man keeps an equipage...very pretty garden spots...avenues...are prodigiously agreeable. The roads are infinitely superior to most in England...and the planters live in a manner equal to men of the best fortune..”
Unfortunately, tobacco exhausted the soil and modern fertilization practices had not yet evolved. As a result, the quality and quantity of tobacco declined dramatically from mid-century on, and Yorktown’s heavy dependence on the tobacco-based commerce proved to be its downfall.
Yorktown’s place in early American history was established by several Yorktown residents who devoted themselves to Virginia’s and the new nation’s service. Principal among them was certainly Thomas Nelson, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Additionally, David Jameson, a Scots merchant of Yorktown, served in the Virginia Senate and in the Privy Council and as Lieutenant Governor and , finally, acting governor in 1781. Cyrus Griffin, last president of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation, was another prominent Yorktown citizen.
Clearly, the ultimate historically significant event for Yorktown is the victory of General George Washington’s army over the British army. Lord Cornwallis surrendered, on ground known today as Surrender Field, October 19, 1781, effectively ending the American Revolution. The battles of the American Revolution which began in 1776 covered much of the eastern seaboard. This final major battle was the culmination of numerous back-and-forth movements of the Franco-American forces and of the British. What caused Cornwallis to dig in for a siege in Yorktown? How was Washington able to move his massive troops so quickly to Yorktown? How did the French fleet know to move to its critical location at just the right moment?
A visit to Yorktown’s many historic sites answers some of those questions and creates even more questions in the minds of the visitor! Nevertheless, the story of Washington, Cornwallis, Lafayette, De Grasse, and the thousands of soldiers and sailors of the American, British, and French nations is the story of Yorktown.
The streets of Yorktown today bear little witness to the town’s importance in 1781 and bear little resemblance to its appearance at that time. In early 1781, Yorktown was still a bustling port and mercantile center---but it’s heyday had clearly passed as other larger more convenient ports became more prominent. The town, however, still had homes, stores, warehouses, storage buildings, public buildings, and other structures packed tightly along its unpaved main street and side streets. Along the river, numerous wharves and associated buildings stood as testament to Yorktown’s importance, waning though it was. Buildings of every nature stood chock-a-block along the town’s short main street with no thought of our present-day zoning concerns, and, in fact, were monuments to the town’s professional, mercantile, and residential prosperity and prominence.
After October 19, 1781, Yorktown was in a considerably different position after suffering dramatically during the siege, with numerous buildings destroyed or heavily damaged. Many of its occupants left the town, never to return, and many of those remaining demolished damaged buildings with little thought of rebuilding. Many, of course, repaired their homes and businesses, and life in Yorktown continued.
1800
In 1814, a second disaster struck Yorktown when a major fire destroyed nearly all the buildings along the waterfront and many "on the hill" in the town as well, including the church and the courthouse. During this time, the waterfront area was occupied, not by prominent businesses, but by the poorest of the residents of the community. As time and pride had passed Yorktown by, little was done to rebuild most of the destroyed buildings. The county Courthouse was completed a few years later, and the church, renamed Grace Episcopal Church, took nearly 30 years to repair its original marl walls.
Finally, the War Between the States brought Yorktown’s second siege in 1862. Again its harbor was filled with gunboats, its streets with soldiers, and its reinforced 80 year-old earthworks teemed with armaments of various sizes and strengths. Following this siege, Yorktown’s future hopes disintegrated, and the final blow of 1863 occurred when both the courthouse and the Swan Tavern across the street were blown to pieces by an enormous explosion of stores of gunpowder. The community was so devastated by the war that the courthouse was not rebuilt until 1875.
The celebration of 1881 of the Centennial of the surrender brought national notice to the hamlet, but little but a magnificent monument remained after the celebrants left.
1900
Yorktown remained a backwater town with occasional weak efforts to revise its stature attempted until 1931. The Sesquicentennial prompted purchase of much of the property around town which resulted in the creation of Colonial National Historical Park.
YORKTOWN – ROOTED IN HISTORY
When one hears the words “Yorktown, Virginia,” their initial thoughts turn to the great battle that solidified the independence of this great nation. No doubt the accomplishments of the Allied Forces on this hallowed ground made an irrevocable mark on the world that remains deeply embedded today. However, Yorktown history, or that of this immediate area of Virginia, began approximately 200 years prior to the battle. It is that long and illustrious history that we celebrate with this year’s 4th of July theme, “Yorktown – Rooted in History”. Follow along as we review those important events that brought us to where we are today. A special thank you to our dear friend, Dick Ivy, and York County Historical Committee for providing this timeline.
1570 - Nine Spanish Jesuits come overland from the James River to establish a mission on the Pamunkey River.
1607 - Captain John Smith explores Pamunkey River, identifies Indian village as “Kiskiack.”
1629 - Kiskiack Indians relocates from southern shore of the Pamunkey River.
1630 - Grants given to “adventurers who would build in the forest along the Pamunkey River, among them Governor Sir John Harvey himself, who sent people to settle his Yorke Plantation, named after the first Duke of York who would become King Charles.”
1633 - Yorke Village on the Wormeley Creek (now Coast Guard Training Center) declared a Virginia port by House of Burgesses.
1634 - Yorke and Chiskiack Parishes become Charles River Shire and the Pamunkey River renamed the Charles River.
1635 - Ancient planters, including York Burgess Nicolas Martiau, revolt against Gov. Harvey, deposing him April 26, Nicolas Martiau was granted 1,600 acres off of the Charles River (including what is now the area of Historic Yorktown) May 20, perhaps as a payment for building forts and palisades across the peninsula against the Indians.
1640 - The first Yorke Parish church built on the edge of Yorke Village.
1642 - Name of Charles River and shire changed to York, after the second Duke of York.
1676 - Bacon’s Rebellion.
1691 - Virginia Ports Act authorizes 15 port towns, including one on the York River for the collection of tariffs. Fifty acres of Martiau’s property is purchased for the town. 85 lots laid out by a hired architect-surveyor, Lawrence Smith of Gloucester.
1697 - Third York Parish Church built of marl of the York River cliffs on property donated by Governor Francis Nicholson. York County Courthouse built of frame and marl, shingle roof, on what is now the site of York Hall.
1706 - Customhouse built by Richard Ambler. (Possibly 1720)
1710-1739 - Colony’s designated slave port, 71% of all slaves came in at Yorktown. Export was York River tobacco. 1718 to 1739, 14,218 landed here. Many became freeholders and grew tobacco themselves.
1774 - Yorktown’s own “Tea Party” to protest Stamp Act by the Committee of Safety. (Nov 7)
1781 - Surrender of the British at Yorktown. (Oct 19)
1814 - Great fire in Yorktown, beginning below the hill, Mar 3, destroying second Courthouse built 1733.
1824 - Marquis de la Fayette’s visit to Yorktown.
1861 - The Battle of Big Bethel.
1863 - Peninsula Campaign. Magruder had 15,000 troops at Yorktown, using Revolutionary War redoubts. Johnston evacuates Yorktown May 3.
1863 - Union ammunition stored in Courthouse blows up (Dec), destroying Swan Tavern, adjacent Phillip Lightfoot House.
1881 - Cornerstone laid for the Victory Monument (100 years after approved by Congress).
1901 - American Cement Company plans large factory in Hornsbyville to use local marl. Polish immigrants come for a project never realized.
1918 - Yorke Village becomes part of Fuel Oil Station.
1919 - Chiskiack becomes the Naval Mine Depot, (what is now called, Naval Weapons Station), and Penniman Munitions Works.
1926 - Yorktown Country Club builds golf course. A metal girder hotel begins construction. Uncompleted, hotel construction abandoned, country club fails because of Stock Market crash. Golf course remains open until WWII.
1930 - Colonial National Monument established. Became Colonial National Historical Park on June 5
1936. Today’s Visitor Center on country club hotel site.
1933 - Hurricane destroys Yorktown waterfront, damage in Seaford, Dandy, and Dare.
1938 - Colonial Parkway between Yorktown and Williamsburg is completed.
1959 - The Naval Mine Warfare School becomes the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve Training Center.
1952 - George P. Coleman Bridge opens.
2005 - Riverwalk Landing development opens revitalizing the Yorktown waterfront.
To learn more about Yorktown and York County history, visit the York County Historical Museum in the lower level of York Hall. You may also purchase a copy of the Historical Fact Sheets at the York County Historical Committee booth at the Arts and Crafts Fair, or visit their website at www.yorkcounty.gov/ychc/.
