Archaeological excavations at Pocahontas
Island have found evidence of a prehistoric Native American settlement dated to
6500 B.C. This is in the early third of the Archaic Period (8000 to 1000 BC).
Varying cultures of indigenous peoples lived in the area for thousands of
years. When the English arrived in Virginia in 1607, the region was occupied by
the Appamatuck, a significant tribe of the Powhatan Confederacy.
Petersburg was founded and settled by
English colonists. By 1635 they had patented land along the south bank of the
Appomattox River as