The first Fort Henry in the Virginia colony was a small facility, with a garrison of 15, that was erected in 1611 by Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr as part of a series of fortifications now located in Hampton.

Its exact location has been debated, but the most popular one (marked by Virginia Historical Marker QA-6) is on a bluff about four blocks north of the corner of W. Washington and N. South Streets in Petersburg.

[1] Fort Henry was built in 1645 by order of Virginia's House of Burgesses.

It marked the 1646 treaty frontier between the white settlers and the Indians following the Second Anglo-Powhatan War.

In 1675, command of the fort and adjacent Indian trading post passed to Wood's son-in-law, Peter Jones.