George C. Gregory

George Craghead Gregory (1878-1956) was an American attorney and historian from Richmond Virginia. He lived with his wife and seven children at "Granite Hall", an estate in northwestern Chesterfield County. In 1932, he discovered the foundation of the first brick statehouse (capitol) building circa 1646 at Jamestown, Virginia.

Biography

George C. Gregory was born in Granville County, North Carolina, and graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1902. Gregory became a prominent attorney, businessman and land developer in Richmond, Virginia, where he was an officer of Guaranty Trust Company.

On September 1, 1910, he married Constance Adela Heath (1890–1982) at Sonning-on-Thames, England. They made their home at "Granite Hall", which was located near the south side of the James River in Chesterfield County, Virginia, where he had a large mansion erected. It was faced with granite quarried nearby. They had seven children.

Gregory led the effort to build the privately-funded Westham Bridge, a toll-bridge completed in 1911, linking western Henrico and Chesterfield counties. The bridge was located between Bosher's Dam and Williams Dam just west of the 7 miles of rapids and falls which constitute the fall line of the James River at Richmond. The Westham Bridge was located just west of the Huguenot Bridge, which was built in 1949 and replaced it. Piers, abutments at each side, and power lines still marked the path in the early 20th century.

Gregory was involved in a scheme to extend streetcar service from Westhampton Lake (now part of the campus of the University of Richmond) across the Westham Bridge to the suburban resort community of Bon Air. Although grading was done and some roadbed was actually prepared, the plans never materialized. This was possibly due to either weight considerations involving the Westham Bridge or a right-of-way issue in Henrico County, or both.

George C. Gregory and his wife were active in the Virginia Historical Society. He he is credited in 1932 with discovering the foundation of the first brick statehouse (capitol) building circa 1646 at Jamestown, Virginia. In 1937, he founded the Jamestowne Society for descendants of stockholders in the Virginia Company of London and the descendants of those who owned land or who had domiciles in Jamestown or on Jamestown Island prior to the year 1700.

The land surrounding the Gregory family estate, Granite Hall, became the site of a golf course of the Bon Air Country Club after World War II, and a subdivision beginning in 1958. The granite stone manor house remains, fronting on Piney Branch Road, and is occupied as a private residence. Nearby, Granite Hall Avenue winds through the subdivision, now located within the city limits of the independent city of Richmond.

Further reading

• Claflin, Mary Anne, and Richardson, Elizabeth Guy (1977) Bon Air: A History, Hale Publishing, Richmond, Virginia
• Sorely, Merrow Egerton (1935) Lewis of Warner Hall.