Howardsville, Albemarle County, Virginia

Howardsville is an unincorporated community in Albemarle County, Virginia.

Howardsville is named after one of its principal founders, Allen Howard, who settled the northern bank of the James River at the point where the Rockfish River, its largest tributary, enters its flow. Along with other families, such as the Andersons, Jordans, Cabells and Childresses, both sides of the river were settled by people moving up from the lower James to plant new lands with tobacco and other crops in the 1730s and 1740s. The area was also known for its limestone and iron ore deposits and a forge of some sort was established in the settlement from a very early date.