Delaware Town (West Point)

The New Towns Acts specified the location of Delaware Town at the confluence of the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers in what was then King and Queen County (now King William County). The original property was purchased from John West. The Town concisted of two parallel streets with a single cross street running to the wharf on the Mattaponi River.

Delaware Town like its counterpoint down the York River, Tyndall's Point, failed to prosper. This was most likely the result of the success of Yorktown which was in close proximity. Most of the original site reverted to plantation use.

The Town of West Point occupies the location of Delaware Town. Railroad service was brought to the area in 1859 and a drawbridge across the Pamunkey River in 1860. Both were destroyed by Union forces during the Civil War. Geographically the largest of the Middle Peninsula towns, West Point is, according to the 2000 Census, home to 2,866 residents. The town has a plant which is a major employer in the region and continues to thrive as a commercial center.

Plan of Delaware Town, 1706

1. Click to view clip showing commercial area in West Point (2.7MB).

2. Click to view clip showing West Point from across the Mattaponi River at the Lord Delaware Bridge (2.2 MB).

Created by The Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission, an agency sponsored cooperatively by Middle Peninsula Local Governments, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Federal Government.