A historical marker can be found on U.S. 17 0.2 miles south of Daingerfield Road, on the right when traveling north. The marker pays tribute to the capital town of Toppahanock.
Before the English settled in Essex County in the early 1600s, the area was dominated by the prominent Rappahannock Indian Tribe. In December 1607, englishman John Smith came into contact with the Rappahannock people at their capitol village of “Toppahanock.” At the time of this introduction John Smith was being held prisoner for suspected murder and kidnapping, of members of the community. He was later found innocent and released. Soon after, he began to explore and document the tribal communities of the area. Smith mapped 14 Rappahannock towns along the north side of the Rappahannock River and noted that the south side served as their primary hunting ground.
A historical marker can be found on U.S. 17 0.2 miles south of Daingerfield Road, on the right when traveling north.
The marker pays tribute to the capital town of Toppahanock and reads:
In this region near the Rappahannock River once stood the Rappahannock Indian village of Toppahanock. When John Smith explored this region in 1607 and 1608, he found fourteen Rappahannock villages along both banks of the river. The river was the center of the Rappahannocks’ ancestral lands and served as a food source and travel network. The Rappahannock River was formerly known as the Opiscatumek. Sometime before 1607, the Rappahannock Indians asserted themselves as the dominant group on the river.
In the 1640s the English began encroaching upon the area and Illegally settling on Rappahannock land. After Bacon’s Rebellion, the remaining members of the Rappahannock community consolidated into one village. The fight for territory between the Rappahannock Community and English settlers was bitter and lasted for decades.
According to the Essex County Museum and Historical Society, “In an effort to solidify their tribal government in order to fight for their state recognition, the Rappahannock incorporated in 1921. The tribe was officially recognized as one of the historic tribes of the Commonwealth of Virginia by an act of the General Assembly on March 25, 1983.”
The legacy of the Rappahannock tribe is alive and well and is headed by their chief G. Anne Richardson, a fourth-generation chief in her family. More information can be learned about the tribe at https://www.rappahannocktribe.org/
Information courtesy of Essex County Museum and Historical Society
