TIMELINE: Local history

1727: The first settler plants ground in Albemarle County.

1742: Louisa County is formed from Hanover County.

1744: The General Assembly creates Albemarle County out of a portion of Goochland County. The new county is named Albemarle in honor of William Anne Keppel, second earl of Albemarle and Colonial governor.

1761: The General Assembly, in response to an expanding population, separates two new counties, Amherst and Buckingham, from Albemarle. The James River, previously the main conduit for transportation and commerce, becomes Albemarle County’s southern boundary.

1762: The General Assembly establishes Charlottesville as the Albemarle County seat. Charlottesville, laid out on a grid, is named in honor of Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III.

1777: Fluvanna County is formed from part of Albemarle County.

1779: Four thousand English and German prisoners of the Revolutionary War are imprisoned in barracks in Charlottesville, hence the name Barracks Road and various local “Hessian” references.

1781: Capt. John “Jack” Jouett warns the General Assembly, meeting in Charlottesville, of an impending raid by the British army. The assembly reconvenes in Staunton.

1792: Madison County is formed following an act of the Virginia General Assembly.

1826: Christ Church Episcopal is consecrated as Charlottesville’s first church. Religious services had been held in the Albemarle County courthouse.

1838: Greene County is formed.

1850: Louisa Railroad Co., a predecessor of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, arrives in Charlottesville. The railroad connects to the Shenandoah Valley in 1858.

1853: Future Civil War hero John Singleton Mosby is arrested for shooting a fellow student at the University of Virginia.

1863: The Southern Railroad, running on a north-south route, arrives in Charlottesville, intersecting the previous railway line midway between downtown and the University of Virginia. The arrival of the railroads cements the area as a commercial hub.

1864: The Battle of Trevilian Station, one of the largest cavalry battles of the Civil War, is fought on June 11-12.

1865: Union troops enter Charlottesville on March 3.

1887: Horse-drawn streetcars arrive on Charlottesville streets.

1888: Charlottesville incorporates as a city by charter of the General Assembly.

1906: First automobile, a Stanley Steamer, arrives in Charlottesville.

1912: The first airplane appears above Charlottesville in April.

1914: Page’s Store in Batesville opens on May 2.

1927: The first traffic lights start operating in Charlottesville.

1939: The first parking meters are installed in Charlottesville.

1942: Air raid warning signals are placed on top of the Monticello Hotel and elsewhere in the city in March.

1943: The Coast Guard frigate USS Charlottesville is christened in July.

1947: The Charlottesville City Council approves the first annual city budget over $1 million.

1966: The first Vietnam Memorial in the nation is established in Charlottesville in April.

1976: Charlottesville opens a pedestrian mall on a portion of Main Street.

1982: The era of the milkman ends as the last home delivery in Charlottesville is made.

2004: Charlottesville is named the No. 1 place to live in North America by the Frommer’s guidebook company.

2006: The University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena, the largest indoor arena in the state, opens its doors.