Welcome to the Bluffs at Battery Hill, home of 6 private James River waterfront lots in Henrico County. The property is 9 miles from downtown Richmond and 35 minutes from Colonial Williamsburg. Located on the James River with deep water and close proximity to Osborne Landing. Each lot has its own unique layout with ample space and water frontage. The 6 lots in the community range from 1.15—3.46 acres. The property was involved tangentially in two Civil War battles and Fort Harrison is right across Osborne Turnpike. This lot features a wonderful elevated bluff suitable for a great building site with excellent water frontage. Natures paradise minutes from downtown.. Prices start at $395,000 up to $750,000. Call John Martin for more information on the land and custom building options with local builders.
History Of James River
The Native Americans who populated the area east of the fall line in the late 16th and early 17th centuries called the James River the Powhatan River, named for the chief of the Powhatan Confederacy which extended over most of the Tidewater region of Virginia. The English colonists named it “James” after King James I of England, as they also constructed the first permanent English settlement in the Americas in 1607 at Jamestown along the banks of the James River about 35 miles (56 km) upstream from the Chesapeake Bay.
The navigable portion of the river was the major highway of the Colony of Virginia during its first 15 years, facilitating supply ships delivering supplies and more people from England. However, for the first five years, despite many hopes of gold and riches, these ships sent little of monetary value back to the sponsors. In 1612, businessman John Rolfe successfully cultivated a non-native strain of tobacco which proved popular in England. Soon, the river became the primary means of exporting the large hogsheads of this cash crop from an ever-growing number of plantations with wharfs along its banks. This development made the proprietary efforts of the Virginia Company of London successful financially, spurring even more development, investments and immigration. Below the falls at Richmond, many James River plantations had their own wharfs, and additional ports and/or early railheads were located at Warwick, Bermuda Hundred, City Point, Claremont, Scotland, and Smithfield, and, during the 17th century, the capital of the Colony at Jamestown.
Navigation of the James River played an important role in early Virginia commerce and the settlement of the interior, although growth of the colony was primarily in the Tidewater region during the first 75 years. The upper reaches of the river above the head of navigation at the fall line were explored by fur trading parties sent by Abraham Wood during the late 17th century.
Although ocean-going ships could not navigate past present-day Richmond, portage of products and navigation with smaller craft to transport crops other than tobacco was feasible. Produce from the Piedmont and Great Valley regions traveled down the river to seaports at Richmond and Manchester through such port towns as Lynchburg, Scottsville, Columbia and Buchanan.
Osborne Pike Boat Landing
Description
Osborne Pike Boat Landing offers boating access to the excellent wildlife viewing opportunities that exist on the James River. The site access is limited to launching and taking out of watercraft and is not open to shore viewing. Quiet boaters may encounter gulls, bald eagle, osprey, and waterfowl on the river as well as the songbirds utilizing the riparian habitat that lines the waterway.
Directions Osborne Landing
From I-95 South in Richmond, take Exit #75/190 for I-64 East. Follow I-64 East to Exit #195/Laburnum Avenue. Turn right at the end of this exit ramp. Continue 5.3 miles and turn right on SR 5/ New Market Road. Proceed 2.1 miles and turn left onto Osborne Turnpike. Go 6 miles and turn right at the sign for Osborne Pike Boat Landing. Site viewable only by boat
James River!
The Tuscan Villas Richmond was designed in 1928 by Richmond architect Bascom Rowlett, the architect of other well-appointed apartment buildings such as Rixey Court on Monument Avenue and The English Village on Grove Avenue. The Tuscan Villas Richmond were converted to condominiums in the 1980’s. The building is one of the best examples of Mediterranean influenced architecture in Richmond. It is a three-story building with a plain stucco finish and a low-pitched clay tile roof. Four ells create three courtyards with crepe myrtle and liriope lined paths. Decorative sculpture, recessed loggias, iron balconies, and cartouches, and the sun-scorched yellow stucco and verdigris trim paint add to the building’s Italian allure. The five building segments are named for regions in Tuscany: the Lucca, The Siena, The Leghorn, The Florence, and The Pisa. From the Historic Richmond Foundation
