Blood, Trauma, and Biohazard Cleanup in Colonial Heights, VA

Colonial Heights is an independent city in the Tri-Cities area of the Richmond metropolitan area, across the Appomattox River from Petersburg.

The population of Colonial Heights was 18,170 at the 2020 census.

Colonial Heights was incorporated as a town in 1926 and as a city in 1948, separating from Chesterfield County, and its current charter was granted in 1960.

The young city grew explosively in the postwar decades, jumping from 9,587 people in 1960 to 15,097 people in 1970.

English colonists first settled the area in 1620 at Conjurer's Neck, where Swift Creek runs into the Appomattox River, a spot named for the Native American healer, or 'conjurer,' who had lived there; the area had been part of Henrico Cittie in 1619 and the principal town of the Appamattuck subtribe.

The Old Brick House, built after Richard Kennon purchased the Conjurer's Neck property in 1677, still stands and is considered the oldest brick house in the region and among the oldest houses in Virginia.

Local tradition traces the city's name to the American Revolutionary War, when French troops known as the Colonials positioned artillery on the heights overlooking Petersburg.

Violet Bank, a plantation house named for the dense fields of violets on its hillside, served as Confederate General Robert E. Lee's headquarters from June to November 1864 during the Siege of Petersburg, and is now the Violet Bank Museum, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

A giant cucumber magnolia tree at Violet Bank, believed to have been planted in 1718 and said to be a gift from Thomas Jefferson, spreads its branches more than 100 feet.

Colonial Heights is a regional retail hub anchored by Southpark Mall, which houses over 100 stores and restaurants, and the city claims what is billed as the world's largest Arby's restaurant.