History of the Society
Chartered on September 23, 1981, to meet the growing demand for genealogical and historical research, the Society traces its origins to a Museum Society, organized in 1961, responsible for the first County Museum which opened in 1980. The original CHSV office was located in the historic 1892 Old Jail, granted for use by the Society in May 1982. CHSV moved into the 1917 Chesterfield County Courthouse (right) in 1990 where it operated a small research library and opened its first Museum Gift Shop. In 1998, the Society head office and research library were relocated to historic Castlewood (1817) on the corner of Iron Bridge Road and Krause Road in Chesterfield. The restoration of this structure started in 2013. Currently, the CHSV office and library are housed in historic Trinity Church (1887) located one block west on Iron Bridge Road.
In addition to its operations at Trinity Church, the Museum, the 1892 Old Jail and Magnolia Grange, the Society also help maintain the preservation of eight Civil War battlefields, an integral part of the 1864-65 Bermuda Hundred Campaign.
We are a volunteer-driven organization monitored by a member approved by-laws and all-volunteer Board of Directors that provides leadership to CHSV committees to develop educational and fundraising programs and conduct research.
The Society offers more than 60 events and programs each year which attracts around 10,000 patrons including 1,000 school children. Our Events Calendar includes an annual winter lecture series, genealogy workshops, rotating exhibits, tours of Civil War sites, paranormal investigations, elegant themed teas served with bone china and finger sandwiches, summer camps for kids and much more.
Board of Directors
Buddy Cranford - President
Scott Williams - Vice-President
Douglas Blake - Treasurer
Crystal Monroe - Recording Secretary
Claude Baker - Past President
Directors-at-Large
Gerry Netherland
David Limmer
Pat Barron
Nicholas Carico
Joan Jackson
Bernard Anderson
Executive Director
Karen Sadler
Staff
Brandon Amsel - County Museum and Historical Jail Docent
Bill Doerken - Program Facilitator, and Magnolia Grange Docent
David Limmer - Chair for Collections Department and County Museum and Historical Jail Docent