Ettrick

History

Ettrick was named around 1765 by the foreign merchant Neil Buchanan, who dubbed the eventual village Ettrick Banks for its similarities to his native Ettrick area of Selkirk, Scotland. Capt. Christopher Newport led expeditions in this area. Near Petersburg, which developed as an industrial city, Ettrick also developed industry. It had cotton mills, as it was on the Fall Line and could use water power. During the American Civil War, the Confederate Army established a large hospital here. In the late nineteenth century, the biracial state legislature established the first state-supported black college, founded here in 1882 as Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute (now Virginia State University). John Mercer Langston, who founded the Law School at Howard University, was its first president. He was elected as a US Congressman from Virginia from here. One of the longstanding landmarks is Campbell's Bridge, first built around 1810. It has been reconstructed several times and is the only direct thoroughfare from the village across the river into Petersburg.

Geography

Ettrick is located at (37.242750, −77.425418). According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.48%, is water.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• THOMAS DALE HIGH
  High · Chester · 2,556 students · 15:1 ratio
• MATOACA HIGH
  High · Chesterfield · 1,630 students · 14.7:1 ratio
• ELIZABETH DAVIS MIDDLE
  Middle · Chester · 1,337 students · 15.4:1 ratio
• CARVER MIDDLE
  Middle · Chester · 1,022 students · 14.4:1 ratio
• SALEM CHURCH MIDDLE
  Middle · North Chesterfield · 910 students · 14.7:1 ratio
• MATOACA MIDDLE
  Middle · Matoaca · 865 students · 14.7:1 ratio
• Enon Elementary
  Elementary · Chester · 781 students · 16.3:1 ratio
• Elizabeth Scott Elementary
  Elementary · Chester · 781 students · 13.2:1 ratio