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Chula, Virginia

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Coordinates: 37°23′19″N 77°54′11″W / 37.38861°N 77.90306°W / 37.38861; -77.90306
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Chula, Virginia
Unincorporated community
Chula, Virginia is located in Virginia
Chula, Virginia
Chula, Virginia
Location within the Commonwealth of Virginia
Chula, Virginia is located in the United States
Chula, Virginia
Chula, Virginia
Chula, Virginia (the United States)
Coordinates: 37°23′19″N 77°54′11″W / 37.38861°N 77.90306°W / 37.38861; -77.90306
CountryUnited States
StateVirginia
CountyAmelia
Elevation
289 ft (88 m)
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP code
23002
Area code804
FIPS code51/16656[1]
GNIS feature ID1492767

Chula is a mostly rural unincorporated community in the northeastern part of Amelia County just west of the Appomattox River in the U.S. state of Virginia.[2] The town is centered around the T-intersection of SR 636 (Lodore Road) and SR 740 (Old Chula Road) in Giles District.[3] Chula is just west of SR 604 (Chula Road), which includes a short bypass segment built around the town in the late 20th century.[4] The area is served by the post office 7 miles southwest at Amelia Court House, ZIP code 23002. The nearest fire station to Chula is Amelia County Volunteer Fire Department Station 4, near Mattoax, 3 miles north.

History

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Origins

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The word "Chula" was likely derived from a Native American word meaning "fox" or "red fox".[5][6] The town apparently was founded in the 1850s as a stop on the recently completed rail line from the state capital: Chula is notably absent on a map of Amelia County circa 1850;[7] but a postal facility using the name "Chula Depot" was established in 1857,[8] and an 1860 map shows the town as a stop on the new Richmond and Danville Railroad.[9] As of about 1900, after the R&D RR had been acquired by Southern Railway, Chula was still both a railroad stop and a post village,[10] and "Chula Depot" and "Chula Station" continued to appear as alternative labels well into the 20th century.[2] The Chula post office, upon closing in 1955, had been managed by the same postmaster for nearly 40 years and was the second-largest in Amelia County, after the one at the courthouse.[11] The railroad track is still used, although in modern times only by freight trains; it crosses Route 636 at the main T‑intersection in Chula and is now owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway.[12]

Civil War

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During the Civil War, railroads formed a critical supply network for the Confederacy, and thus their destruction was a key component of Union strategy. Among the raids targeting the Richmond and Danville Railroad were those conducted in 1864 by cavalry under Union general August Kautz. Federal troops destroyed Chula Depot on March 13, but it was rebuilt.[13] Confederate defenders clashed with Kautz's forces at Flat Creek Bridge, just north of Chula, on May 14.[14]

Tornadoes

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Amelia County is located in a small Central Virginia tornado alley and has had numerous tornado touchdowns. Tornadoes of note include the April 30, 1924, twister that passed east of the courthouse area, traveling from Jetersville to the Chula vicinity, killing one person and injuring seven others on the way.[15]

Chula School

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Through the mid-20th century, Chula School was among the educational facilities serving African American children in Amelia County in the era before desegregation. A structure noted as historic Chula School stood approximately 2 miles south of town on what is now SR 683 (Chula School Road).[16]

Existing historic places

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Dykeland plantation, Egglestetton plantation, Grub Hill Church, and The Wigwam are among the historic sites around Chula that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[17]

References

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U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Chula, Virginia

  1. ^ "FIPS Codes", Chula, Amelia County, Virginia. Roadside Thoughts: A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada, July 7, 2023. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  2. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Chula, Virginia
  3. ^ "General Highway Map, Amelia County, Commonwealth of Virginia". Virginia Department of Transportation, Richmond. Reprinted by Vintage Aerial, Maumee, OH, 1993. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  4. ^ USGS topographic map, quadrangle for Chula, VA. TopoZone, Locality LLC. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  5. ^ Raus McDill Hanson. Virginia Place Names: Derivations, Historical Uses, page 31. United States: McClure Press, 1969. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  6. ^ Henry Gannett. The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States, 2nd edition. US Geological Survey, Bulletin No. 258, Series F: Geography, 45, page 81. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1905. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  7. ^ William L. Booker. "A map of Amelia County, Virginia". Philadelphia: R.L. Barnes, circa 1850. Library of Congress permalink=https://lccn.loc.gov/2014588019. Accessed December 31, 2021.
  8. ^ Virginius Cornick Hall, Jr. "Virginia Post Offices, 1798-1859", The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 81, no. 1, January 1973, page 59. Virginia Historical Society. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
  9. ^ D. E. Henderson. "Map of Amelia Co., Virginia". Confederate States of America. Army. Department of Northern Virginia. Chief Engineer's Office. 1860. Virginia Historical Society. LCCN Permalink = https://lccn.loc.gov/2012591111. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, December 7, 2021.
  10. ^ Henry Gannett. A Gazetteer of Virginia, US Geological Survey, Bulletin No. 232, Series F: Geography, 40, page 40. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1904. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  11. ^ "Chula News Events: Chula Postmaster Retired Jan. 1 After Thirty-Nine Years Service", The Farmville Herald and Farmer-Leader, Volume 65, Number 33, January 6, 1956, page 8. Retrieved from Virginia Chronicle, Library of Virginia, August 12, 2023.
  12. ^ "Front of rail map print" (PDF). Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT). September 24, 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 18, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  13. ^ John Stewart. "Milepost 30.4: Chula", Jefferson Davis's Flight from Richmond: The Calm Morning, Lee's Telegrams, the Evacuation, the Train, the Passengers, the Trip, the Arrival in Danville and the Historians' Frauds. McFarland & Company, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  14. ^ The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Serial 68, Page 6, "Operations in SE. VA. and N.C.", Chapter XLVIII. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1891. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  15. ^ Bill Sammler (July 1, 2008). "Tornado History". Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM)-Vaemergency.gov. Archived from the original on March 17, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  16. ^ "Chula School (historical)", mindat.org, Hudson Institute of Mineralogy. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  17. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
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