Toano, Virginia | |
|---|---|
 Former bank in the Toano Historic District | |
  Toano  Toano | |
| Coordinates: 37°22′48″N76°48′15″W / 37.38000°N 76.80417°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Virginia |
| County | James City |
| Time zone | UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (EDT) |
| ZIP Codes | 23168 |
Toano, formerly Burnt Ordinary, is an unincorporated community in James City County, Virginia, United States. It is in Virginia’s 1st Congressional District.
Toano was established in the late 19th century in western James City County at the former site of "Burnt Ordinary", which was named in the 18th century for a roadside tavern that had burned down. The word Toano comes from a Native American word meaning "high ground".
In 1881, the Peninsula Extension of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) was built through the area from Richmond to reach the coal piers on Hampton Roads at the new city of Newport News. The C&O built a railroad station at Toano.
Toano was located on the old Richmond-Williamsburg Stage Road, which is U.S. Route 60 in modern times. Interstate 64 was built through the area in the 1970s, and passes nearby. Exit 227, located at the intersection of State Route 30, is signed "Toano-West Point".
Toano is close to major Historic Triangle attractions such as Colonial Williamsburg, and the Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Water Country USA theme parks. Smaller attractions at Lakewood Trails and Go-Karts Plus are also located nearby.
Toano's history is recalled on a Virginia Historical Marker nearby, which reads: [1]
First called John Lewis's Ordinary and then Fox's, Burnt Ordinary received its name in Jan. 1780 when, according to Virginia Gazette , Fox's Ordinary burned to the ground. Later, in Oct. 1781, when the French army's wagon train passed by, Alexander Berthier wrote that "two old chimneys" stood here in the fork of the road. Also in 1781, Samuel DeWitt, George Washington's cartographer, noted the site of the "Burnt Brick Ordinary" on one of his maps. Elements of Lafayette's army camped two miles south of here at Chickahominy Church after the Battle of Green Spring on 6 July 1781.
Places in or near Toano that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places include: Chickahominy Shipyard Archeological Site, Hickory Neck Church, Stone House Site, White Hall (Toano, Virginia), and Windsor Castle (Toano, Virginia).
A local landmark is a 7-foot (2.1 m) waving tiger statue in front of a service station that used to be owned by Exxon at Anderson's Corner. In 1990, the oil company attempted to replace it no longer conformed to the company's specifications. [2] The town rallied to save it, and the company allowed it to stay. A few businesses have adopted the tiger moniker, and the landmark inspired the tiger mascot for the Toano Middle School.
Houses of worship in or near Toano include Hickory Neck Episcopal Church, which traces its roots to 1734, and Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church, which dates to 1887.
Williamsburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is bordered by James City County on the west and south and York County on the east.
James City County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,254. Although politically separate from the county, the county seat is the adjacent independent city of Williamsburg.
Charles City County is a county located in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated southeast of Richmond and west of Jamestown. It is bounded on the south by the James River and on the east by the Chickahominy River.
The Virginia Peninsula is a peninsula in southeast Virginia, bounded by the York River, James River, Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay. It is sometimes known as the Lower Peninsula to distinguish it from two other peninsulas to the north, the Middle Peninsula and the Northern Neck.
The Historic Triangle includes three historic colonial communities located on the Virginia Peninsula of the United States and is bounded by the York River on the north and the James River on the south. The points that form the triangle are Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, and Yorktown. They feature many restored attractions and are linked by the Colonial Parkway in James City and York counties, and the City of Williamsburg.
Norge is an unincorporated community in James City County, Virginia, United States.
Buildings, sites, districts, and objects in Virginia listed on the National Register of Historic Places:
Lightfoot is an unincorporated community which straddles the James City–York county border, west of Williamsburg, in the U.S. state of Virginia.
Williamsburg Area Transit Authority (WATA) is a multi-jurisdiction transportation agency providing transit bus and ADA Paratransit services in the City of Williamsburg, James City County, York County in the Historic Triangle area and Surry County, VA of the Virginia Peninsula subregion of Hampton Roads in southeastern Virginia.
U.S. Route 60 (US 60) in the Commonwealth of Virginia runs 303 miles (488 km) west to east through the central part of the state, generally close to and paralleling the Interstate 64 corridor, except for the crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and in the South Hampton Roads area.
Queen's Creek is located in York County in the Virginia Peninsula area of the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia in the United States. From a point of origin near the Waller Mill Reservoir in western York County, it flows northeasterly across the northern half of the Peninsula as a tributary of the York River.
The Virginia Capital Trail (VCT) (informally, the Cap Trail, or simply the Cap) is a dedicated, paved bicycle and pedestrian trail crossing four counties and 51.7 miles (83.2 km) between Jamestown and Richmond, Virginia — that is, between the Colony of Virginia's first capital and Virginia's current capital, with an alternate end (via an extension) at Williamsburg, the last colonial capital. Construction began in 2006 and completed to Jamestown in October 2015. With the Williamsburg extension, the blacktop ribbon extends approximately 62 miles, and attracted 1.2 million users in 2021.
Ewell was an unincorporated town in James City County west of Williamsburg, in the U.S. state of Virginia.
The Peninsula Extension which created the Peninsula Subdivision of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) was the new railroad line on the Virginia Peninsula from Richmond to southeastern Warwick County. Its principal purpose was to provide an important new pathway for coal mined in West Virginia to reach the harbor of Hampton Roads for coastal and export shipping on collier ships.
The history of Hampton Roads dates to 1607, when Jamestown was founded. Two wars have taken place in addition to many other historical events.
Tree Hill near Richmond, Virginia, in Henrico County, Virginia, is a Greek Revival style plantation house overlooking the James River about two miles east of downtown Richmond near the intersection of the historic Osborne Turnpike and New Market Road. Currently still a private farm, but expected to become partly a park after housing and commercial development, it was once owned by Richmond distiller and landowner Franklin Stearns, a prominent Unionist during the American Civil War. Centuries earlier, it had been a Native American camp site, and the birthplace of powerful chief Powhatan (d.1618).
White Hall is a house and former tavern located in Toano, Virginia. It was built in 1805 by William Geddy and is still owned and maintained by the original family. It is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places.
Hickory Neck Church is a historic Episcopal church located near Toano, James City County, Virginia. The original section was built between 1733 and 1738, with an extension made to the main body of the church in 1773–1774. It was altered about 1825. It is a one-story, three bay deep, rectangular brick structure, measuring 36 feet, 6 inches, long by 28 feet, 6 inches, wide.
The Chickahominy Shipyard Archeological Site is a historic archaeological site located near Toano, Virginia. The shipyard was established in 1776 on the Chickahominy River by the Virginia Committee on Safety for the construction of a small navy to protect the Virginia colony during the American Revolution. It remained in production until 1781, when the British seized and burned the shipyard. The site consists of both submerged and dryland components.
Municipalities and communities of James City County, Virginia, United States | ||
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| Unincorporated communities |  | |
| Ghost town | ||