Doswell is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Hanover County in the Central Region of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Originally called Hanover Junction, it was located on the

Virginia Central Railroad The Virginia Central Railroad was an early railroad in the U.S. state of Virginia that operated between 1850 and 1868 from Richmond westward for to Covington. Chartered in 1836 as the Louisa Railroad by the Virginia General Assembly, the railr ...

(later, part of the C&O) at a crossing of the

Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad The Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad was a railroad connecting Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C. The track is now the RF&P Subdivision of the CSX Transportation system; the original corporation is no longer a railroad co ...

, a north–south route. Both railroads are now owned by

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

, although the former Virginia Central line is leased to a short-line carrier,

Buckingham Branch Railroad Buckingham Branch Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad operating over 275 miles (443 km) of historic and strategic trackage in Central Virginia. Sharing overhead traffic with CSX and Amtrak, the company's headquarters are in Dill ...

. The area near the Doswell train station is a popular train-watching site for

railfans A railfan, train fan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff, anorak (British English), gunzel (Australian English), trainspotter (British English) or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally in ...

. The name was changed to Doswell in the early 1890s in honor of Major Thomas Doswell (1823—90). The first Doswell in the area was James Doswell, a captain in the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. Formerly consisting primarily of farmland, Doswell currently has many residents who commute to jobs in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

Attractions

Kings Dominion Kings Dominion is an amusement park in Doswell, Virginia, United States, north of Richmond, Virginia, Richmond and south of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the park opened to the public on May 3, 1975, featuring over 60 rid ...

, a major amusement park owned by

Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It was formed on July 2, 2024, following a merger between longtime rivals Cedar Fair and the former Six Flags ...

, and Meadow Event Park, home of the Virginia State Fair, are located in the vicinity of Doswell. There are also several historic sites in the area, such as Church Quarter and Sharp's Oakland which are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Major roads

* * * * Verdon Road * Doswell Road

Notable people

Mittie Frances Clarke Point Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller ( Point; after first marriage, Davis; after second marriage, Miller; April 30, 1850 – December 26, 1937) was the pen name of Mittie Frances Clarke Point, an American novelist. She wrote 80 dime novels during a 50-year ...

(1850-1937), dime novelist *Triple Crown champion

Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who was the ninth winner of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States), American Triple Crown, s ...

(1970-1989)

References

External links

Hanover County Economic DevelopmentC&O Piedmont Subdivision – Doswell
Unincorporated communities in Hanover County, Virginia Unincorporated communities in Virginia {{HanoverCountyVA-geo-stub