Ca Ira, Virginia

Formally established in 1796, it fell into disuse in the years after the American Civil War; today, few traces of the town remain, save for the old Grace Church and a handful of houses.

[1] At the turn of the nineteenth century, Ca Ira was a typical small farming community such as could be found in many locations around Virginia.

Described by Joseph Martin in 1836 in The Gazetteer of Virginia and the District of Columbia, the village of Ca Ira contained approximately 40 dwellings, three mercantile stores a merchant mill a tobacco warehouse, two taverns, a non-denominational church, and a masonic hall.

This served numerous purposes; it caused the removal of a pond, long the source of poor health for residents and, more importantly, it opened the town up to the tobacco trade, making it easier to transport wares along the James River between Prince Edward and Charlotte Counties and Richmond and Petersburg.

During its heyday, Ca Ira boasted $40,000 worth of sales annually by its three mercantile stores, 28-30,000 bushels of wheat ground at the mill during the season, and 300 to 500 hogsheads of tobacco received.