A bit about Charlottesville

Many students of Piedmont Virginia Community College have lived in Charlottesville for most of their lives, and some have lived there since birth. They have walked through the town’s lush and verdant countryside, strolled through the hustle and bustle downtown, and attended the prestigious University of Virginia.

The city of Charlottesville originated in Albemarle County, and before that, there was a Native American village that existed five miles north of the town’s center.

Another notable feature of the city was a path that led from Richmond to the Blue Ridge Mountains known to travelers as Three Notch’d Road. Around the mid-1750s, various land grants secured a substantial amount of land surrounding Albemarle County, which, according to visitcharlottesville.org, was named after the Governor of Virginia at the time.

At first, Albemarle County was much larger than it is today, but eventually it was divided into multiple counties.

Charlottesville was named after Princess Charlotte, who eventually went on to become the Queen of England. Though established as a settlement, Charlottesville did not become an official city until 1888.

A year later, Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia, and Charlottesville continued to evolve from there. Today, Three Notch’d Road includes Downtown Mall and Main Street.

Albemarle County was home to three of America’s founding fathers, Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. PVCC is just a short distance away from Jefferson’s home, Monticello.

No one can know if Charlottesville’s rise and development would have impressed the founding fathers, but as Jefferson once said, “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”