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The Earliest Printed Map To Show Henrico, Fort Henry and Fort Charles, Virginia

Rare early map of the English Settlements in Virginia, which appeared in the Relations Historiques, a serial publication first issued by Jacobus Francus in 1595.

The map shows four settlements in Virginia, including Iacque Ville (which is believed to be Jamestown), two fortifications to the East on either side of the river (Fort Henry and Fort Charles, which had been built by Lord Delaware), and Statt Henry Ville (which is believed to be Henrico).   The latter 3 (Henrico, Fort Henry and Fort Charles) had just been established in 1610 and 1611.  

Of perhaps greatest importance is the elaborate depiction of the settlement at Henrico, which illustrates a fortified community at the mouth of two rivers, with cultivated fields and domesticated animals to the right. At the far right (west) side of the map, a row of armed soldiers demonstrates the fortification and defense of its western perimeter.  This is the earliest appearance of Henrico on a printed map.  The only other apearance we could track is on the Briggs map of North America.

As noted by Burden:

In September 11, Sir Thomas Dale, ... Governor of Virginia, travelled up the James River with 350 men and founded [Henrico]. He had left only fifty men behind at Jamestown under the command of George Percy. Dale claimed that Henrico was better built than Jametown and before long was flourishing. . .

The symbolic content of the map is consistent with the early settlement of Henrico, including Dale's claims that it was a better townsite and the active cultivation of the the neighboring lands. The image shows the cultivation of Tobacco which was first planted by John Rolfe in Henrico in 1612 and may include Coxsondale, the 1613 enlargement of the original settlement.  Henrico was also the settlement where Pocahontas arrived in 1613.

Formed originally as Henrico Shire, and shortly thereafter termed a "county," Henrico County was named for Henry, Prince of Wales.  During the Indian Massacre of 1622, the chief Opechancanough led the Powhatan Confederacy against the English settlements to try to expel them from the territory; at which time a group of warriors destroyed the town, which was thereafter abandoned by the settlers.

Fort Henry and Fort Charles were built by Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr (Lord Delaware) during his tenure as governor of Virginia. These forts were established in 1610 as part of his efforts to secure English holdings along the James River following the devastating Starving Time at Jamestown (1609–1610).

The lower half of the sheet (not present in this example) shows an arctic scene from Nova Zembla, which also appeared in Hessel Gerritsz's Histoire du Pays Nomme Spitsberghe in 1613 (without the Virginia map).  The complete map and scene can be seen here.

Fort Henry and Fort Charles

Propugna culum and Vor Schantz show two fortified positions, corresponding with Fort Henry and Fort Charles, which were built in 1610.  Fort Henry was constructed at the falls of the James River, near the present site of Richmond, Virginia. It served as a frontier defense against Indigenous resistance and a strategic point for further colonial expansion.  Fort Charles was built in the same period, further up the James River, also aimed at solidifying English control over the interior lands.  

Henrico / Henricus

Before English settlement, around 250 Powhatan people lived in the area known as Arrohateck. These Indigenous people of the Eastern Woodlands were part of the Powhatan Confederacy, a powerful alliance of Algonquian-speaking tribes that numbered approximately 30,000 across Tsenacommacah (present-day Virginia).   

In 1611, Sir Thomas Dale arrived in Virginia under orders from the London Company to establish a new town that would serve as the principal seat of the colony. Later that autumn, he founded Henryco (later Henricus), making it the second English settlement in Virginia after Jamestown.  Named after Henry, Prince of Wales (1594–1612), Henrico was located on a bend of the James River, about 12 miles southeast of present-day Richmond. The site was chosen for its defensible position and potential for expansion.

By the summer of 1612, John Rolfe successfully cultivated Virginia’s first tobacco crop from his experimental gardens. This high-quality strain became the economic backbone of the colony, securing its survival and prosperity.

In 1613, Dale expanded the settlement, constructing fortified homes in an area known as Coxsondale, which included the first English hospital in the Americas, Mount Malady, as well as Reverend Alexander Whitaker’s home, Rocke Hall. That same year, Pocahontas, daughter of Chief Powhatan, was captured during ongoing hostilities and brought to Henricus. Under Reverend Whitaker’s guidance, she was instructed in Christianity, eventually converting and adopting the name Rebecca. During her captivity in Henricus, Pocahontas met and married John Rolfeon April 5, 1614, in a ceremony presided over by Reverend Richard Buck. The couple settled across the river at Varina Farms Plantation, where their son, Thomas Rolfe, was born. Thomas, named after Sir Thomas Dale, later became an ancestor of many prominent First Families of Virginia (FFV). 

In 1614, Dale extended settlement efforts further by establishing Bermuda Hundred downstream. Due to its deep-water port and strategic location at the confluence of rivers, Bermuda Hundred and Bermuda City quickly became the most significant community in the colony, home to leading planters and a growing economy. 

In 1618, the Virginia Company secured a royal charter from King James I to establish the University of Henrico, the first institution of higher education in British America. The First Virginia General Assembly passed a resolution in 1619 urging the construction of the college as a means of conversion and education for Indigenous youth. However, the settlement was abandoned following the 1622 Powhatan attacks, and the proposed college never materialized.  

As noted above, on March 22, 1622, Opechancanough, the new Powhatan leader and brother of Wahunsenacawh, led a coordinated attack on English settlements across Virginia, including Henrico. Known as the Indian Massacre of 1622, this assault resulted in heavy losses for the colonists and marked a turning point in relations between the English and the Powhatan Confederacy.   Following the 1622 attacks, King James I dissolved the Virginia Company's charter in 1624, bringing Virginia under direct royal control. Henrico would shortly thereafter be abandoned.

The modern site of Henrico has been the subject of great archaeological intrigue. The Union Army cut a canal through the probable location during the Civil War, which may have destroyed any remaining evidence of the site. Archeologists located the original site of Henricus late in the 20th Century. The townsite was located on the south side of the James River (across from the original site of Varina, in Chesterfield County).

Rarity

The map was unknown to cartobibliographers and historians until it was "re-discovered" by this firm in 1998 and first reported by Burden as Map 181a in his Mapping of North America II.

Burden located 4 examples as of 2007.  We handled the sale of one of the 4 known examples in 2012.

The present example is a previously unknown example from an Italian collection, purchased by this firm in January 2025.