What you will need for this activity: six different types of yummy food. We suggest the following: mini marshmallows, peanuts, M&M’s, chocolate chip cookies, twizzlers, and gummy bears.* You will also need a clear plastic cup, and toothpicks (2 for each student). You may want to appoint a great story teller--or your teacher/guardian can do that.

For a text only version of the story click here.

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Layer of Occupation: “Early Settlement”

The year is 1745. The area is the southern part of modern-day Albemarle County, but at this time, there is not yet an Albemarle County. It hadn’t been created yet. A group of men gather at a house on a hill high above the James River, owned by a man named, Edward Scott. Together these men started a settlement known for a while as Scott’s landing, named after Edward Scott himself, and then eventually changed to Scottsville when it officially became a town.

The river was rich in resources and the soil around it was good for farming, so folks began to settle here. Only a few families lived here at first, sparsely populating the area.

Layer of Occupation: “Scott’s Landing becomes Scottsville”

The town grew and grew as settlers came from all over to take advantage of the good crops. In 1818, Scott’s Landing became a town and was then recognized as the first county seat of Albemarle. Traffic flourished along the river down to Richmond. The town’s importance was increased when Shenandoah Valley counties started sending their cargo by wagon over the Staunton and James River Turnpike to Scottsville’s port, to have it then sent down the river towards Richmond. By 1835, Scottsville had a population of 600 people, and warehouses and buildings started springing up everywhere.

Layer of Occupation: “The Canal is opened, but the roads are poor”

As buildings sprang up, there was great need for a reliable source of cargo transportation. The river often flooded, or even got too low in times of drought. So, in 1840 the James River and Kanawha Canal opened up between Richmond and Lynchburg. The canal offered safe and cheap transportation of goods to Virginia’s capital. By 1841, Scottsville’s population was at 1,000 people. The roads leading to Scottsville were poorly kept, and often too dangerous for the wagons from the Shenandoah Valley to journey across. Trade in Scottsville began to decline as the wagons followed the safer roads towards other locations along the canal, such as Lynchburg. By 1850, the population had decreased once again to just over 600 people.

Layer of Occupation: “Civil War Destruction”

Just after 1850, the Virginia Central Railroad was constructed in Charlottesville and this form of transportation was safer than the Staunton Turnpike and other poorly kept roads that led to Scottsville. The new railroad also provided a quicker route to Richmond than the old way using wagons and canals.

In addition to the decreased use of the canal as a result of the new railroad, in 1865, four full years after the start of the Civil War, Scottsville was hit with a devastating blow. General Sheridan’s group of 10,000 Union soldiers left Charlottesville in two groups. One group was sent to destroy the railroad, and the other group was sent south to destroy the canal at Scottsville.

The destruction of Scottsville began at 3 PM on March 6, 1865. Boats were captured; warehouses full of supplies were burned. Canal locks and bridges were destroyed and the town’s houses and barns were ransacked for food and goods for the Union soldiers. The last wave of soldiers left a hungry and burning town of Scottsville behind on March 9, 1865.

Layer of Occupation: “The railroad replaces the canal”

Ravaged by war and floods, the canal was no longer able to perform its duties and provide any income for the town. In 1880, the deed to the canal was signed over to the Richmond and Allegheny Railroad Company. They immediately came in and began to build their track over the old canal towpath. Even though the railroad had come to Scottsville, prosperity did not. Unlike the days when Scottsville was an important shipping point, the railroad gave Scottsville no special purpose. There was simply a small depot for travelers to come and go, but no major industry was held here. By 1890, the population of Scottsville had decreased significantly to 362 citizens.

Paving Route 20 to Scottsville

Layer of Occupation: “Highway transportation”

In 1907 highway transportation and the construction of the Scottsville bridge saved the town and its residence from becoming a ghost town. With the invention of the automobile, the country was able to move around a lot more, and life started moving just a little bit faster. By the end of World War I, two state highways intersected in Scottsville allowing residents to come and go, as well as visitors.

Today Scottsville remains a quiet town with Main and Valley Streets serving as the focus of business. The river provides tourists and townspeople a great form of entertainment and relaxation thanks to the excitement of water sports such as tubing and canoeing.