Bremo Bluff, Virginia
| Bremo Bluff | |
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| Unincorporated community | |
Aerial photo of Bremo Bluff in 1994
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 Bremo Bluff
Bremo Bluff
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| Coordinates: 37°42′43″N 78°17′53″W / 37.712°N 78.298°WCoordinates: 37°42′43″N 78°17′53″W / 37.712°N 78.298°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Virginia |
| County | Fluvanna |
| Land patent | March 6, 1636 |
| Elevation | 452 ft (138 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 656 |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP codes | 23022 |
| Area code(s) | 434 |
Bremo Bluff is an unincorporated community located on the northern bank of the James River in Fluvanna County, Virginia, United States. The locale was established by the Cocke family in 1636. During the American Civil War, the family of General Robert E. Lee sought refuge in the community. It is home to Bremo Power Station, which generates 3 percent of the total electricity delivered by utility company Dominion Resources.
The history of Bremo Bluff can be traced back to the prominent Cocke family of the Tidewater region of Virginia. Richard Cocke, an English immigrant, was granted a land patent on March 6, 1636, that covered 3,000 acres (12 km2) along the James River. The Cocke family settlement was named "Bremo" after their ancestral home of Braemore in the United Kingdom.
To retain their claim as descendants, the brothers Benjamin and Richard Cocke cleared and developed the area of Bremo Bluff around 1725. In 1808, John Hartwell Cocke II began building a plantation estate of three houses, which he named Bremo. He invested in the James River and Kanawha Company to develop a series of locks and canals that began operating around 1840 to improve river transportation. A boat wharf was built to accommodate the river traffic that became an important part of the local economy by the 1850s. However, a series of floods and the American Civil War brought an end to this era.
Mary Anna Custis Lee, the wife of the Confederate general Robert E. Lee, stayed in the Fluvanna County area on several occasions as a safe haven from the Civil War. She spent time at the Bremo Plantation, where her family friend and owner, Dr. Cary Charles Cocke, had a special bed built to accommodate her needs because of rheumatoid arthritis. She was usually accompanied by her son Rob and daughters Agnes and Mildred. Despite the risk of prosecution, Mary Anna Custis Lee and Dr. Cocke taught slaves to read, which was illegal at that time in the Confederate States of America, as they were opposed to slavery.
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