Originally the city wanted to be annexed by Petersburg

COLONIAL HEIGHTS — Straddling opposing sides of the Appomattox River, and in many ways offering parallels on their fates over the past 70 years, despite being neighbors, Colonial Heights and Petersburg couldn’t be more different today.

Yet, had it not been for the actions of one Chesterfield lawyer looking to keep his job, who against popular opinion, incorporated Colonial Heights as a town within Chesterfield County close to 90 years ago to the day, what is today the City of Colonial Heights would have been part of the City of Petersburg.

What we now recognize as Colonial Heights got its start in 1910, when Norfolk land developer T. Marshall Bellamy purchased 200 acres in Chesterfield County across from Petersburg with plans to develop a subdivision. With the establishment of Hopewell and Camp Lee at the outset of World War I, the area grew rapidly, and were petitioning to seek greater autonomy from Chesterfield County - and they planned to do so by joining Petersburg, according to Ben Uzel, President of Colonial Heights Historical Society.

“The majority of residents at the time wanted to be annexed to Petersburg, out of a combination of wanting to send their kids to Petersburg schools and being able to vote in Petersburg elections,” said “You had meetings and votes throughout the early 1920s that showed tremendous popular support for annexation, and plans to incorperate Colonial Heights as a town weren’t even on the radar.”

In what would prove the first significant roadblock to annexation, Petersburg was suffering from budget difficulties at the time, having just previously annexed a swath of land from Dinwiddie County, and couldn't afford to pay for yet more land.

The next roadblock would come from Chesterfield County, which was willing to sell Petersburg Colonial Heights — but only if they would buy Ettrick as well, which Petersburg had no interest in.

Lastly, there was a major push by attorney Harry L. Snead to make Colonial Heights an incorporated city within Chesterfield County rather than let Petersburg annex it — and he had a very personal interest in doing so.

“Snead was a Commonwealth Attorney in Chesterfield County,” said Uzel. “Naturally, he had a vested interest in seeing that Colonial Heights remained part of the county.”

In late July, 1926, Judge Cox stated his intention to incorporate Colonial Heights into a town, with the papers were drafted a couple of weeks later, and they did not take effect until September 26, 1926. The first election for mayor and town council occurred two days later on September 28th - all of the members of that first Colonial Heights town council had been supporters of annexation by Petersburg.

“A decade later, the town held a 10 year birthday celebration at the Ball Park, what is now Shepherd Stadium, where Judge Cox was the keynote speaker,” said Uzel. “He said something to the effect of ‘things weren’t done quite proper, but it looks like things turned out okay.’”

Looking at the City of Colonial Heights today, it's fair to say things turned out quite well indeed.

• Sean CW Korsgaard may be reached at at 804-722-5172 or skorsgaard@progress-index.com.