Native Americans may have settled near Cactus Hill along the Nottoway River as long as 10,000 years ago.

[4] The historic Nottoway people, although they spoke an Iroquoian language, were loosely part of the Powhatan Confederacy.

Sussex County has maintained a predominantly agricultural economy, once based in tobacco and cotton commodity crops, with work primarily done by enslaved African Americans.

The largest forest fire in Virginia's recorded history occurred on April 5, 1943, destroying more than 12,000 acres in six hours.

Fire were usually fought by recruiting workmen from Gray Lumber Company, but the mill was closed and most were attending the funeral of Ella Darden Gray, matriarch of one of the county's leading families.

Her son Senator Garland Gray helped bring attention to the state's need for more protection for valuable forests.

[5] About a decade later, Senator Gray became a leader in the Massive Resistance of whites against desegregating Virginia's public schools.

On August 3, 1998, the male death row moved to Sussex I from the Mecklenburg Correctional Center.

[22] The country is majority-Black, and has consistently voted for the Democratic Party in presidential elections since 1976.