Sandston

History

The Battle of Seven Pines took place nearby in 1862. It was second only to the Battle of Shiloh in its number of casualties up to that time. The battle was brutally fought and inconclusive, but had a profound impact on the trajectory of the war. After General Joseph E. Johnston's injury, President Jefferson Davis appointed Robert E. Lee as Commander of the Confederate Armies. Lee then initiated the Seven Days Battles, which drove the Northern forces into a retreat in late June. This was the closest the North had come to Richmond, Virginia in this offensive. During World War I, a number of homes were built in the area for both non-commissioned officers and enlisted men. After the war, an investment group headed by Oliver J. Sands bought the land and buildings as surplus property. The community was named Sandston after Oliver Sands, the president of the Richmond and Fairfield Railway, the electric street railway line which ran through Highland Springs and Fair Oaks to the National Cemetery at Seven Pines. The community was later served by the Fairfield Transit Company, which operated a bus barn extant at Seven Pines in 2005 and the earlier trolley car barn in Richmond on North 29th Street. The road from Richmond, through Highland Springs, to Seven Pines was named "Nine Mile Road" because of the distance of the streetcar/trolley line. Richmond International Airport is located in Sandston.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  24,202
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  20,855
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  18,820
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  16,616
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,262
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  15,224
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,106
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,335