Ettrick, Virginia

Ettrick, Virginia
CDP
Ettick historic marker and steps to VSU, viewed from Campbell's Bridge over the Appomattox River
Location of Ettrick, Virginia
Coordinates: 37°14′34″N 77°25′32″W / 37.24278°N 77.42556°W / 37.24278; -77.42556Coordinates: 37°14′34″N 77°25′32″W / 37.24278°N 77.42556°W / 37.24278; -77.42556
Country	United States
State	Virginia
County	Chesterfield
Area
• Total	3.0 sq mi (7.8 km2)
• Land	2.9 sq mi (7.6 km2)
• Water	0.08 sq mi (0.2 km2)
Elevation	105 ft (32 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	6,682
• Density	2,200/sq mi (860/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
FIPS code	51-26128
GNIS feature ID	1496888

Ettrick is a census-designated place (CDP) in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. The population was 6,682 at the 2010 census. The town is home to Virginia State University and the Petersburg Amtrak train station.

Most of Ettrick has a Petersburg mailing address, ZIP code 23803, although the community is not part of the city of Petersburg.

Ettrick was named around 1765 by the foreign merchant Neil Buchanan, who dubbed the eventual village Ettrick Banks for its similarities to his native Ettrick area of Selkirk, Scotland.

Capt. Christopher Newport led expeditions in this area. Near Petersburg, which developed as an industrial city, Ettrick also developed industry. It had cotton mills, as it was on the fall line and could use water power.

During the American Civil War, the Confederate Army established a large hospital here. In the late nineteenth century, the biracial state legislature established the first state-supported black college, founded here in 1882 as Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute (now Virginia State University). John Mercer Langston, who founded the Law School at Howard University, was its first president. He was elected as a US Congressman from Virginia from here.Vawter Hall and Old President's House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.