Colchester, Virginia


Colchester is a historic unincorporated community on the Occoquan River in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States.

History

Colchester is a former tobacco port established in 1753. The port town was located on the old post road and Thomas Mason operated a ferry across the Occoquan River here. In 1798, Mason built a wooden bridge across the river; the bridge was washed away around 1807. Only one of Colchester's original buildings exists—the Fairfax Arms, which had been an ordinary and now owned by the Fairfax County Park Authority. The decline of the tobacco trade, silting of the river, and diversion of most shipping to the towns of Alexandria and Occoquan caused Colchester's decline.

Transportation

Colchester was a stop on the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad which was replaced by CSXT. Interstate 95, and the Jefferson Davis Highway are located directly to the west of the Colchester area.
Portions of roads that accessed Colchester still exist. Colchester Road in Clifton is part of Virginia [State Route 612 (Fairfax and Prince William Counties)|SR 612], and Old Colchester Road, which runs north and becomes Telegraph Road leading to Alexandria, is part of Virginia [State Route 611 (Fairfax County)|SR 611]. Farther to the northwest, the Snickersville Turnpike was historically named Colchester Road before it was improved in the early 1800s. The Loudoun [County Board of Supervisors] nearly renamed the county's portion of Braddock Road to Colchester Road in 1989.

Notable people