Scottsville Historic District (Boundary Increase)

Scottsville's historic district follows the horseshoe bend of the James River in Albemarle County and climbs the town's hills and bluffs. An earlier 1976 listing covered 53 of the oldest or most significant buildings. This updated nomination adds historic buildings missed then, seven twentieth-century properties on Page Street, and six large estates around the town: Belle Haven, Cliffside, Chester, Oakwood, Mount Walla and Riverview. The inventory totals 215 resources, 153 of them contributing buildings. Styles range from the 1732 Fore House, with few stylistic details, through Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate and Queen Anne to Colonial Revival and Craftsman. Scottsville served as a river landing and county seat, and the James River and Kanawha Canal opened through it in 1840. General Sheridan's forces burned much of the town in 1865. After the canal gave way to the railroad in the 1880s, a long economic lull helped preserve much of the district's character. The period of significance runs from 1732 to 1953.