HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — A quick detour off the beaten path at Deep Bottom Park in the Varina District of Henrico County can transport visitors back to the Civil War.
What looks like a high bank off a stream is actually an earthen fortification — a structure instrumental in the military tactics of northern troops against Confederate soldiers.
Henrico County purchased the land from the American Battlefield Trust to ensure it isn't further lost to nature or future development.
Julian Charity, assistant director of Recreation & Parks, said the land and its history are worth protecting.
"You can't throw a rock without hitting impactful history in Central Virginia," Charity said.
Charity said the natural environment has actually helped keep the site preserved.
"It has kept it intact so that 160 years later, we can interpret these things," Charity said. "Nature has swallowed up what man has changed, but it has embraced it, and now is keeping it so we can preserve it for the future."
He said the acquisition is part of a broader effort across the East End of the county.
"It's part of a much larger plan of land acquisition across, especially, the East End," Charity said. "Preserving the battlefield, preserving thesee historic homes, preserving these large tracts of land for open green space, but also so that we can better engage with the community to allow them for spaces for their own wellness."
Charity said the fortification is still largely intact and that plans are in place to connect it to a public trail.
"This fortification behind me is still very much intact, so we are planning in the future as a part of the New Market Heights Trail, this will be an offshoot of the trail so you can come out and engage with it, you can see it, you can learn more about the battle, and the general players that were part of that battle," he said.
Varina District Supervisor Tyrone Nelson said the purchase is also about being a good steward of the environment and the community.
"Varina is probably one of the most historic places in the country that people don't know about," Nelson said. "99.9 percent of our community has no clue the vast richness of resources here in the place where they live."
He added that the area speaks for itself when it comes to history.
"We don't have to go outside the area to get history. We've got it right here," Nelson said.
The site will eventually become part of the county's park system, giving the public more opportunities to experience some of the most historic land from the earliest decades of the nation.
Charity said the significance of the effort is hard to overstate, particularly this year.
"It's preserving the history of Henrico County. It's preserving the history of America," Charity said. "What better thing to talk about in the year of the Semi-Quincentennial, the 250th of the United States, [than] preserving more history?"
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