Bellwood, human settlement in Virginia, United States of America
Bellwood is a two-story farmhouse built around 1790 with Georgian architecture in Chesterfield County, Virginia. The wooden structure with a brick foundation features five sections across its front and sits on approximately 23 acres of land that also includes a family cemetery and an elk pasture.
The estate began as a plantation under the Ward family, who farmed the land from the mid-1600s after Captain Jeremy Blackman received the original patent. The present house was constructed between 1790 and 1804 and later marked by the Battle of Drewry's Bluff during the Civil War, when a fort built by Augustus Drewry repelled a Union invasion fleet.
The name Bellwood comes from James Bellwood, a Canadian farmer who purchased the property in 1887 and named it after himself. The house reflects plantation life in Virginia through its Georgian design and position along the Petersburg Turnpike, the historic road connecting Richmond and Petersburg.
The property is located in the southeastern corner of the Defense Supply Center in Chesterfield County and can be viewed from nearby public roads, but visitors should respect the privacy of the current owners. Access is limited as the house now serves as an officers' club and the grounds remain partly under military use.
The property maintains an elk herd that James Bellwood imported from Canada in the early 1900s, and the animals continue to graze on the grounds today. This unusual farming feature makes Bellwood one of the few historic Virginia plantations with wild animals kept in a managed pasture.
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