At the time of European encounter, part of the area that became Charlottesville was occupied by a Monacan village called Monasukapanough.
Charlottesville was formed by charter in 1762 along a trade route called Three Notched Road (present day U.S. Route 250) which led from Richmond to the Great Valley. It was named for Queen Charlotte, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.
During the American Revolutionary War, the Convention Army was imprisoned in Charlottesville between 1779 and 1781 at the Albemarle Barracks. On June 4, 1781, Jack Jouett warned the Virginia Legislature meeting at Monticello of an intended raid by Banastre
Tarleton, allowing a narrow escape.
Unlike much of Virginia, Charlottesville was spared the brunt of the American Civil War. The only battle to take place in Charlottesville was the Skirmish at Rio Hill, in which George Armstrong Custer briefly engaged with local Confederate militia. The city was later surrendered by the Mayor and others to spare the town from being burnt. The Charlottesville Factory, circa 1820–30, was accidentally burnt during General Sheridan's raid through the Shenandoah Valley in 1865. This factory was seized by the Confederacy and used to manufacture woollen wear for soldiers. The mill ignited when coals were taken by Union troops to burn a near-by railroad bridge. The factory was rebuilt immediately after and known then on as the Woolen Mills until its liquidation in 1962.
The first black church in Charlottesville was established in 1864. Previously, it was illegal for African-Americans to have their own churches, although they could worship in white churches. A current predominately African-American church can trace its lineage to that first church. Congregation Beth Israel's 1882 building is the oldest synagogue building still standing in Virginia.
In the fall of 1958, Charlottesville closed its segregated white schools as part of Virginia's strategy of
