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Grove is an unincorporated community in the southeastern portion of James City County, Virginia, the oldest county in the United States. It is geographically located in almost the exact center of the Historic Triangle of Colonial Virginia, composed of Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown, linked by the Colonial Parkway. Grove is located along U.S. Route 60 just east of the Busch Gardens Europe theme park and other Anheuser-Busch industries and developments, including the Kingsmill resort and planned community. Geographically, Grove includes the narrowest portion of James City County, bordering the James River to the south and York County to the north. Tributaries of the James River, Grove Creek and Skiffe's Creek each provide local drainage. The latter also constitutes the eastern border of Grove (and the county), which adjoins the Lee Hall area of the independent city of Newport News. Primarily a moderate income semi-rural residential community of 1,100 families, many generations of some reside in Grove. Twice in the 20th century, the population grew quickly as families of mostly of African American heritage chose to relocate to Grove after being displaced from entire communities when their land along the northern side of the Peninsula was taken in large tracts for military use during WWI and WWII, creating the present-day US Naval Weapons Station Yorktown and Camp Peary. (To its north, Grove borders the Naval Weapons Station property and on its extreme east, a portion of the US Army's land at Fort Eustis extends across Skiffe's Creek, although there is no direct access to either base). Near Grove's eastern edge is the James River Commerce Center and Green Mount industrial park, which include tenants such as a Wal-Mart distribution center and a Haynes furniture warehouse. Both developments have been expanding in the early 21st century, and have room for more businesses and industry. The more central part of Grove includes most homes, churches, neighborhood retail businesses, a community center, nursing home and day care facilities, and a magnet school of the Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools (WJCC) which offers the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme, one of only five such schools in Virginia. The most prominent local feature is Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's historic and preserved Carter's Grove Plantation on the James River. The 1755-era mansion and surrounding gardens and plantation land are located on property which was once part of the Martin's Hundred subsidiary of the Virginia Company of London in James Cittie (sic) in 1619. There, the population of Wolstenholme Towne was decimated during the Good Friday attacks throughout the Virginia Colony which became known as the Indian Massacre of 1622. The original site and remains of ill-fated Wolstenholme Towne were discovered by archaeologists in 1976. Research Tips
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