Providence Forge is an unincorporated community in New Kent County , Virginia , United States . It was one of the earliest settlements in the county (itself formed by 1654) and the site of a colonial iron forge that was destroyed by British General Banastre Tarleton during the American Revolutionary War .

Nearby, the Chickahominy River separates New Kent from Charles City County . U.S. Route 60 and State Route 155 pass through Providence Forge. The Colonial Downs horse-racing facility is located nearby adjacent to the Providence Forge exit of Interstate 64 .

A station on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) was located at Providence Forge in 1881 during construction of the railroad's new Peninsula Subdivision , which was built primarily to facilitate transportation of West Virginia bituminous coal to the newly created city of Newport News . There, on the harbor of Hampton Roads , coal piers were built to load colliers for worldwide export shipment. ^[1]

The C&O's Peninsula Extension was good news for the farmers and merchants of the Virginia Peninsula , and they generally welcomed the railroad. Providence Forge was a stop for passengers until about 1931 and for freight until at least the late 1960s, according to the Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society. The structure was dismantled sometime in 2006. The only similar structure, at Lee Hall , has been preserved and efforts were underway in 2008 to relocate it slightly away from the right-of-way and open it as a museum. ^[2]

Cedar Grove , Emmaus Baptist Church , Olivet Presbyterian Church , and Spring Hill are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . ^[3]

References [ edit ]

37°26′31″N 77°02′37″W  /  37.44194°N 77.04361°W  / 37.44194; -77.04361

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