According to Scottsville's website, the town "served as Virginia's westernmost center of government and commerce during the 1700s, when rivers were the primary means of travel in the new American wilderness."

During the late 18th and the 19th centuries attempts were made to improve navigability along the James, as well as other central Virginian rivers.

Scottsville was the largest port town along this route, called the James River and Kanawha Canal.

Eventually, the train too stopped taking passengers, leaving Scottsville a sleepy country town on a coal line.

Scottsville was the birthplace of Thomas Staples Martin, who served five terms as a Democrat in the United States Senate representing Virginia.

[7] In September 2019, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to adjust the town's boundaries.

The adjustment accounts for the expansion of the Scottsville Volunteer Fire Department and for a clarification of a boundary line along the James River.

[9] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.5 square miles (4.0 km2), all land.

In 1985, the Army Corps of Engineers built a levee around the lowest portion of Scottsville, providing protection against further floods.

Mayor A. Raymon Thacker spearheaded the movement to build the levee starting after Hurricane Agnes to prevent any more floods affecting Scottsville.