Charles City (or Charles Cittie as it was then called) was one of four incorporations established in the Virginia Colony in 1619 by the proprietor, the Virginia Company. The plantations and developments were divided into four "incorporations" or "citties" (sic), as they were called. These were Charles City, Elizabeth City, Henrico City, and James City. The latter included the seat of government for the colony at Jamestown. Each of the four "citties " extended across the James River, the main conduit of transportation of the era. In 1634, under Royal authority, a portion became Charles City Shire, later Charles City County.
Famous quotes containing the word city:
“A sturdy lad from New Hampshire or Vermont who in turn tries all the professions, who teams it, farms it, peddles, keeps a school, preaches, edits a newspaper, goes to Congress, buys a township, and so forth, in successive years, and always like a cat falls on his feet, is worth a hundred of these city dolls. He walks abreast with his days and feels no shame in not “studying a profession,” for he does not postpone his life, but lives already.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)